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Hey, Rod, release the tapes!

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Illinois

* Almost since the day he was arrested, Rod Blagojevich has demanded that the federal government release full copies of the tapes made during its covert surveillance. That way, he said, we could put his remarks into their proper context. Well, he has those tapes now…

Prosecutors have turned over to Rod Blagojevich’s lawyers 400 hours of recorded calls and at least 1 million pages of documents they say are evidence in the massive corruption case against the ex-governor. […]

There are an additional 300 boxes of documents Blagojevich’s lawyers can go through, another 2 million documents involved in the case and at least another 500 hours of recorded phone calls that were deemed not pertinent, lawyers in the case say. The evidence was so voluminous, it came with a 185-page index.

If Blagojevich appears on any radio or TV shows in the future, he should be pressed to release those tapes. All of them.

* In related news, the Sun-Times reports today that Blagojevich pal and mega fundraiser Chris Kelly has talked to the feds, but isn’t yet cooperating. The Tribune’s headline: “Another former ally may cooperate with feds,” is actually far more than the actual story reveals.

* Also yesterday, partisanship flared during a joint legislative reform committee hearing. House Republicans tried to pass legislation to “fumigate” the hospital planing board. Background…

The hospital CEO and whistleblower who helped ignite the FBI’s corruption case against former Gov. Rod Blagojevich said Tuesday that the state’s controversial health planning board should be scrapped.

Edward Hospital CEO Pam Davis said the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board denied Edward’s 2004 request for a hospital in Plainfield because of her refusal to partake in pay-to-play politics. Davis called for an end to the planning board, which she said weighs hospital proposals totaling $5 billion.

Details…

House Republicans, led by Minority Leader Tom Cross, want to fire Jeffrey Mark, executive secretary of the Health Facilities Planning Board, and David Carvalho, a deputy director of the Illinois Department of Public Health that oversees the employees. “In our efforts to continue to fumigate state government, this is another board that needs to be sanitized and start fresh with new players from top to bottom,” Cross said.

Cross added, however: “While we are not alleging that either of the two that held these positions themselves did anything illegal, corrupt activity happened under their watch. They were there before, during and after corrupt activity occurred.”

House Democrats said there was no reason to legislatively fire the two, and the bickering commenced.

Executive Secretary Mark was recommended for his job by Tony Rezko. But Democratic Sen. Susan Garrett claimed that Deputy Director Carvalho was also a Rezko guy…

Garrett asked Carvalho about a conversation they had at the Statehouse Inn. Carvalho said he told her that in the Tony Rezko documents Mark had a ‘TR’ next to his name (meaning Rezko helped him get the job) and it would surface, but Garrett said she remembered it differently.

Garrett said Carvalho told her Tony Rezko recommended him for his job.

Carvalho denied the claim and maintains that he has never met Rezko.

Hmmm.

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, May 6, 09 @ 9:33 am

Comments

As a general prinicpal, I do not like the GA getting invovled in hiring firing issues. BUT I support them removing the sitting memebrs of a board itself, since this is a legislative creation. In fact they did this with a number of boards in 2003 changing appointment dates so that Rod could put in entirley new boards.

Comment by Ghost Wednesday, May 6, 09 @ 9:40 am
Let’s get the index of all the tapes

Comment by 2ConfusedCrew Wednesday, May 6, 09 @ 9:49 am
900 hours in 46 days? That’s 20 hours a day!

Who talks on the phone that freakin’ much?!

Comment by hmm Wednesday, May 6, 09 @ 9:51 am
===That’s 20 hours a day!===

There were multiple targets.

Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, May 6, 09 @ 9:56 am
Nine hundred hours of recorded telephone conversations, 400 of them deemed relevant. That’s mind-boggling — and it’s no way to run an ongoing criminal enterprise.

Didn’t any of these guys ever see “Goodfellas?”

An appropriate time once again to resurrect my favorite “Deep Throat” quote from the movie “All the President’s Men”:

–” The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand. Just… follow the money.”–

Seems like there’s quite a trail to follow, thanks to The Gang that Couldn’t Stop Talking.

Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, May 6, 09 @ 9:58 am
As the saying some what goes, fire them all and let God sort it out.

Comment by Jacksonville Wednesday, May 6, 09 @ 10:09 am
No bleepin way. Those tapes are bleepin golden!

Comment by Bill Wednesday, May 6, 09 @ 10:19 am
I’m sure Blago will claim he is exonerated on the other 500 hours of tapes the feds didn’t give him which is why he won’t release the 400 hours he now has.

