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Oh, man, it just keeps getting weirder

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* The Bush administration’s blatant politicization of the Justice Department is well documented. And now comes word that some Blagojevich insiders tried to take advantage of that environment to oust Patrick Fitzgerald as US Attorney….

As federal investigators closed in, Gov. Rod Blagojevich insiders were angling with Bush administration architect Karl Rove to get U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald kicked out of office, according to disclosures made in federal court. […]

Federal prosecutors said in court that co-schemer Steven Loren was ready to testify he was told Illinois Republican insider Bob Kjellander was working to get Fitzgerald removed.

Powerbroker Bill Cellini “said it was Bob Kjellander’s job to take care of the U.S. Attorney,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Carrie Hamilton said in court late Tuesday, in reading Loren’s earlier grand jury testimony.

The statement was not further explained Tuesday, but in court this morning Hamilton told U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve that she expected Rezko business partner Ali Ata, who is cooperating with authorities, to testify Rezko told him the same thing in 2004.

It’s not too much of a stretch to believe that Fitzgerald got wind of the machinations and reacted by indicting Rezko in October of 2006 - just a month before election day. Tradition has been not to interfere with campaigns by making high-profile indictments like this so close to voting.

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Apr 23, 08 @ 11:30 am

Comments

While I agree with you the term combine is overused, there is certainly a unified theory of corruption emerging seamlessly from Illinois to DC.

Comment by archpundit Wednesday, Apr 23, 08 @ 11:32 am
Can this be considered obstruction of justice or obstructing an investigation?

Comment by Crimefighter Wednesday, Apr 23, 08 @ 11:34 am
If this is the case Bob and Bill should be completely ousted from the Republican Party. Plus charged with Obstruction of Justice.

Comment by He Makes Ryan Look Like a Saint Wednesday, Apr 23, 08 @ 11:41 am
This wouldn’t have worked because unlike previous presidents, Bush didn’t oust US Attorneys en masse and install an entirely new cast of players, a-la-Clinton.

Instead, he did what presidents usually do; remove US Attorneys who stood in the way of political friends or removed those US Attorneys who didn’t tow the Administration’s line. BTW, this was entirely legal and always happens.

But by politicizing this process, (by claiming it was politicized), hungry politicians used this fodder for the 2006 campaigns.

Non-thinking political players believed that Fitzgerald would have been removed based entirely on political stands - and they were obviously wrong. Their belief that Bush would do what Clinton previously did and remove US Attorneys based solely on political pressure - was wrong.

Bush didn’t do that. Even after eight years, we still have US Attorneys around that weren’t purged. This wasn’t the case for the Clinton Administration after his inauguration in 1993, was it? OH, and no one politicized it for Clinton back then, did they?

Like Supreme Court nominees, and Federal judge nominations, US Attorneys have become political fodder for bickering and politics. Expect every US President to be attacked regarding the changing of US Attorneys now that the Democrats felt they politically benefitted by attacking Bush with it in 2006.

Comment by VanillaMan Wednesday, Apr 23, 08 @ 11:56 am
How can this be so surprising to anyone, Blago has been running scared for many years now and will stop at nothing to make his problems all go away.

Comment by truth Wednesday, Apr 23, 08 @ 11:57 am
It is time for Bob and Bill to go, to be exact it long past time. Does it surprise anyone that Governor Rod would attempt to force Fitzgerald out? I am another one that things the term the combine is over used, but when you hear these kind of things it does make one wonder.

Comment by RMW Stanford Wednesday, Apr 23, 08 @ 11:58 am
hey Andy McKenna, get Kjellander out of the state GOP!

Comment by Ravenswood Right Winger Wednesday, Apr 23, 08 @ 12:02 pm
So Pat Fitzgerald stepped up the pressure didn’t he. Having no idea his employment security was in jeopardy.

Comment by Levois Wednesday, Apr 23, 08 @ 12:22 pm
Now if this attempt at obstruction of justice could only be proven. My, how the plot does thicken or the noose tightens.

