Conquer Club

CHICAGO (Dec. 9) - Federal authorities arrested Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich Tuesday on charges that he brazenly conspired to sell or trade the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by President-elect Barack Obama to the highest bidder.

Frigidus wrote:Ah, what's Illinois without corrupt politicians? Probably a fourth of the bastards deserve to be arrested.

GabonX wrote:They have him recorded (with the consent of the court) saying that he wants to sell Obama's seat in the senate.

I think he's done for.

mpjh wrote:An arrest is not a conviction, so don't dance yourself dizzy.

DaGip wrote:Did you know that less than 24 hours before his arrest, he had declared publicly that all Illinois offices would not do business with The Bank Of America anymore?

Please watch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxggcy6g4fg

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/0 ... 49272.html

Frigidus wrote:

DaGip wrote:Did you know that less than 24 hours before his arrest, he had declared publicly that all Illinois offices would not do business with The Bank Of America anymore?

Please watch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxggcy6g4fg

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/0 ... 49272.html

I swear, my dad said the same thing. He's turning into a freaking trufer. Damn you internet!

oVo wrote:LOL... he ran for Governor as a reformer against crooked politics.

The Bank of America issue is related to Illinois businesses not being extended a line of credit
and declaring bankruptcy with a weeks notice and no benefits paid to employees...

DaGip wrote:

oVo wrote:LOL... he ran for Governor as a reformer against crooked politics.

The Bank of America issue is related to Illinois businesses not being extended a line of credit
and declaring bankruptcy with a weeks notice and no benefits paid to employees...

It's just odd that the man made such a strong statement against BoA (and that's a lot of money that we are dealing with, if all of Illinois decides not to do business with them) and then the very next day the guy is in cuffs...strange coincidence? Money talks, and BoA made a phone call to have him removed from power. You will see that his next replacement will be a little bit nicer to BoA...

DaGip wrote:

oVo wrote:LOL... he ran for Governor as a reformer against crooked politics.

The Bank of America issue is related to Illinois businesses not being extended a line of credit
and declaring bankruptcy with a weeks notice and no benefits paid to employees...

It's just odd that the man made such a strong statement against BoA (and that's a lot of money that we are dealing with, if all of Illinois decides not to do business with them) and then the very next day the guy is in cuffs...strange coincidence? Money talks, and BoA made a phone call to have him removed from power. You will see that his next replacement will be a little bit nicer to BoA...

pimpdave wrote:I don't think the gears of government would move that quickly. If they arrested him, then they've been gathering evidence for a good long time.

Now, maybe they took no action on the evidence until BoA made a call, but that's just getting crazy.

I heard one politico on CNN say today, "it's just – even by the standard of American politics – incredible."

FBI special-agent-in-charge Robert Grant said: "I can tell you one thing, if it [Illinois] isn't the most corrupt state in the United States, it's certainly one hell of a competitor."

10. Talked about his schemes when he knew he was under investigation by the feds for various bribery schemes. On one recording, Blagojevich warned one person not to use the phone and saying, "The whole world is listening. You hear me?" Duh.

9. Committed his crimes in the Northern District of Illinois, Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's domain. Yes, this is the same guy who prosecuted the leak of CIA worker Valerie Plame's name to the press, and Scooter Libby. He's known for leaving no stone unturned.

3. Tried to shake down the CEO of Children's Memorial Hospital for $50,000. At one point, the governor awarded $8 million in funding to that hospital, but he allegedly wanted a $50,000 personal contribution from the CEO in return for his generosity. But that donation never came. Blagojevich then was heard via wiretap checking to see whether or not he could pull back the funding for the hospital. That's a low blow, Rod. You're definitely not getting any sympathy when you tried a scam that would ultimately effect kids.

2. Schemed to bribe a newspaper - a newspaper that reports on your screwups. If the Tribune Company wanted to sell Wrigley Field, Blagojevich allegedly said, then certain editors at the Chicago Tribune needed to be fired. Tribune editors say they never got any pressure from their parent company to skew any reporting. Tribune Co. says the company acted "appropriate at all times."

The Illinois Tollway is heavily involved in corruption charges following the dramatic arrest of state Governor Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff by the Feds and their indictment on multiple criminal counts.One incident cited in the indictment is Gov Blagojevich saying he expected an Illinois Tollway contractor to raise $500k for his Friends of Blagojevich campaign fund and that he was willing to commit more state funds to the Tollway contract if the contractor raised more money for his slush fund. The Governor has taken a close interest in the Tollway's activities and has heavily exploited the Tollway in his publicity.

The 78-page indictment filed by US Attorney Northern District Illinois, Patrick J Fitzgerald charges the Governor and his top aide with "ongoing criminal activity" and reveals a five year long undercover FBI investigation of corruption in Illinois state government.

Blagojevich, 51, is a Democrat and is likely to join his Republican predecessor former Governor George Ryan in a federal jail.

Ryan is serving a 6 year sentence for corruption which focused on truck divers licenses being available in return for political cash. US attorney Fitzgerald pursued the prosecution and conviction of the Republican Governor Ryan as well as the Bush Administration's senior aide Lewis 'Scooter' Libby so it will be difficult for critics to make a case of political bias against the Blagojevich indictment.

"They shared with me that I am not a target of the investigation and that I am not accused of any misconduct," said Jackson, who left the crowded session without taking questions.

Wiretapped conversations suggest Blagojevich felt the candidate would raise campaign money for him in exchange for being appointed to the Senate seat vacated by the president-elect.

Reporter: Has he (Obama) expressed a preference, however, on who might replace him (Obama) in the Senate?

Axelrod: He (Obama) has not, uh, uh, I mean, uh, uh, I know he (Obama) has talked to the governor (Blagojevich), and uhm, you know, he's (Obama), uhm...there are a whole range of names, many of which have surfaced and they (those people so named and discussed with Blagojevich)...and he's (Obama), uh-uh, I think he (Obama) has a fondness for a lot of them (those people so named and discussed with Blagojevich).