Posted on 01/05/2009 2:26:18 PM PST by malkee
Reporting from Chicago -- Federal prosecutors have been granted an extra three months to seek an indictment of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
U.S. Chief District Court Judge James Holderman entered an order allowing the indictment deadline to be extended from Jan. 7 to April 7, according to the court docket in the Blagojevich case. Prosecutors had sought the extension last week, citing the complexity of their investigation of pay-to-play politics in the Blagojevich administration.
The government charged Blagojevich in a criminal complaint, citing the need for speed to keep him from allegedly making a deal to sell his appointment to the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama to the highest bidder. But it must seek a formal indictment because defendants cannot be tried on criminal complaints, which can only initiate a federal criminal case.
In making the case for an extension, prosecutors had noted that "thousands of phone calls were intercepted between late October 2008 and early December 2008. In addition, multiple witnesses have come forward in recent weeks to discuss their knowledge of criminal activity in relation to the ongoing investigation" of the governor and John Harris, the governor's former chief of staff.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
More time, huh? This stinks.
This was just a ploy for Fitzgerald to stay on as US Attorney.
Think of it as an arrest without an arraignment.
>>He will walk. To much political dynamite, and not enough actual stuff to charge.
This was just a ploy for Fitzgerald to stay on as US Attorney. <<
He may not get convicted... unless they have more evidence I only see that he wanted to see the senate seat rather than having a conspiracy or actual sale.
but the government action did keep Blago from selling the seat and he could still get impeached.
So its not so bad...
Nope, quite the opposite! It means that Burris vs. Reid goes on for at least three months. During that time, either Illinois has no extra liberal Rat Senator, or Harry Reid decides to eat his pride and admit a guy that Republicans can beat in 2010.
Don't worry about Blago, his political future is toast one way or the other. At this point, it's just a matter of if he's a guest of the Gray Bar hotel or not, and when.
I think Bush should pardon Blago on the way out! It’s not like the dirtbag could ever get elected to anything ever again, anyway. It would make Harry Reid soil himself!
Blago is just playing politics as usual, only now it’s big league and he’s enjoying while it lasts.
I think more and more that they’ve got nothing on Blago, and he isn’t going anywhere. Not that he isn’t a slimeball, but there isn’t enough evidence to convict.
I just asked for two years of blagofritzmas , it looks like a good wish :-))
I agree with what Monica Crowley said this evening, which has occurred to me before, that Fitzpatrick rushed to arrest Blago to prevent Obama and his transition team from being involved in actual Blago crimes. It’s good to have people look out for you.
They’re just trying to bluff him out of the Governor’s seat.
Fat chance.
Yep, absolutely. The fix -- once again -- is in.
They have plenty on Blank-O....BUt now REzko has no one to rat on to reduce his sentence except.....drum roll.....BO
FROM:
http://www.southtownstar.com/news/miller/1320476,120908miller.article
......
The Tribune cited unidentified sources to claim that bigtime lobbyist John Wyma’s cooperation allowed federal investigators to make “covert tape recordings” of Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
You just can’t get more “inside” than Wyma.
.....
Wyma has been known to hang out at Blagojevich’s house for hours, playing chess and swapping stories. Rezko was never Wyma-style close to Blagojevich.
Chris Kelly was a much closer Blagojevich friend than Wyma, and Kelly and Wyma reportedly were at odds throughout the years about who really had the governor’s ear. But it was Wyma who truly put all the pieces together with the fundraising and the lobbying.
Rezko is in prison, Kelly is awaiting trial on a tax beef, and now Wyma apparently is cooperating with the G.
...........
I agree there is likely not enough evidence, and that is because some of the evidence has disappeared. I’m wondering if, because of his dealings with Zero and his people re the senate seat, Blago was supposed to take a fall to make Zero look “clean,” but this has backfired. It all seems like a huge, complex chess game, with a lot of blundering thrown in and makes me very nervous for our country.
Fitz will get Blago in a perjury trap.
I mean, he has to get someone for something.
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