Capuchin monkeys with flaming chainsaws, that’s what: Federal authorities used a video camera as part of their cache of tools to investigate Gov. Blagojevich in the final weeks of 2008 before his arrest, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned. The camera, which likely was remote-controlled, was trained on the Friends of Blagojevich offices, 4147 N. Ravenswood, to help FBI agents identify individuals entering and leaving the | Read More »
“Cry “Havoc!” – and let slip the dogs of war.” The vote by the House was 114-1 and marks the first time in the state’s 190-year history that a governor has been impeached, despite Illinois’ longstanding reputation for political corruption. [snip] A Blagojevich spokesman said the governor will not resign. A 2 p.m. news conference with the governor is scheduled for the James R. Thompson | Read More »
First, America as a whole: Poll: Half say Burris should be blocked from Sen. seat WASHINGTON — A majority of Americans say Roland Burris should be blocked from taking a U.S. Senate seat and Illinois should hold a special election to fill the vacancy he was appointed to fill, according to a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll. [snip] Interest in the dispute is high — six in | Read More »
The second thing is that Harry Reid made it a point to oppose any of them being picked to replace Obama in the Senate: Reid pressured Blagojevich not to appoint Jackson Jr. to Obama’s U.S. Senate seat
I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP: WASHINGTON — As U.S. Senate leadership developed an elaborate set of contingency plans today to keep Roland Burris from taking over President-elect Barack Obama’s seat, the disputed appointee promised not to “create a scene” when the Senate convenes next week. If Burris shows up Tuesday to claim the seat given to him by disgraced Gov. Rod Blagojevich, the outcomes | Read More »
I have to tell you, this Burris pick is absolutely made of awesome. Just watch: More fun stuff here, and here for more race-baiting goodness – and, really, by this point the entire blogosphere, most of which is by now utterly fascinated at the prospect of actually getting to watch the big ship hit the iceberg. Has it been mentioned yet that Burris has been | Read More »
And will he hit the bottom? Sure. Single-digit approval ratings and the instinctive public shunning by the national Democratic Party leadership is fairly diagnostic – hey, I’m not going to be on his jury; no harm in me saying what we all know already. Blago’s dirty, he’s finally gotten caught on something that we can hammer him for, and he’s going to get hammered. But | Read More »
Blagojevich crony, by the way. Mentioned in passing in this WSJ article, so I took a look-see, and hey: acts like you’d expect a Blagojevich crony would. U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez has made more than $420,000 on real estate deals Many are done with campaign contributors When U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez was looking to buy in the sizzling Bucktown real estate market, he teamed up | Read More »
More to the point, did she know about it before she initiated proceedings to have the courts remove Rod Blagojevich from office? Because if she did, then the article below:
First, it’s being reported that Rod Blagojevich and Rahm Emanuel had multiple conversations on Obama’s replacement: (Video via Hot Air) Second, the timing on this fundraiser was truly awful for the person it was apparently supposed to help: Blagojevich fundraiser held by Jackson allies Saturday As Gov. Rod Blagojevich was trying to pick Illinois’ next U.S. senator, businessmen with ties to both the governor and | Read More »
Just in case Rep. Jackson’s talk with federal authorities gets… complicated… for him. OK, D-35, which implies a certain uphill climb (to put it mildly): and Jackson won with 89% of the vote in 2008, which implies that said climb would be virtually vertical. None the less, at least we’re putting candidates in this district; so if Jackson’s life does get… complicated, we should keep | Read More »
As Jake Tapper noted, Obama claim to not be involved in Blagojevich’s search for a replacement Senator: Asked what contact he’d had with the governor’s office about his replacement in the Senate, President-elect Obama today said “I had no contact with the governor or his office and so we were not, I was not aware of what was happening.” …was a direct contradiction of what | Read More »
Ah, Fitzmas. I don’t know what’s droller: this predictive post, or the querulous comments to it. BlagoGate: Obama’s Burden At a news conference just now, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald made very clear that he had uncovered no evidence of misbehavior on the part of Barack Obama. “I should be clear that the complaint makes no allegations whatsoever about the president-elect or his conduct,” he said. | Read More »
We have to stop conceding seats. The Other Side doesn’t. Anyway, this is of course Rep. Rahm Emanuel’s seat, and as he’s going to be the next CoS it’ll be opened up for a special election. The Cook Political Report lists it as D+18 – makes sense; it’s part of Chicago, and Bush got somewhere around 33% of the vote there in ’04 – but | Read More »
Yes, I know that formally he has no say in the decision; and yes, I know that the title’s self-evidently ridiculous. Still, it’d solve his problem nearly. Obviously, after January 20, 2009 Illinois is going to need a new junior Senator, and the politicking for that seat has been intense, and increasingly louder. It’d probably be easier to give the names of Illinois politicians who | Read More »
This is going to be one whale of an investigation, if true: Obama fundraiser, convicted of fraud, spills beans Oct 11 03:26 AM US/Eastern By MIKE ROBINSON Associated Press Writer CHICAGO (AP) – Jailed political fundraiser Antoin “Tony” Rezko, the Chicago real estate developer who helped launch Barack Obama on his political career, is whispering secrets to federal prosecutors about corruption in Illinois and the | Read More »
While we’re waiting to see whether there’s going to be a world economy come Monday, some good news, here: the Feds decided to rattle Illinois Governor Blagojevich’s (D) cage. With a jackhammer. Sources tell CBS 2 News Chicago that Federal agents claim to have enough evidence to indict Blagojevich on fraud and conspiracy charges. However, the report says the investigators aren’t the ones who make | Read More »
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