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On corruption, and going too far

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* Carol Marin concludes her latest column, which is about questions surrounding Senate President Emil Jones and his family’s questionable jobs and contracts, this way…

When coincidences look like conflicts, they usually are.

Human minds are specifically geared to look for coincidences and connections, even if none actually exist. That’s why we have to always be careful not to allow knee-jerk cynicsm to override hard facts. While Carol is right that coincidences are too often conflicts in this business, the quote reminds me of this exchange in the movie Syriana…

WHITING: In this town, you’re innocent until you’re investigated.

BOB: Innocent until investigated. That’s nice. It has a nice ring to it. I bet you’ve worn some miles on little sayings like that.

Very wise. Gives the listener the sense of law being written as it’s spoken.

As Sen. Donne Trotter said about the Jones controversy last week…

“They say nine-tenths of everything is perception, but that doesnâ€™t make it a fact.”

As we have learned in the Dawn DeFraties case, not every investigation results in a conviction. As in Syriana, some of them are specifically ginned up to distract attention and assign blame where little exists…

The two personnel employees fired by Gov. Rod Blagojevich administration over allegations that they were rigging job tests should be suspended for only 14 days because the case against them was too weak to support their dismissal, a hearing officer said Friday.

The recommendation is a “huge victory” for Dawn DeFraties and Michael Casey, the two employees who were fired last year, said Carl Draper, their attorney.

Still, it’s difficult not to reach some negative conclusions when politicians do incredibly stupid things like this…

It’s a weekend in Las Vegas for some Illinois lawmakers.

With just a month left in the legislative session, an estimated 12 to 14 members of the Illinois House and Senate are spending the next couple of days at a trade show for the cable television industry.

The three-day, expense-paid junket comes as the cable industry is fighting an attempt by telephone giant AT&T to change state law in a high-stakes battle for the eyes and wallets of television viewers.

More…

They are members of the Illinois House and Senate committees that deal with telecommunications legislation, such as a current bill that could ease the way for AT&T and other telephone companies to compete with cable television firms. The Cable Television and Communications Association of Illinois, whose members could lose their local franchises if the legislation is approved, is paying for the trip.

“It is 100 percent an educational experience from our point of view,” said Gary Mack, a spokesman for the cable television association. Committee members have been invited to national conventions in different cities for the past five years to look at new technology, he said.

I’ve been hearing reports from the Vegas site, and from what I’ve heard, it’s definitely not “100 percent an education experience.”

Every vote those legislators take on this issue from here on end will be in question, regardless of whether or not their hearts are pure.

Sometimes, coincidences will multiply to the point that they create enough smoke to make one suspect that there’s a fire underneath it somewhere, as is the case with Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias’ family bank, which popped up in the Tribune’s story about a federal mole who was apparently helping the feds set up developers, including Tony Rezko….

Thomas’ Carnegie Realty Partners helped Rezmar Corp. obtain financing from Broadway Bank for an ultimately failed deal to build a 24-story condo high-rise on a vacant lot at the southwest corner of Chicago and Hudson Avenues, according to interviews and a civil lawsuit against Thomas by a former Carnegie officer.

That doesn’t mean that Broadway is crooked, but the bank has certainly been involved in a whole lot of coinkydinks over the years. Even so, it would be nice to see some hard evidence.

By the way, I checked and couldn’t find any clear connection to the mole and Patti Blagojevich’s real estate firm. So not every connection necessarily leads down that path.

The “Innocent until investigated” mindset is also clearly evident in the lack of media coverage of the recent dismissals of a couple of important corruption cases, which my syndicated column addresses this week…

Federal prosecutors have recently been handed a couple of big setbacks in their ceaseless pursuit of governmental corruption. But you would hardly know it considering the lack of press coverage the cases have received here.

The point being: Yes, we certainly have a corruption problem here, but not every allegation or investigation is created equal, and all sides deserve a fair look.

posted by Rich Miller
Monday, May 7, 07 @ 8:37 am

Comments

It is a matter of people who put themselves above the law and other state workers. They don’t have to follow the ethics rules. If the normal state employee took an Educational trip while working on a bid for computer equipment, or office equipment (or anything else for that matter) They would be brought up on charges and fired on the spot.

