(Editor's
note: What follows are excerpts
from the 76-page federal criminal complaint against Illinois Governor
Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris. Blagojevich was
arrested Tuesday. The full document is available here.)
The Basics
a. Defendant Rod Blagojevich and at times defendant John Harris, together with others, obtained and attempted to obtain financial benefits for Rod Blagojevich, members of the Blagojevich family, and third parties including Friends of Blagojevich, in exchange for appointments to state boards and commissions, state employment, state contracts, and access to state funds;
b. Defendants Rod Blagojevich and John Harris, together with others, offered to, and threatened to withhold from, the Tribune Company substantial state financial assistance in connection with Wrigley Field, which assistance Rod Blagojevich believed to be worth at least $100 million to the Tribune Company, for the private purpose of inducing the controlling shareholder of the Tribune Company to fire members of the editorial board of the Chicago Tribune, a newspaper owned by the Tribune Company, who were responsible for editorials critical of Rod Blagojevich;
c. Defendants Rod Blagojevich and John Harris, together with others, attempted to use Rod Blagojevich's authority to appoint a United States Senator for the purpose of obtaining personal benefits for Rod Blagojevich, including, among other things, appointment as Secretary of Health & Human Services in the President-elect's administration, and alternatively, a lucrative job which they schemed to induce a union to provide to Rod Blagojevich in exchange for appointing as senator an individual whom Rod Blagojevich and John Harris believed to be favored by union officials and their associates.
Selected Specific Allegations
16. Ali Ata testified under oath in the spring of 2008 that Ata discussed with Rod Blagojevich a potential appointment to a high-level position with the State of Illinois while a $25,000 donation check to Friends of Blagojevich from Ata was sitting on a table in front of Rod Blagojevich. Ata further testified that later, after Ata made another substantial contribution to Friends of Blagojevich, Rod Blagojevich told Ata that he was aware of the donation, that he understood that Ata would be joining his administration, and that Ata better get a job "where [Ata] can make some money."
25. Joseph Cari testified under oath at the Rezko Trial on April 15 and 16, 2008. Among other things, Cari testified that he had a conversation with Rod Blagojevich in which Rod Blagojevich informed Cari that Rod Blagojevich could use his power to award State of Illinois contracts in order to generate campaign contributions. Cari further testified that he had similar conversations with [convicted Blagojevich advisor Tony] Rezko and [Blagojevich fundraiser] Chris Kelly, who specifically offered him State of Illinois work in exchange for Cari's assistance with various fundraising matters.
60. In response to questions posed by agents, Individual A has described efforts by Rod Blagojevich and Fundrasier A to obtain campaign contributions from state contractors by the end of the year. Specifically, Individual A advised that Rod Blagojevich is seeking a total of approximately $2.5 million in campaign contributions by the end of the year, principally from or through individuals identified on a list maintained by Friends of Blagojevich. The FBI has obtained a copy of that list, which identifies individuals and entities targeted for campaign contributions, as well as amounts sought from those individuals and entities. A comparison of the names and entities on that list with information available from public sources and FBI investigative files reflects that numerous of the individuals and entities on that list have state contracts or have received public benefits conferred by Rod Blagojevich, such as appointments to positions in state government.
65. According to Individual A, on October 8, 2008, during a discussion of fundraising from various individuals and entities, the discussion turned to Children's Memorial Hospital, and Rod Blagojevich told Individual A words to the effect of "I'm going to do $8 million for them. I want to get [Hospital Executive 1] for 50." Individual A understood this to be a reference to a desire to obtain a $50,000 campaign contribution from Hospital Executive 1, the Chief Executive Officer of Children's Memorial Hospital. Individual A said that he/she understood Rod Blagojevich's reference to $8 million to relate to his recent commitment to obtain for Children's Memorial Hospital $8 million in state funds through some type of pediatric care reimbursement. As described in further detail below, intercepted phone conversations between Rod Blagojevich and others indicate that Rod Blagojevich is contemplating rescinding his commitment of state funds to benefit Children's Memorial Hospital because Hospital Executive 1 has not made a recent campaign contribution to Rod Blagojevich.
90. Later on November 3, 2008, Rod Blagojevich spoke with Advisor A. By this time, media reports indicated that Senate Candidate 1, an advisor to the President- elect, was interested in the Senate seat if it became vacant, and was likely to be supported by the President-elect. During the call, Rod Blagojevich stated, "unless I get something real good for [Senate Candidate 1], shit, I'll just send myself, you know what I'm saying." Rod Blagojevich later stated, "I'm going to keep this Senate option for me a real possibility, you know, and therefore I can drive a hard bargain. You hear what I'm saying. And if I don't get what I want and I'm not satisfied with it, then I'll just take the Senate seat myself." Later, Rod Blagojevich stated that the Senate seat "is a fucking valuable thing, you just don't give it away for nothing."
99. Later on November 7, 2008, Rod Blagojevich discussed the open Senate seat in a three-way call with John Harris and Advisor B, a Washington D.C.-based consultant. Rod Blagojevich indicated in the call that if he was appointed as Secretary of Health & Human Services by the President-elect, then Rod Blagojevich would appoint Senate Candidate 1 to the open Senate seat. Harris stated "we wanted our ask to be reasonable and rather than ... make it look like some sort of selfish grab for a quid pro quo." Rod Blagojevich stated that he needs to consider his family and that he is "financially" hurting. Harris said that they are considering what will help the "financial security" of the Blagojevich family and what will keep Rod Blagojevich "politically viable." Rod Blagojevich stated, "I want to make money." During the call, Rod Blagojevich, Harris, and Advisor B discussed the prospect of working a three-way deal for the open Senate seat. Harris noted that Rod Blagojevich is interested in taking a high-paying position with an organization called "Change to Win," which is connected to Service Employees International Union ("SEIU"). Harris suggested that SEIU Official make Rod Blagojevich the head of Change to Win and, in exchange, the President-elect could help Change to Win with its legislative agenda on a national level. Advisor B asked why SEIU Official cannot just give the job to Rod Blagojevich. Harris responded that it would be just a big "give away" for SEIU Official and Change to Win since there are already individuals on the Change to Win payroll doing the functions of the position that would be created for Rod Blagojevich. Harris said that Change to Win will want to trade the job for Rod Blagojevich for something from the President-elect. Harris suggested a "three-way deal," and explained that a three-way deal like the one discussed would give the President-elect a "buffer so there is no obvious quid pro quo for [Senate Candidate 1]." Rod Blagojevich stated that for him to give up the governorship for the Change to Win position, the Change to Win position must pay a lot more than he is getting paid right now. Advisor B said that he liked the idea of the three-way deal. Rod Blagojevich stated that he is interested in making $250,000 to $300,000 and being on some organization boards. Advisor B said they should leverage the President- elect's desire to have Senate Candidate 1 appointed to the Senate seat in order to get a head position with Change to Win and a salary. Advisor B agreed that the three-way deal would be a better plan than Rod Blagojevich appointing Senate Candidate 2 to the Senate seat and getting more done as Governor.
116. In addition, in the course of the conversations over the last month, Rod Blagojevich has spent significant time weighing the option of appointing himself to the open Senate seat, and has expressed a variety of reasons for doing so, including frustration at being "stuck" as governor, a belief that he will be able to obtain greater resources if he is indicted as a sitting Senator as opposed to a sitting governor, and a desire to remake his image in consideration of a possible run for President in 2016, avoid impeachment by the Illinois legislature, make corporate contacts that would be of value to him after leaving public office, facilitate his wife's employment as a lobbyist, and assist in generating speaking fees should he decide to leave public office.