Comment by Little Egypt Wednesday, Apr 23, 08 @ 12:26 pm
VanillaMan
“Bush didn’t do that. Even after eight years, we still have US Attorneys around that weren’t purged. This wasn’t the case for the Clinton Administration after his inauguration in 1993, was it? OH, and no one politicized it for Clinton back then, did they?”

You do know that Bush, like pretty much every president demanded the resignation of all sitting US Attorneys in 2001? The issue here is the decision to demand the resignation of certain US attorneys in the middle of Bush’s presidency, something that Clinton did not do, so that Bush could replace them with US attorneys that were more attuned to the political goals of the administration.

I have to say that judging by what you posted, I don’t think that you really know anything at all about this. Nonetheless, you still got to throw in the B-B-But Clinton defense. Well done sir.

Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Apr 23, 08 @ 12:29 pm
Coincidentally, tomorrow is “take your attorney to work day” in Springfield and Chicago.

Comment by Gregor Wednesday, Apr 23, 08 @ 12:40 pm
Wait, that’s every day now. My bad.

Comment by Gregor Wednesday, Apr 23, 08 @ 12:40 pm
Before this entire matter/scandal is put to bed many more will be indicted.

I think one of the people to be indicted in the near future is the Gov’s wife for her real estate deals.

Then in the not to distant future will come the indictments of Kjellander, Cellini, Kelly for a second time,Cini,Monk,plus several others, and then Blago!

Such greed and stupidity is hard to believe!

Comment by MOON Wednesday, Apr 23, 08 @ 12:41 pm
Vanilla Man has the better argument. Clinton removed them ASAP, with no regard for on going investigations. Usually there is some transition, as Bush (and Carter) did.

What Bush did (and he SHOULD have done) was to get rid of people not doing the job he wanted done. But, as Bush so often does, he refused to get ahead of the opposition and defend his policy.

Now, to me the interesting thing here is Bob “800″ K’s involvement. It might explain why he was so hot to hang onto the top committeman job in IL.

It might also explain why US Atty Fitzgerald went after Rove so hard in ’scooter gate’.

Comment by Pat collins Wednesday, Apr 23, 08 @ 12:43 pm
While it appears that this ouster of Fitzgerald by Rove and the “COMBINE” failed, it follows the pattern used by the Bush justice department and Rove to not only oust the Dem gov of Alabama, but get him incarcerated on false charges. He would still be sitting in the slammer because a Bush appointed judge would not follow recommendations to release him, if an outside appeals judge had not ordered him released. I eagerly await the testimony that may well put some of these chuckleheads in jail for criminal obstruction of justice. Hopefully this little treasure hunt will add fuel to the fire and result in criminal charges against Rove and his posse down the road.

Comment by Sweet Polly Purebred Wednesday, Apr 23, 08 @ 12:48 pm
“Then in the not to distant future will come the indictments of Kjellander, Cellini, Kelly for a second time,Cini,Monk,plus several others, and then Blago!”

Will this be before or after they deport all the Nazi war criminals?

If Ryan had not been a sitting governor when it started, he probably wouldn’t have been prosecuted.

If Blagoavich leaves office, no one will much care what happens to this cast of characters.

It’s only a matter of time before Fitzgerald moves on with his career. He gets kicked upstairs to a judgeship, joins a law firm to make big bucks defending the same types of conduct he is prosecuting or some politicians use him as a front for public office so they can continue to leach the taxpayers.

Comment by True Observer Wednesday, Apr 23, 08 @ 12:55 pm
It just gave Fitz ‘motivation’ to proceed at full speed… Should we start a pool to see who will NOT be indicted? When RICO comes up, Rezko will flee [or attempt to] instead of rolling over. Hopefully overhears [wiretaps] already have everything they need.

Comment by North of I-80 Wednesday, Apr 23, 08 @ 12:56 pm
===This wouldn’t have worked because unlike previous presidents, Bush didn’t oust US Attorneys en masse and install an entirely new cast of players, a-la-Clinton.