Does the MSI trial ring a bell? This all stinks and looks horrible.

Comment by He makes Ryan look like a saint Monday, May 7, 07 @ 9:07 am
All this flap about Emil Jones is comical. Many of these entrenched politicians have been doing the same, if not worse than him for years. All of a sudden, they find religion and denounce him.. This is the system that built Chicago.

Comment by Wumpus Monday, May 7, 07 @ 9:19 am
Lee Daniels seems to have escaped prosecution, while Tristano sits in prison.

http://www.dailyherald.com/story.asp?id=310013

Comment by Shelbyville Monday, May 7, 07 @ 9:22 am
But Blagojevich promised to “End Business As Usual”. System or no system he lied and continues to lie, mislead and stall.

Comment by Just Humming Monday, May 7, 07 @ 9:26 am
Rich, thanks for pointiong out a couple of obvious, yet not sexy parts of the recent wave of corruption. First, that there is no real evidence that Broadway Bank has done anything wrong. Considering the outstanding job that Alexi has been doing since being elected, it would be a crime if he continues to have to answer to baseless accusations like this.

Second, that the mole hasnt implicated Patti Blagojevich in any way. What a shocker, right? While she has done nothing wrong (she is allowed to run a business, contrary to what many say), people continue to try to find ways to smear the governor and his family. Its getting really old watching those who are out of power saying and doing anything to slander their way back into power. Also, its sicknng to see the floundering newspapers push this garbage as news to try to resuce their sales and the jobs of these reporters.

Doesn’t the truth matter anymore? Isnt there a threshhold of factual content necessary before a story gets written, or an angle gets added to an unrelated story? Please, stop the bashing and get back to reporting!

Comment by Number 8 Monday, May 7, 07 @ 9:49 am
I know nothing about Patti’s predicament.

But on Broadway bank, I have to agree. The Bank approved a loan (and got a fee upfront for doing their due diligence.) Rezmar was a legitimate client, with financial bona fides.

What is the shady deal here?

Comment by Truthful James Monday, May 7, 07 @ 10:04 am
Truth does matter!
So make all the federal subpoenas public that Blagojevich and his administration received to date…..
Let the people decide if corruption exists.
What’s to hide, if all is well?

Comment by It's to easy Monday, May 7, 07 @ 10:15 am
Ah, yes, Las Vegas, the Educational Capital of the U.S.

Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Monday, May 7, 07 @ 10:32 am
In government we should know everything we want to, unless it is truly protected by privacy issues.

In Illinois we don’t even know the results of the taxpayer funded investigations by watchdogs (OIG)that were hired to weed out corruption. The legislature can and should fix that problem. Wonder why they don’t?

There should be accountability to the public for all actions taken by our government leaders, especially when those actions were taken in response to recommendations from an independent watchdog.

Watchdogs are not always right and we need to know when that happens too.

Comment by How much should we know? Monday, May 7, 07 @ 10:34 am
If this trip is legit, the members should have no problems with their identities being revealed. Right?

Comment by phocion Monday, May 7, 07 @ 10:36 am
100 percent an education experience.â€

Well, if they visit Sheri’s Ranch they might be getting an education on another way to get tax money……

Comment by Pat Collins Monday, May 7, 07 @ 10:40 am
I’m not sure why everyone is so quick to defend Casey and DeFraties. They clearly violated the ethics code. What they did gave at least “the appearance of wrongdoing.” They should have been fired. I agree they were most likely only following orders, but they knew it was wrong or why did they keep the emails? Why did the testimony stop right before the other witnesses testified? Why did the testimony stop before Casey and DeFraties started naming names from the Governor’s office? Regardless of whether the practice went on before, it didn’t make it right for them to do it. See Nuremburg defense.

Comment by Concerned State Employee Monday, May 7, 07 @ 11:11 am
“CSE” let’s keep the Nazis out of the argument, please.

Comment by Rich Miller Monday, May 7, 07 @ 11:27 am
They are not just Nazi’s they are those dammed “illinois nazi’s”.

