U.S. prosecutors released a document today detailing some of the charges against former Governor Rod Blagojevich one of which is that the ex-gov “repeatedly expressed an interest in personally profiting” from his responsibility to appoint a successor to fill Barack Obama’s Senate seat abandoned in 2008 when he won election to the White House.
The document reports that Blagojevich told a high-ranking aide, “Now is the time for me to put my (expletive) children and wife first, for a change.”
Also repeated is the allegation that Blago expected to turn his power to appoint a Senator into a future job for himself and/or his wife, a “good gig” as he put it, as heard on surveillance tapes in possession of prosecutors.
Much of this info has come out in drips and drabbles in the past, but this is the first time that prosecutors have assembled it all in a single document laying out their roadmap for proceeding on the case.
Quite a few shady financial deals are outlined in the document.
This document shows one thing very clearly. It details the Chicago Way that now rests in Obama’s Washington because the same sort of Chicago mafia-styled operatives are now close advisers and/or employees in Obama’s administration. Some of Obama’s operatives have a place in this prosecution, too.
Blago faces a 24-count federal indictment and is scheduled to go on trial June 3.
Warner Todd Huston’s thoughtful commentary, sometimes irreverent often historically based, is featured on many websites such as Breitbart.com, among many, many others. He has also written for several history magazines, has appeared on numerous TV and radio shows.