Wrong. This is horribly wrong. Bush replaced all, but one of the US Attorneys at the beginning of his term. The last transitions took place in the fall of 2001. I’m not sure who made up this, but even Bush I turned over the US Attorneys from Reagan.

Comment by archpundit Wednesday, Apr 23, 08 @ 1:14 pm
Kjellander isn’t running for another term… he leaves the ILGOP leadership come the convention in June. Is there a point to causing that fight to take place 6 weeks before he leaves anyway?

Comment by John Bambenek Wednesday, Apr 23, 08 @ 1:27 pm
VanillaMan & Pat Collins must be getting their “facts’ from Rush Limbaugh, and only half listening at that. Of course Bush got rid of virtually all of Clinton’s US Attorneys at the start of his term, as his precessors did also. What else would you expect? What was unusual about Bush was his politics-based purge at the start of his second term. If this is the level of fact-checking that VanillaMan engages in, he’d probably better start posting under a new name, because his credibility is toast.

Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Apr 23, 08 @ 1:39 pm
Am I missing something here? What’s the Blago connection?

Comment by steve schnorf Wednesday, Apr 23, 08 @ 1:53 pm
John,

Very good point about him leaving anyway.

The one thing that I would say, though, is that if Republicans want to differentiate themselves from the D’s, they need to send a clear message that this kind of behavior is not going to be tolerated. Saying that, I know I’m dreaming.

Comment by Trafficmatt Wednesday, Apr 23, 08 @ 1:57 pm
This jibes with the story I heard previously about Rove, at the behest of Hastert, trying to talk Peter Fitzgerald out of recommending Pat Fitzgerald, and instead to choose a local who would be agreeable to Hastert.

I’d love to know who they had in mind to replace Pat Fitzgerald.

Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Apr 23, 08 @ 2:02 pm
wordslinger- Steve Loren.

Comment by Fox Mulder Wednesday, Apr 23, 08 @ 2:17 pm
“I’d love to know who they had in mind to replace Pat Fitzgerald.”

Ask Rezko.

– SCAM
so-called “Austin Mayor”
http://austinmayor.blogspot.com

Comment by so-called "Austin Mayor" Wednesday, Apr 23, 08 @ 2:21 pm
Pat Collins must be getting their “facts’ from Rush Limbaugh

Not at all. Of COURSE Clinton replaced the previous AGs, just like he replaced his cabinet. What he did that was different, was that he did ALL of them on the SAME day. Before they were done as replacements were ready.

But one thing for sure: Dick Durbin owes Ashcroft an apology

Comment by Pat collins Wednesday, Apr 23, 08 @ 2:47 pm
We now know that this entire ‘issue’ over US Attorneys is baloney. The rumors flying around about Rove/Bush and Fitzgerald were based on nothing but air and ugly politics.

The only people who politicized the Justice Department were the ones who smeared the facts in order to win some Congressional seats in 2006.

Thanks Democrats. Now we can’t get anything done regarding justice in the US. Every judge nomination gets Borked by opportunists worried that a seat may not go to a an activist liberal judge and every US attorney nomination gets the new Gonzales treatment. Thanks to politics like that, we’re gridlocked.

Comment by VanillaMan Wednesday, Apr 23, 08 @ 3:18 pm
Bill and Bob..Blagojevich insiders? Who would have thought that 5 years ago?

Comment by Butch Wednesday, Apr 23, 08 @ 3:20 pm
The timeline here is interesting. Many things to ponder.

Just one here — by 2004, I doubt if Karl Rove cared one bit about Pat Fitzgerald in Illinois — Rove was looking to keep Fitz off his back in Washington. Any move against Fitzgerald would have provoked a “Saturday Night Massacre” storm for Bush. Still, there’s that 2005 “report” from the Justice Department.

2001, Sept. — Fitz appointed USATT for Northern Illinois

2003 December — Ryan indicted

2003, December — Fitz appointed Special Counsel in Plame Affair

2004 — Sometime. Ata will testify that Rezko told him Kjell was working with Rove to get rid of Fitz in Illinois.

