Posted on 11/14/2020 8:34:56 AM PST by libsdelendaest
About a month after Mr. Obama was elected president in 2008, Mr. Blagojevich, the sitting governor of Illinois, was arrested early one morning at his Chicago home. The accusations were stunning: Prosecutors said Mr. Blagojevich (pronounced bluh-GOY-uh-vich, though plenty of people, even in Illinois, still just call him “Blago”) had not only tried to crassly benefit from making an appointment to Mr. Obama’s vacant Senate seat, but had also sought millions of dollars from people with state business in all sorts of other scenarios. Federal prosecutors said the conduct was so abysmal that it “would make Lincoln roll over in his grave.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
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I thought it was the governor’s prerogative to decide vacant seats. I think they charged Blago for basically auctioning the seat for either political or personal contributions. I don’t think there’s a politician alive who wouldn’t do the same thing.
As others have said, the real crime was refusing to follow Chairman O’s directives. He was made an example for the edification of any other dems considering similar action.
I guess he’s about to go public with his story and the Times is trying to undermine his credibility hoping to neutralize the impression he’ll make.
I think Blagojevich was screwed by Barack Obama.
Remember, it was Obama’s senate seat he was caught selling... does anyone think for a moment that the money grubbing Obamas didn’t want a piece of that action?
Let’s say Blago tried to cut the Obamas out of the deal - and they sent him to prison for it.
Along comes Trump who figures “the enemy of my enemy....“
“Blagojevich also continues to say he was innocent; I think he believes he was barely within the law. His problem if I remember was bucking some other powerful Democrats who turned on him.”
Jesse Jackson Jr (the buyer of the Senate seat) and his wife have been out of prison for years. Blago’s problem was being prosecuted by a Republican while his co-conspirators got prosecuted by Democrats.
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