If last week's Chicago Tribune blockbuster story is accurate, then Governor Rod Blagojevich's ultimate inner circle was successfully penetrated by U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald.
The Tribune cited unidentified sources to claim that big-time lobbyist John Wyma's cooperation allowed federal investigators to make "covert tape recordings" of Blagojevich. The governor and his chief of staff were arrested Tuesday.
You just can't get more "inside" than Wyma.
"Whenever decisions were being made, Wyma was always around," said a longtime Blagojevich insider last week. "Nobody is closer to Rod."
Blagojevich, like his imprisoned predecessor George Ryan, has way too often mixed campaign fundraising with government policy, and Wyma was one of the people who appeared to be at the center of that strategy.
Convicted felon Tony Rezko was also a part of that game, but Wyma has been known to hang out at Blagojevich's house for hours, playing chess and swapping stories. Rezko was never Wyma-style close to Blagojevich.
Chris Kelly was a much closer Blagojevich friend than Wyma, and Kelly and Wyma reportedly were at odds over the years about who really had the governor's ear. But it was Wyma who truly put all the pieces together with the fundraising and the lobbying.
Rezko is in prison, Kelly is awaiting trial on a tax beef, and now Wyma is apparently cooperating with the G.
Usually, folks just don't volunteer to help the U.S. Attorney bug their buddies. And even if the occasional altruistic citizen might, very few will do something like that out of the goodness of their hearts to a close friend and a guy who has made them millions of dollars.
So I suppose it's possible that John Wyma graciously offered to help the feds record conversations with Blagojevich, but history and common sense tells us that if the Tribune story is correct and Wyma did provide assistance, then the feds may have had something on him.
What, though? There are quite a few things out there. One item that continually pops up on my radar screen is Wyma's purchase of a condominium from a guy whose company got a a no-bid, $2-million contract from the Illinois Toll Highway Authority the day before the condo deal closed. First Lady Patti Blagojevich was the realtor of record.
It's been openly speculated that the feds were trying to nail Mrs. Blagojevich on something as a way to get at Governor Blagojevich, so who knows how far they took that particular lead?
Wyma has had so many dealings with the governor on millions of dollars in lobbying business that it's probably impossible to say for sure what exactly went down.
It's implied in the Tribune piece that Wyma's help might have led to the recording of a conversation between himself, the governor, and Blagojevich's former chief of staff, Lon Monk, in a meeting at Blagojevich's campaign office. That meeting took place two weeks after Wyma was hit with a subpoena relating to an investigation of how Provena Health won the right to expand its offered services. Provena insists it is not a subject of interest, but Blagojevich did receive a $25,000 campaign contribution from the hospital - which appears to be the standard access price for this administration.
Whatever it was, Blagojevich's inner sanctum has been defiled, and it's unlikely that he can trust anyone else at the moment. That's mostly his own fault, of course. His circle has mostly been populated with sycophants who are out only for their own pocketbooks.
The other question on many minds is: Why did this story emerge when it did?
Well, perhaps the Tribune discovered the story on its own, so timing depended on how the reporters worked their leads. The grand juries often meet on Thursdays, and this story was reported on a Friday morning.
It's also possible, perhaps even probable, that the feds leaked the story. If there was a leak, it seems the most likely reason was to send a crystal-clear message to all involved that the government's case is mighty strong with or without Tony Rezko.
Rezko has asked to be sentenced right away rather than continue to negotiate a deal with the feds, which leads many to believe that he has gone mum, and/or that the feds are giving him a rough time about the accuracy of his information.
But if the feds have Wyma, they probably don't need Rezko. Blagojevich's arrest appears to confirm that.
Rich Miller also publishes Capitol Fax (a daily political newsletter) and TheCapitolFaxBlog.com.
