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Chicago (AP) -- U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald wants lawmakers to hear what Gov. Rod Blagojevich (bluh-GOY'-uh-vich) says on wiretapped phone calls. . . . Federal prosecutors have asked a judge for permission to disclose a limited number of the intercepted conversations in a redacted form.

The federal investigation of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich has expanded to include his decision to shut a state-run maximum-security prison. FBI agents and investigators from U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald’s office interviewed Illinois State Senator Dan Rutherford, whose district includes the Pontiac Correctional Center, about the circumstances surrounding Blagojevich’s announcement in May that the facility would close, Rutherford said today. “Information came to me that caused me to pause,” Rutherford, a Republican from Pontiac, said in a statement on his Web site. “Since the closure of Pontiac was announced, it was obvious the decision was not made as a planned effort...

Full show at link - Excerpt I refer to here which begins at approximately 19:45 into the complete show.

Appraiser claiming fraud says prosecutor's office talked to him after Blago arrest Since arresting Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald has renewed interest in convicted fundraiser Tony Rezko's part in the purchase of Barack Obama's Chicago mansion, according to a former real estate analyst who says he was interviewed by the federal prosecutor in the past 10 days. Kenneth J. Conner told WND he was interviewed by investigators from Fitzgerald's office regarding the purchase of the Obama mansion and the adjacent vacant lot that Rezko's wife, Rita, purchased simultaneously. As WND reported last week, Conner filed a civil...

Feds seek to freeze Blago campaign fund, sources say December 17, 2008 BY NATASHA KORECKI Federal Courts Reporter Federal authorities plan to freeze Gov. Blagojevich’s campaign fund, crippling the governor’s ability to use the money for his legal bills. In a letter this week, they put the Blagojevich camp on notice they intend to freeze the money, sources told the Chicago Sun-Times. That disclosure comes a week after the governor was hit with federal charges including scheming to sell the U.S. Senate seat given up by President-elect Barack Obama. Today in Springfield, the governor’s lawyer, Ed Genson, appeared before a...

To paraphrase a well-known axiom: All that is necessary for political corruption to triumph is for good men to do nothing. Throughout the campaign, John McCain repeatedly warned that Obama’s political career was was no profile in courage. Ryan Lizza also made this point in this July 2008 article published by The New Yorker: “Perhaps the greatest misconception about Barack Obama is that he is some sort of anti-establishment revolutionary. Rather, every stage of his political career has been marked by an eagerness to accommodate himself to existing institutions rather than tear them down or replace them.” In practical terms,...

Since arresting Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald has renewed interest in convicted fundraiser Tony Rezko's part in the purchase of Barack Obama's Chicago mansion, according to a former real estate analyst who says he was interviewed by the federal prosecutor in the past 10 days. Kenneth J. Conner told WND he was interviewed by investigators from Fitzgerald's office regarding the purchase of the Obama mansion and the adjacent vacant lot that Rezko's wife, Rita, purchased simultaneously. As WND reported last week, Connor filed a civil complaint in October with the Illinois Circuit Court in Cook County alleging...

The Blago Scandal: What’s the Rush? Are Obama allies stoking a crisis to push an embarrassing scandal offstage? By Byron York How serious is the political crisis in Illinois? Each day brings new word that the emergency is intensifying; the latest came Friday, when Illinois attorney general Lisa Madigan asked the state supreme court to declare Gov. Rod Blagojevich incapable of governing, arguing that the scandal surrounding Blagojevich amounts to a disability that prevents him from serving as governor. At a news conference in Chicago, Madigan also suggested that Blagojevich’s legal troubles are plunging the state into financial crisis, making...

Conventional wisdom holds that U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald ordered the FBI to arrest Rod Blagojevich before sunrise Tuesday in order to stop a crime from being committed. That would have been the sale of the Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama. But the opposite is true: Members of Fitzgerald’s team are livid the scheme didn’t advance, at least for a little longer, according to some people close to Fitzgerald’s office. Why? Because had the plot unfolded, they might have had an opportunity most feds can only dream of: A chance to catch the sale of a Senate seat on...

Since arresting Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald has renewed interest in convicted fundraiser Tony Rezko's part in the purchase of Barack Obama's Chicago mansion, according to a former real estate analyst who says he was interviewed by the federal prosecutor in the past 10 days. Kenneth J. Conner told WND he was interviewed by investigators from Fitzgerald's office regarding the purchase of the Obama mansion and the adjacent vacant lot that Rezko's wife, Rita, purchased simultaneously. As WND reported last week, Connor filed a civil complaint in October with the Illinois Circuit Court in Cook County alleging...