Comment by Phineas J. Whoopee Wednesday, May 6, 09 @ 10:22 am
I wonder if Rod and crew spent 400 hours on the phone doing legitimate government business in 6 years? I doubt it.

Comment by Leave a light on George Wednesday, May 6, 09 @ 10:55 am
BTW…After the stunning performance by the Circular Firing Squad plans to put in the fix for Edward and fire IHFPB staff have gone bye bye
StateWideTom Scores Again

Comment by 2ConfusedCrew Wednesday, May 6, 09 @ 11:30 am
“I don’t have the tapes. My attorney has the tapes, and I don’t even know who my attorney is yet. As soon as my (mythical, big city, hotdog, high profile, big ticket) attorney is finished listening to every single word of those tapes I will then get to hear them. And as soon as I am finished writing my (not a New York Times #1 Best Seller) book, I will then have a few hours a day to devote to listening to the 400 pertinent hours of those tapes. As soon as I listen to them, I will hold a press conference to tell all of you that ‘I am still very anxious for my story to be told so it will clear me of any wrongdoing and I’m very anxious to listen to the other 500 hours of non-pertinent tapes, as soon as my attorney finds to time to do the same and release them to me’. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.”

Surely we don’t expect any more or any less out of our former governor. He will stall, stall, stall, until his trial begins and then he will have a true excuse for not talking with the press.

And Bill, you are absolutely correct, they are bleepin’ golden.

Comment by Little Egypt Wednesday, May 6, 09 @ 12:30 pm
I agree that the Health Facilities Planning Board needs to be fumigated. (Actually, it needs to be eliminated as it does nothing but prevent competition).

There are hospital projects in Southern Illinois that only got approval after their hired the right attorney, apparently an attorney with connections to the staff. This was before all of the shenanigans with Rezko.

The board has the power to hold hostage multi-million dollar projects. With that power the staff and board has leverage. It breeds corruption faster than the mass media breeds hysteria over the latest pandemic.

Comment by Downstater Wednesday, May 6, 09 @ 12:46 pm
Wasn’t Dave Carvalho on Speaker Madigan’s Tech Review staff many years ago? I also think Bill Filan took Carvalho with him when Filan became Dick Phelan’s Chief of Staff when the latter was Cook County President.

Comment by GA Watcher Wednesday, May 6, 09 @ 1:16 pm
So, how many Tony Rezko people still remain Illinois state government. They keep sprouting up.
Does Quinn not know who they are or is he playing dumb and hoping nobody will notice.

Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, May 6, 09 @ 4:22 pm
How many Rezko people still remain Illinois state government?
Answer: Plenty!
Check out the payrolls at the Illinois Tollway and IDOT.

Comment by Northside Bunker Wednesday, May 6, 09 @ 4:33 pm
Susan Garrett has it out for Dave Carvalho because he accidentally embarressed her one time on a totally unrelated issue at a hearing. I don’t remember the topic but I do remember that she has hated him ever since. It is really outrageous that she would try to tie him to Rezko. He is probably the cleanest guy in state government. If you remember on the tapes, he was described as a “pain in the butt” which of course coming from levine or rezko is a real gold star. Yes he was on Madigan’s staff and he worked for Phelan and he worked for county for many years. He is a fabulous public servant, harvard educated lawyer and could work for a lot more money elsewhere but has chosen public service.
The woman from Edward Hospital keeps berating the IDPH staff but maybe her project doesn’t have great merit if you really care about the survival of safety net hospitals. The reason for the Health Facilities Planning Board is really to prevent hospitals all migrating to affluent areas and dumping the poor or skimming the profit and leaving the safety net hospitals to sink.

Comment by OMG Wednesday, May 6, 09 @ 4:54 pm
Amen to OMG, Dave Carvalhois the best of Public Servants. IDPH would be up the creek without him.

Comment by Former gman Wednesday, May 6, 09 @ 7:00 pm
OMG has it right. Every last bit of it. I’m thinking that we must have worked together.;)

Dave is a great guy. He also serves on his local school board.

Comment by Former State Employee 2 Wednesday, May 6, 09 @ 8:56 pm
One more vote for Carvalho…I worked with him for four years. A man of total integrity.

Comment by CCKAM Wednesday, May 6, 09 @ 9:00 pm
lol, Whoopee. You should have gotten paid for that advice.

Comment by Ahem, The Real Anonymous Wednesday, May 6, 09 @ 11:00 pm