2004-2005 — Fitz hauls Rove before grand jury four times in Plame Affair

2005 March — Justice Dept. report to White House (revealed in 2007). Fitz “did not distinguish himself” as U.S. Attorney for Northern Illinois. Two others with same ranking fired in 2006.

2005 July — Matt Cooper of Time reveals Rove as his source on Plame

2005, September — Fitz original four-year appt. expires

2005, October — Libby indicted for false statements, perjury, obstruction of justice

2005 December — Reports on Illinois Tollway investigation

2006, June — Fitz letter to Lisa Madigan on hiring fraud investigation in Blago admin.

2006, June — Fitz notifes Rove no charges will be filed against him

2006, July — Robert Novak reveals Rove as his primary source for outing Plame

2006, October — Rezko indicted

2007, March — Libby convicted

2007, July — Bush commutes Libby prison sentence. Calls Fitz “highly qualified, professional prosecutor.”

Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Apr 23, 08 @ 3:50 pm
Robert Novak reveals Rove as his primary source for outing Plame

Uhhhh, no. Richard Armitage. Novak has gone public on that in several columns.

Comment by Pat collins Wednesday, Apr 23, 08 @ 3:54 pm
Correct. Novak calls Armitage his primary source with Rove and Harlow from the CIA as providing confirmation.

Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Apr 23, 08 @ 4:17 pm
word-excellent timeline. when one adds in the May 2004 drop-by at Levine’s house by the FBI and the March 2005 first reports on Board Games/pension dept. it’s all very plausible.

Comment by Fox Mulder Wednesday, Apr 23, 08 @ 4:38 pm
Nice try WORDSLINGER. I love the anonymous sourcing - you “heard” Hastert did something back in 2001 to try to prevent Fitzgerald from being appointed. Are you suggesting Hastert knew Blago would be elected and knew he would repeat the offenses of George Ryan even before Ryan was indicted himself? Denny is one of the cleanest members of Congress ever. Shame on you.

Comment by Partisanship is good Wednesday, Apr 23, 08 @ 4:39 pm
And by the way, I take issue with the first sentence of the lead article. OF COURSE BUSH “POLITICIZED” THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE. That is the perogative of an election win. Don’t you remember who Bush took over for? So many of the Clinton cabinet members were under investigation it was hard to keep track of them. The Bush admin had every right to insist upon attorneys who would do their bidding. By the Clinton standards, the Bush US Attys have been ANGELIC. Hell, they even gave that horrible Sandy Berger a slap on the wrist.

And one more thing, Louis Freeh wouldn’t leave his FBI post because he feared what that horrible Janet Reno could do with a replacement.

Remember when the Clinton Justice Dept. used fully automatic weapons to enter a private home so they could return a child to Cuba? It was a travesty you may want to forget, but it cost you the election in 2000.

Comment by Partisanship is good Wednesday, Apr 23, 08 @ 4:48 pm
Partisian, I’m not suggesting any of what you said. I’m relating a story that I have good reasons to believe: That Hastert asked Rove to intervene with Peter Ftizgerald and ask him not to recommend Pat Fitzgerald, but, instead, someone from Illinois that was agreeable to Hastert.

Was it a big secret that a lot of establishment types didn’t want this guy nobody knew from out of town in the job? And we’re clear that Peter Fitzgerald is on-the-record that he recommended Pat Fitzgerald for exactly those reasons?

Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Apr 23, 08 @ 5:00 pm
Pete Fitzgerald openly stated that he wanted to appoint an outsider to keep G. Ryan from making the Abe Lincoln Museum his own private reward project for his pals. His concern was that Ryan would sell contracts for Museum projects to those sycophants he owed big time. Pete Fitzgerald was strong armed by Bush and the GOP to drop Pat Fitzgerald, refused to do so and in doing so sacrificed his political career in trying to maintain the less than political Pat Fitzgerald. The citizens of Illinois and for that matter the citizens of the U.S. owe Pete F. a big THANK YOU for showing some moral fiber and backbone! Not many would give up SOOOO… much to gain absolutely nothing material. What Pete did gain, at least in my eyes is respect, honor and gratitude.

