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34 years ago today, on November 10, 1975, the SS Edmund Fitzgerald - aka "Mighty Fritz," - foundered and sank during a storm on Lake Superior. Launched on June 8, 1958, the Edmund Fitzgerald was the largest ship on the Great Lakes for the next 13 years

SNIPPET: "Search at Grundy County plant called part of ongoing probe" SNIPPET: "But a source said the owner of the plant, which processes lamb and goat, was taken into custody at his home in Chicago. Documents and records were taken from the plant and from a Chicago travel agency on West Devon Avenue, also owned by the same person, the source said."

A federal judge has ordered the Justice Department to release notes and summaries of former Vice President Dick Cheney's 2004 interview with Special Prosecutor Pat Fitzgerald in the CIA leak case, but is allowing the deletion of what may be some of the most interesting details in the documents. In a ruling issued Thursday morning, Judge Emmet Sullivan flatly rejected claims by both Bush and Obama appointees at DOJ that the entirety of the records should be withheld because their disclosure could discourage White House officials from cooperating in future investigations. The judge said the prospect of such inquiries was...

Has anyone stayed on this story?

Hannity said that Fitzgerald will be appointed by Obama to some White House position? Maybe it's just a rumor? Or just Hannity's humor? I don't find anything in the news. Some background. "It appears that the Chicago machine might be under scrutiny by US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald and his team of prosecutors as well." http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/07/former_blago_aide_pleads_guilt.html

The top federal prosecutor in Chicago is threatening to sue publisher HarperCollins, calling a book about the war on terrorism that focuses in part on cases he was involved in "a deliberate lie masquerading as the truth." If HarperCollins publishes the new edition of "Triple Cross" by Peter Lance this month "and it defames me or casts me in a false light, HarperCollins will be sued," Patrick Fitzgerald said in a letter to the New York-based company. The book focuses on, among other things, major terrorism cases that Fitzgerald prosecuted when he was an assistant U.S. attorney in New York...

Jack Fitzgerald, owner of nine Washington area dealerships -- seven of which are on the chopping block by General Motors and Chrysler -- left his headquarters on Rockville Pike mid-morning yesterday, armed with a black bag full of thick consumer reports, pie charts and line graphs on cars. In the past three weeks, he's been a virtual one-man PR machine, meeting with local and national politicians and blitzing the media in a desperate attempt to save his business.

Attempted Censorship by U.S. Attorney — A Book to Watch! ### On June 16, the paperback edition of Triple Cross: How Bin Laden’s Master Spy Penetrated the CIA, the Green Berets and the FBI by Peter Lance will be released by HarperCollins. This is happening despite a prominent U.S. Attorney’s best efforts to stop it. Since this book was first published in hardcover in 2006, Patrick Fitzgerald, US Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago (the same Patrick Fitzgerald of the Valerie Plame investigation) has repeatedly attempted to have the publisher bury the book, and to prevent publication...

Ald. Isaac Carothers (29th), a staunch ally of Mayor Richard Daley, was indicted today on charges he accepted about $40,000 in improvements to his residence as well as meals and tickets to sporting events in exchange for backing a major project by a developer. The developer, Calvin Boender, was also indicted. Carothers, 54, was charged with four counts of wire and mail fraud and one count each of accepting a bribe and filing a false federal income tax return. Boender was charged with four counts of wire and mail fraud, two counts of obstruction of justice, two misdemeanor counts of...

Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, his brother Rob and Christopher Kelly, a former top fundraiser for Blagojevich, were all indicted today on corruption charges, the U.S. attorney's office in Chicago announced. Also charged in the indictment were Lon Monk, a lobbyist and former Blagojevich chief of staff; John Harris, also a former chief of staff to Blagojevich; and William Cellini, a Springfield insider for decades. The indictment comes four months after Blagojevich was arrested and charged with engaging in pay-to-play politics in a sweeping federal complaint that accused him of trading state jobs, contracts and regulatory favors for campaign contributions. The...

Federal prosecutors have only a week left to indict former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. When authorities arrested Blagojevich back in December, it was based on a criminal complaint. Prosecutors didn't have the case all tied up in a bow, but U.S. attorney Patrick Fitzgerald rushed to bring charges because he said Blagojevich was in the middle of a crime spree. FITZGERALD: Sometimes when there's ongoing criminal conduct, and this is a very different case than what we often see, we will expose the criminal conduct and bring charges to let people know we're on to it, and to hopefully, to...

CHICAGO – A federal jury convicted Chicago's former streets and sanitation commissioner Monday of using bogus documents and other fraudulent acts in a scheme to load the city payroll with political campaign workers. Al Sanchez, 61, looked on without expression as U.S. District Judge Robert W. Gettleman read the guilty verdicts on four charges of mail fraud and acquittals on three others. Each count carries a maximum 20-year sentence. Afterward, Sanchez said the conviction was unfair. "We had a job to do and we did it and now I'm sitting up here convicted of crimes and I don't know what...