Comment by uncle timmy Monday, May 7, 07 @ 11:58 am
CSE, what should happen to the person who falsified the logs, to the people who told the OEIG they were pressured and then under oath said they were not (lying to OEIG is a criminal offense), to those same people who said that they were ordered by DeFraties and Casey to change grades then testified under oath that they were not ordered to do so, to the investigator who took the liars’ words as reality and wrote a report, blah, blah, blah? Given that the practice continued before they got there and after they left, and nothing at all has happened to those involved, and no rules or policies have been changed as was testified to and reported in the paper is mighty suspect. The news reports were that the graders testified that they kept the logs not because of tracking any wrongdoing, but so they would be able to answer questions. One even said he was just told to do so by his supervisor, Myra Myerholz, who is allegedly a former patronage runner for Ryan. It appears all these people did was use DeFraties and Casey to help Blagojevich get out a big ol’ pre-election press conference. Does the “ethics code” you refer to deal with all of that or do you just apply it to Dawn and Mike as your “clearly” strong dislike of these two is very evident?

Comment by Just Curious Monday, May 7, 07 @ 12:01 pm
It seems like there are only a few players allowed in this game. What qualifies Emil’s family as being the only people qualified for these positions? Why are the only people qualified for no-bid contracts big donors of Emils or Blagtos? Or, is it the other way around!

Comment by Milorad Monday, May 7, 07 @ 12:39 pm
It’s obvious you’ve never been in court or read a transcript. Words can be twisted. I’m pretty sure they saved their emails so that both sides would be available should something occur. I don’t think that it would surprise anyone to find that the gov would only release emails, etc. beneficial to him.

Comment by To CSE Monday, May 7, 07 @ 12:59 pm
I’m willing to bet, if you were to ask them under oath, they saved the emails because they knew what they were doing, or being asked to do, was wrong. They could have refused. Instead, they did what most of us would have done: they went along to keep their jobs. But what they did was still wrong and violated the ethics code, it appears to have placed connected applicants ahead of others, and why would the grader who testified have repeated entries of the same names if there was no “pressure” of some sort being applied? I’m not a strong disliker of Dawn and Mike as Just Curious wrote. It just seems they should be held accountable for what they actually did do, not what their attorney made it out to be.

Comment by CSE Monday, May 7, 07 @ 1:22 pm
CSE, blogging at 11:11 and 1:22 as a state employee? You on a personal day or just taking the state employee extra long lunch hour when no one’s looking? I am sure it is not the latter, because that would violate the “ethics code”, now wouldn’t it?

Comment by Hmmm Monday, May 7, 07 @ 1:41 pm
“Hmmmm,” I highly doubt that posting a comment on this blog like the one CSE posted is in any way an ethics violation.

Comment by Rich Miller Monday, May 7, 07 @ 2:02 pm
Rich, read your notes in regards to the crack down on political corruption. Couldn’t disagree more. US Attorney is asking for a review of the jurdes decision stating that it was pretty clear that Hurtgen was going to get the work, both him and Bear Stearns, in if the Hospital CEO played ball with Levine and Kiferbaum? He went to the diner to play the cloak and dagger with Levine- it was allpart of an effort seemingly to coerce the CEO?

Seems prett obvious that there wer some serious arm twisting going on. When is the corrpution going to end if all that ever happens is that by parsing words and using nuance that these guys can seep throught the cracks.

Comment by hogsingovernment Monday, May 7, 07 @ 2:46 pm
“HIG” you missed the point. The judge threw out the charge because the government did not provide a scintilla of evidence or even a claim that Hurtgen knew what was going on.

Comment by Rich Miller Monday, May 7, 07 @ 4:11 pm
…regarding the kickback scheme. Oops. Hit “say it” too quickly.

Comment by Rich Miller Monday, May 7, 07 @ 4:19 pm
So since Defraities and Casey only received suspensions for 14 days that means that they should receive back pay for the additional time that they were off right?

Weren’t they also witnesses for the FEDS? What happens now, do the FEDS offer them protections as it was proven in court that they did not engage in the activities that the Governor’s office alleged against them that utimately led to their firings?

Did not the Governor’s EIG investigate allegations against the two employees as well?

Anybody?

Comment by curious......... Monday, May 7, 07 @ 4:33 pm
don’t they also have a claim in Civil court for retaliatory discharge?

Comment by curious......... Monday, May 7, 07 @ 4:34 pm
Wonder if any industrious Illinoisans are vacationing out in Vegas? If so, sure would be funny to snap some pics of our politicians in action.
Of course looking out for our best interests.
Maybe our Illinois junketeers could do spot for the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, ya know “What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas”.

