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* 8:38 pm - The US Attorney’s office claimed recently that they were OK with the public release of two of their subpoenas of the governor’s office, but not others because doing so might interfere with the federal investigation.
Blagojevich released those two subpoenas tonight. It’s not clear if USA Patrick Fitzgerald has wrapped up the probes connected to those subpoenas or not, but here are a couple of stories…
Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s office released a pair of year-and-a-half old federal subpoenas late Friday that are tied to the investigation of hiring irregularities in his administration.
In one of the subpoenas from spring 2006, federal authorities are seeking computer records from 17 state agencies and the governor’s office itself. In the other, authorities are seeking hiring scales for a few specific jobs with the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and the Department of Corrections.
The Tribune reported in 2006 that the governor’s chief legal counsel asked state agencies for the records as part of the federal investigation into hiring.
* More…
The release of the subpoenas came just before a Monday court hearing in which a judge is expected to decide whether the Blagojevich administration has to make public all of the subpoenas it has received in a far-ranging federal corruption probe.
The Better Government Association sued to gain access to those documents. And in late February, the governor’s office produced a letter from U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald’s office asking that federal subpoenas remain private, except for the two that Blagojevich released late Friday.
* But there was a bit of good news for the guv on Friday…
A judge on Friday ordered prosecutors in the Antoin “Tony” Rezko trial to steer clear of evidence intended to show that the longtime fundraiser for Gov. Rod Blagojevich manipulated the state hiring process.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve, who will preside at Rezko’s trial when it opens Monday, also prevents prosecutors from seeking to demonstrate Rezko was behind large political contributions to Blagojevich from two members of a corrupt state hospital regulatory panel. [..]
The ruling puts some restrictions on testimony about several meetings in 2003 between Rezko and Blagojevich’s then-patronage chief, Joe Cini, who is under investigation in a separate federal probe of hiring in the Blagojevich administration. […]
The ruling allows prosecutors to pursue testimony about Rezko’s input on filling the board and commission posts, but not the state jobs.
posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Feb 29, 08 @ 8:39 pm
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