If U.S. Attorney Pat Fitzgerald was still thinking about appealing the light sentence given Fast Eddie Vrdolyak, a ruling in an unrelated appellate case last week might have changed his mind. Fitzgerald had appealed a lenient sentence in a case of consumer fraud, with the result that Judge Richard Posner actually ordered the defendant acquitted, adding a rebuke to prosecutors that was, even for Posner, sharply worded. Fitzgerald’s spokesman told me that the Vrdolyak matter is “still under review” and he had no comment on Posner’s ruling. Vrdolyak, after pleading guilty in a $1.5 million financial fraud, was sentenced last...

U.S. Sen. Roland Burris was interviewed by federal authorities for several hours Saturday as part of the ongoing corruption investigation into charges that former Gov. Rod Blagojevich tried to sell a Senate seat for personal or political profit, sources familiar with the talks said. Burris' interview, which had been delayed for weeks, took place at his attorney's offices in downtown Chicago. He has been informed he is not a target of the probe, the sources said. Burris acknowledged a week ago that federal investigators wanted to talk to him about the circumstances surrounding his appointment by Blagojevich, which occurred three...

Okay, so the President and his family came home to Chicago this weekend to get a haircut, play basketball with friends and take his wife to Valentine's Day dinner at Gold Coast's Table 52. This is what we're to believe the President has time to focus on, as Iran develops world peace-threatening nuclear weapons, Illinois-based soldiers die in Iraq and Afghanistan, the American economy teeters on the edge of falling into bottomless catastrophe? Amazing timing, don't you think? The very day that Roland Burris admits he didn't really tell the Illinois House impeachment committee, "the truth, the WHOLE truth, and...

NOTE: For those who don't get it, Jesus is not rooting for any particular team. When players say that they thank God or say they thank Jesus, they are thanking our Creator for giving them the strength to use the talent God gave them and to be the best they can be. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ GLENDALE, Ariz. -- That's not a mirage rising out of the desert, folks. It's the Arizona Cardinals soaring to their first Super Bowl. Yes, the Cardinals, founding members of the NFL, but historically among the most dysfunctional of franchises, finally have joined the big boys. Capitalizing on...

In a remarkable screw-up, a Department of Justice official today accidentally distributed to the media a document containing the names of nearly 20 confidential witnesses interviewed during a federal probe targeting the operators of a fraudulent investment scheme. In announcing felony charges against two men for their roles in an alleged $15 million Ponziesque swindle, the spokesman for Chicago U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald (he of Rod Blagojevich- and Scooter Libby-prosecuting fame) e-mailed reporters a 62-page U.S. District Court complaint filed against John Walsh and Charles Martin, principals of the now-defunct One World Capital Group. Included in the document was a...

Roland "Tombstone" Burris goes to Washington this week as part of the Illinois political freak show, and many of us back home will watch it and feel like cringing, at least at the beginning. Who among us could not wince at the prospect of Tombstone standing before news cameras, his head bobbing, smiling amiably, chattering nonsensically as is his way, insisting he feels no shame. All he wants is to become a United States senator, and he kissed a tainted hand to get there. His fellow Democrats may be ready to bar his entrance to the Senate chambers, and politicians...

'Thousands of phone calls' on feds' wiretaps MORE TARGETS | 'Multiple witnesses have come forward,' authorities say $$$ Prosecutors revealed Wednesday that they captured "thousands of phone calls" on secret wiretaps in their investigation into Gov. Blagojevich. The disclosure came in a government filing in which prosecutors asked for a 90-day extension to indict Blagojevich and his former chief of staff, John Harris. The filing also revealed that the government has additional targets in its ongoing probe and that the governor's Dec. 9 arrest spurred more witnesses to talk to prosecutors. "Multiple witnesses have come forward in recent weeks to...

Federal authorities investigating Gov. Rod Blagojevich have intercepted thousands of phone calls, interviewed a number of new cooperating witnesses and targeted several potential defendants in the case, according to a court filing released Wednesday. The motion was made in federal court by prosecutors who are seeking an extra three months to formally indict Blagojevich and his former chief of staff, John Harris. The move was expected because the deadline for handing up an indictment had been set for Jan. 7. The extension would give U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald's office until April 7. Fitzgerald's office cited the complexity of the case...

Illinois is the laughing stock of America and even the world, but you can’t say it just happened because of the scandal engulfing our governor, Rod Blagojevich. It’s been that way for a long time. The difference is that today, many in Illinois politics, Republicans and Democrats, are exploiting it for their own selfish agendas. The people declaring that Illinois is the nation’s laughing stock the most are in fact politicians, elected and government officials from Illinois, all seeking some personal advantage in the Blagojevich scandal. But the real challenge we face is not what the rest of America thinks...