Comment by SPEND, SPEND, SPEND Monday, May 7, 07 @ 4:52 pm
“Curious,” the civil service commission (including the governor’s babysitter) still has to rule on the alj recommendation. then it goes to court. i’m sure it will end up in court one way or another. compensation is a long way away.

Comment by Rich Miller Monday, May 7, 07 @ 4:52 pm
Curious, the OEIG wrote a report that ultimately led to the firing of DeFraties and Casey. However, the “investigator” testified in the hearing that he did not verify the information that he was given by the people who later recanted under oath about pressure, changing grades, etc. He said he just took their word for it and also testified that it was not his job to investigate policy, he was just there to ask questions. This is in the news stories with direct quotes from the hearing transcripts. So, did the OEIG investigate? No, they just helped Blago run a few people up the flagpole before an election. They make a report, send it to the gov’s office before anyone gets it. Gov’s office covers their tracks and kicks the crap out of whoever they can to divert attention. Is it any wonder that so many good state employees don’t want to turn in the real corruption they see on a daily basis to this dog and pony show? Please.

Comment by Tellin the things they don't want you to know Monday, May 7, 07 @ 5:20 pm
Free up those Federal Subpoenas Rod!

Comment by Snakes In Suits Monday, May 7, 07 @ 6:56 pm
To CSE 1:22 - You have to do everything this administration tells you to do, whether it is right or wrong. If not, you risk retaliation. Either you lose your job, get moved, or they make your employment miserable. It is called, working in fear and this administration is very good at it. Now tell me, just who should of DeFraites and Casey reported all this wrong doing to? The OIG? Get a grip. I totally understand why DeFraites and Casey kept their emails. Several employees take emails and documents home on a daily basis. As for me - I have five boxes full at home. Almost enough to start my own little library. It makes me feel better having them close.

Comment by Herself Monday, May 7, 07 @ 7:04 pm
[…] The Capitol Fax Blog us running a good wrap-up of running corruption controversies here in the last of Honest Abe> Click to share:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. […]

Pingback by State of corruption | Peoria Pundits Monday, May 7, 07 @ 7:36 pm
I have to question the decision by someone in this administration to put the Defraties/Casey case on the ethics test. This is arrogance mixed with stupidity to the max. The contractor (from California, I might add) did not come up with this on their own - someone from the administration had to direct them to put it on the test. So, they were trying to rub their noses in it and it backfired. Now, Draper is probably drooling over another lawsuit since they have drug their names through the mud in front of every state worker. There was no reason for this. Way to go B-team, now you can use even more of our tax dollars defending yourselves.

Comment by Holdingontomywallet Monday, May 7, 07 @ 7:54 pm
I would be willing to bet that over 90% of the current state emploees could not name the two employees supposedly referred to on the ethics test.

Comment by CSE Monday, May 7, 07 @ 8:16 pm
The media hasn’t even begun to turn up the heat/volume on Governor Blagojevich with regards to corruption. Governor Blagojevich has gotten a free pass from all media to date.
When they do, he’ll have to create an entirely new State fo Illinois department for “Spin Control”.

Comment by Opie Monday, May 7, 07 @ 8:18 pm
I’ll take that bet CSE.

Comment by Holdingontomywallet Monday, May 7, 07 @ 9:13 pm
Emil’s latest is a real stinker also. Getting a change in the way no-bids are awarded - forbidding them except for those WHO HAVE HAD NO-BIDS IN THE PAST WITH THE STATE AND WITH STATE UNIVERSITIES. Sounds like Mr. Sterling’s step pappy has got it all locked up for him. Balls of brass, that’s for sure.

IF we had a federal government that was any better than our own legislature, I would suggest that the feds take over Illinois, do a complete government audit and start over with some people who know what they’re doing and who think of the people supplying the largesse for running this state - the taxpayers.

Comment by Disgusted Monday, May 7, 07 @ 9:43 pm
What’s a “patronage runner”?

Comment by steve schnorf Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 12:16 am
Interesting that you, of all people, are the one who posted that question, SS. You doing stand up now?

Comment by Rhetorical Questions Make Me Smile Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 6:21 am