Looks like we can possibly thank our meddling media for another possibly bungled investigation, this time over the selling of Barack Obama's Senate seat by Illinois Governor Rod Blagojavich. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune was working with Fitzgerald's office on the investigation but decided to stop doing so in favor of printing the sensational story they were sitting on. This forced the arrest early so that the paper wouldn't blow the whole investigation. The story everyone thought they knew was that Fitzgerald moved when he did to stop a crime about to be committed. But, the...

http://www.thebulletin.us/articles/2008/12/15/news/nation/doc4945cd9fc549a935919797.txt

Patrick Fitzgerald seems to indicate that Obama’s team approached Blaogjevich! I noticed this as I was reading the transcript of Fitzgerald's comments at the press conference. Below is a quote from that event that I've not heard mentioned anywhere. After Fitzgerald details the events around the Valerie Jarrett portion of the pay-for-play scheming with the Obama people, he then goes on to say this about Jesse Jackson Jr. approaching Blagojevich with another deal: —- “What I should also talk about is that, in another event, SOMEBODY ELSE APPROACHED THE GOVERNOR [emphasis mine]. And the governor’s understanding of this approach was...

Chicago U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald is an old hand at political corruption trials. The initial evidence he's brought against Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich appears to be overwhelming. But defense lawyers know that wiretaps often can be a double-edged sword, and that there are weakness to be exploited in the 76-page criminal complaint against Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris. Cotterpj_web "I don't want to sound like this is a wonderful case to defend because it's not," says Patrick Cotter (right), a white-collar defense partner at Chicago's Arnstein & Lehr. (Cotter worked with Fitzgerald when the two were assistant...

LOST amid the understandable clamor over the charges against Gov. Rod Blagojevich of Illinois are questions raised by the pretrial public comments about the case by the prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald.

As in the (Scooter) Libby case, his behavior is 'appalling.'Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's "conduct would make Lincoln roll over in his grave," according to U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald. But Mr. Fitzgerald's statement would, at the very least, make well-regarded former Attorney General Robert Jackson flinch in his. Almost seven decades ago, Jackson admonished a meeting of U.S. attorneys that they should be dedicated "to the spirit of fair play and decency . . . . A sensitiveness to fair play and sportsmanship is perhaps the best protection against the abuse of power . . . ." In the Dec. 9...

Federal Sources: Fitzgerald Held Off Blagojevich Bust to Protect Obama Election Chances; Did Obama Fail Ethics Requirements of Illinois Bar? A federal source of mine with ties to Chicago says that FBI agents had enough to prosecute corrupt, helmet-haired Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich back in June, when he was already engaged in some of the blackmail and extortion alleged by the FBI affidavit and other documents associated with his arrest and prosecution. The source says that the FBI was suddenly ordered by the U.S. Attorney's Office--and I believe that order came from the top, ie., U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald and...

We voted for change. But it appears we may be getting some real change here in Illinois. The differences between Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn and indicted Governor Rod Blagojevich are staggering, and that's simply from a (good) government perspective. (Can't wait for Rich Miller to start calling me a goo goo!) First of all, when Pat Quinn takes over as our Governor we will have an engaged governor, someone who not only puts the people of Illinois first but is incessantly thinking about how to improve our lives. If Pat Quinn ever chooses to "work from home," you will know...

WHEN Bill Clinton took office in January 1993, he was hearing the foot steps of Little Rock US Attorney Charles Banks, who was hot on his heels as he probed charges of corruption that swirled around the Watergate land deal. President Clinton decided, in one of his first acts, to fire all 93 US Attorneys - claiming he wanted a clean slate. Many insiders suspected that the other 92 bodies were a cover for firing Banks and replacing him with Paula Casey, a Clinton ally. US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald's indictment of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich raises a similar question as...

Once he assumes office, President-elect Barack Obama will face a severe “trial by fire” over whether to fire U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald and other U.S. attorneys, following Democratic Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s arrest Tuesday for allegedly offering to sell Obama’s vacated Senate seat to the highest bidder. Ordinarily, legal and political experts say, an incoming president has broad authority to change both the Cabinet and the U.S. attorneys who serve at his request. But with unanswered questions swirling over the degree of interaction Obama's team has had with Blagojevich, and the alarming level of Illinois corruption exposed by the...