U.S. senators are in for a major fight if they intend to follow through with threats to bar Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's appointment from replacing President-elect Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate next week, say legal scholars, political analysts and even some elected officials. The current 50-member Senate Democratic caucus had urged Blagojevich not to appoint former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris to the job while Blagojevich is under the cloud of a possible indictment and impeachment for allegedly trying to sell the Senate seat to the highest bidder. He ignored the request. Now the entire campaign to de-legitimize Blagojevich...

Springfield, IL—The Barack Obama Whitewash is in full swing and US Attorney, Patrick Fitzgerald is currently in the Tank for the President-elect. My sources in Chicago claim Fitzgerald is now looking out for Obama’s interests. The deal has already been made. Now Fitzgerald has made quite a mess and before it’s all over whistleblowers within his own office may spill the beans. The only way out is for a real sweetheart deal where Governor Rod Blagojevich, shuts up, resigns and escapes prison. No hearings, no trials and no risk of exposing Obama or his minions to sunshine. The lawyers for...

Posted below, but the point is, there is some contradictory evidence that O DID meet with Blag about the senate seat. Everybody is in cahoots with everybody to protect O it seems: >>I just do not get what is happening these days....we had two very clear news items posted on Tri Connect describing how O was to meet with Blag that afternoon, then a followup story AFTER the meeting took place. Not to mention the now fading, soon to be forgotten, memory of Axlerod's very clear "I know he has talked with the govenor" etc... comment on video. How did...

Prosecutors seek to release Blago's calls December 29, 2008 BY NATASHA KORECKI AND DAVE MCKINNEY, Staff Reporters Federal authorities had more wiretaps than previously disclosed in the investigation of Gov. Blagojevich -- including the cellular telephone of a member the governor's inner circle. A new government filing in federal court indicates that in November, authorities tapped the cell phone of "Lobbyist 1." The Sun-Times has identified lobbyist 1 as Lon Monk, the governor's first-term chief of staff. Monk later became a fund-raiser and state lobbyist. The revelation that investigators captured more on secret recordings than previously disclosed, came as federal...

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...

As Democrats inside and outside the Obama camp struggle to circle the wagons around The One (Rush Limbaugh noted that, while Jesus walked on water, Obama seems to walk on cesspools), there are two critical questions that arise. First, why did Obama resign so early, and finally, why was U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald so uncharacteristically impatient to arrest the Governor of Illinois and his chief of staff? What was so compelling about this scandal that makes it different from the scandalous behavior of every big city Democratic machine in America? Obama resigned his senate seat on Sunday, November 16, just...

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...

Those of you not from Illinois are not prepared for the fallout of today's bombshell news of the FBI arrest of the Govenor of Illinois - Rod Blagojevich. But I am from Illinois, and I know how deep this is going to go. Today is just the tip of the iceberg. Lots of people are going down, including - I predict (and you heard it here first) the highest profile product of Crook County Illinois - Senator Barack Hussein Obama. First, let me just say "it's about damn time" that our boy-criminal Governor was arrested. He's been corrupt and flagrant...

The 47-year-old U.S. District Attorney dropped many a memorable sound byte when he unveiled corruption charges against Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich on Tuesday, referring to the governor's actions as a "political corruption crime spree" that brought the state's notoriously crooked politics to a "truly new low" and "would make Lincoln roll over in his grave." The rhetoric, called "priggish" by some, is not surprising for a guy who has built his career fighting Mob bosses, terrorists, drug lords and double-dealing public servants like former Bush aide "Scooter" Libby. "It has become a cliché to compare him to Eliot Ness, the...

"...John Harris re-stated Rod Blagojevich's thoughts that they should ask the President-elect for something for Rod Blagojevich's financial security as well as maintain his political viability. Harris said they could work out a three-way deal with SEIU and the President- elect where SEIU could help the President-elect with Rod Blagojevich's appointment of Senate Candidate 1 to the vacant Senate seat, Rod Blagojevich would obtain a position as the National Director of the Change to Win campaign, and SEIU would get something favorable from the President-elect in the future..."

President-elect Barack Obama wanted to bring some Chicago with him to Washington. But with one stiff wind, Chicago has grabbed Obama and his transition -- and blown it off-course for the first time since Election Day. It isn’t about the direct implications -- though having a senior adviser win a pseudonym in a Patrick Fitzgerald legal filing might be enough to keep a scandal around for a while. What the stunning charges leveled against Gov. Rod Blagojevich, D-Ill., mean for the heretofore flawless transition: 1. The underbelly of the Obama political operation, with all its Chicago tints and taints, is...