Comment by Sweet Polly Purebred Wednesday, Apr 23, 08 @ 5:29 pm
Whatever you anonymous super-knowledgeable insiders think you know, there is absolutely no evidence that Bush or the nefarious “GOP” strong-armed Peter Fitzgerald.
And he didn’t sacrifice his political career over this issue.
He made an intelligent calculation that trying to work with all the numbskulls in Illinois (on both sides of the aisle) to keep a job that pays dirt, relatively speaking, was not worth it.
With the lack of intellectual activity or honesty, media bias (oh yes my friends), and the short term political memories in Illinois, why would anyone want to be involved.
There is a reason we suffer from a brain-drain to the Southern states. Who wants to live here anymore?

Comment by Partisanship is good Wednesday, Apr 23, 08 @ 5:52 pm
Now, for people who thought that this was “just business as usual in Illinois” I agree but thank goodness for Fitz for doggedly pursuing this case. This is the only way to get to the root.

This is finally a real corruption edding campaign and a real scandal.

This is where the rubber hits the road- Bob Kjellander, Cellini, Hurtgen, Rezko- the hold outs. Hurtgen paid kjellander almost $1million almost half of which went to Rezko companies. Rezko was listed as a lobbyist for Kjellander’s company.

Everyone else has pled guilty:

Levine
Kieferbaum
Loren
Cari
Glennon (I’m sure he’s got plenty to say on Hurtgen- he was mentioned with Hurtgen in the Gov. Ryan indictment- and Bib Bob K)

Hurtgen was a regular visitor to the White House too. He got there via his buddy former Gov. Tommy Thompson. There were also news reports of some of Hurtgen’s business partners meeting with Rove.

Gotta love this scandal-truly bi partisan. Equal opportunity graft, greed and corruption.

If Hurtgen’s case get’s tossed- the next investigation needs to be into that judge…

Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Apr 23, 08 @ 6:05 pm
Fox Mulder- let’s not forget that Levine and Hurtgen were dragged out in their pjs in the early morning hours(talk about peeing in the cornflakes) then slammed down on prowlers and cuffed.

The guys at the sixth hole of Glencoe Country Club must have been a little distracted while putting!

The whole process ends a pretty clear message,no? Something like “we know your scum and we are going to treat you that way”.

Gotta like Fitz’s style.

Comment by GofGlenview Wednesday, Apr 23, 08 @ 6:25 pm
Found this after a google search of Kjellander. it’s kind of like loking in a crystal ball the future of this case is as follows:

http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/2754/

Comment by GofGlenview Wednesday, Apr 23, 08 @ 6:48 pm
Karl Rove did it! Karl Rove did it!

We’ll be ok if we can just keep blaming Karl Rove.

Comment by Old_jack Wednesday, Apr 23, 08 @ 8:25 pm
GofG, thanks for that visual. Not.

I hope you don’t live on that one street in Glenview. You know, the one where Joe Aramanda, Jack Carriglio (Individual R), and Bob Stevenson (Don Stephens and Orlando Jones’ attorney) are all neighbors.

Mulder and Scully are worried about folks getting sick from all the radio waves being emitted around the ‘hood.

Yes, we are big Fitz fans.

Comment by Fox Mulder Wednesday, Apr 23, 08 @ 8:56 pm
Can someone explain how the IL-Washington corruption originated?

Who were the main players, and why IL, as opposed to NY, say?

This also seems to extend to Iraq, given the IL and Washington players, including Obama, Rezko, Rove, Cheney and Auchi.

Would this be correct?

And yes, we are big Fitz fans here, too.

God bless ya, Mr Fitzgerald, May the good Lord be with you…

Comment by Bonnie Prince Thursday, Apr 24, 08 @ 6:25 pm