rod blagojevich – Moe Lane

PROSECUTORS: Jesse Jackson Jr. knew of Senate seat offer.

A supporter of U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. told the Democratic congressman in 2008 that he would raise $1 million in return for then- Gov. Rod Blagojevich naming Jackson to the U.S. Senate, a federal prosecutor said Wednesday.

The allegation, made on a busy day at Blagojevich’s federal corruption trial, was the first time authorities publicly suggested Jackson was aware of efforts by his allies to swap campaign cash for his appointment to the Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.

Via AoSHQ. Incidentally, this is what Rep. Jackson had to say about the suggestion that he was involved:

“I never sent a message or an emissary to the governor to make an offer, plead my case or propose a deal about a U.S. Senate seat, period.”

Continue reading PROSECUTORS: Jesse Jackson Jr. knew of Senate seat offer.

Blago subpoenas Giannoulias.

A pleasant beginning to the week, no?

First it was President Barack Obama, then White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, now U.S. Senate Candidate Alexi Giannoulias is joining the Rod Blagojevich corruption trial subpoena list.

Giannoulias is in the middle of a hard fought campaign against Congressman Mark Kirk for the right to fill the U.S. Senate seat once held by President Obama.

So there’s no doubt that being dragged into the Blagojevich trial is not welcome news for the Democratic candidate’s campaign.

Continue reading Blago subpoenas Giannoulias.

#rsrh QotD, Burn, Baby Burn edition.

From George Ryan juror Leslie Losacco, who had all sorts of… interesting experiences from being on the George Ryan jury, on the likelihood of similar attacks on Rod Blagojevich jurors:

“Rod is not an insider, so I don’t see as much of a motivation to bother this jury,” Losacco said. “No one likes him. His strategy seems to be, ‘I’m going down and I’m taking all of you with me.'”

Burn it all, Blago. Down to the bedrock. To semi-quote Terry Pratchett/Neil Gaiman, give your enemies a fate that mothers will whisper in dark places to frighten their young take them to the bloody cleaners, pal. What else do you have to do with your time right now, anyway?

Blagojevich & Obama.

Oh, Rod Blagojevich: why could you not have used your powers for good?

(Via Instapundit) John Kass has a thoroughly entertaining article up on the way that former Governor Blagojevich is doing his level best to drag President Obama into the equally thoroughly entertaining drama that is former Governor Blagojevich’s corruption trial. To summarize: the government is using Tony Rezko to go after Blagojevich; Blagojevich needs to taint Rezko’s testimony; so Blagojevich wants Obama to testify about Rezko. Obama probably doesn’t want to testify about Rezko. Particularly about things involving offers for Obama’s former Senate seat, which is why many details about the Obama subpoena were redacted… and promptly reconstructed (via Patterico).

Summing up, Kass cuts to the chase to write:

Though Thursday’s new information is quite fascinating, remember that it comes from the same defense team that has turned the case into a circus from day one.

And demanding the president take the stand in a corruption trial is all three rings, and the dozens of tiny little clowns pouring out of the diminutive car, and the bearded lady. Oh, and let’s not forget the dog-faced boy.

(murmuring) That was not a very nice thing to say about the Chief of Staff.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

Ed Case hires a Blago Boy for HI-01 race.

Because surely you don’t think that getting Establishment Democratic support from the mainland comes free, do you?

With corruption running rampant through the ranks of the Democrat party in Washington, Hawai’i Democrat candidate Ed Case looked the other way when he hired Washington political consultant Fred Yang of Hart Research to do his polling. Yang has previously worked for disgraced former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich.

Before you dismiss that language (ultimately from the HI GOP) as being just a bit overheated, check out what the well-known right-wing mouthpiece Huffington Post said about Yang, back when he was better known as ‘Advisor B:’ Continue reading Ed Case hires a Blago Boy for HI-01 race.

The NRSC wastes no time on properly greeting Giannoulias.

(H/T: @sorendayton) You know, I noticed during the run-up to the Illinois Senatorial primary that more than one Democratic activist expressed worries about a Giannoulias primary win. And why were they worried?

Pretty much because of what you’re about to see.

Welcome to Chicago.

Moe Lane

PS: Mark Kirk for Senate.

Crossposted to RedState.

Indicted Blagojevich advisor dead.

Death by aspirin overdose.

The man federal prosecutors pressured to cooperate in the corruption probe of ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich died of an apparent aspirin overdose on Saturday, law enforcement sources said.

Christopher Kelly, 51, of Burr Ridge, was pronounced dead at Stroger Hospital at 10:46 a.m. An autopsy is scheduled for today, a Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office spokeswoman said.

Death. By aspirin overdose.

Uh-huhh.

Moe Lane

(H/T streiff)

Crossposted to RedState.

I cannot believe that this is part of Blago’s Revenge.

I mean, how could he have known that Burris would end up on Armed Services?

MR. LEMNIOS: Sir, in the — as director of Defense Research and Engineering, my critical role would be to work technology strategy across the Department of Defense; to identify those key areas where the Department needs to strengthen and drive its technology strategies, technology efforts; to work with the services in their laboratories to foster a broad set of –

SEN. BURRIS: Excuse me. You’re saying that there is — services have their own research laboratories going, with research military personnel, or outside contracting personnel?

MR. LEMNIOS: Sir, I’ve seen combinations of both. Some examples include the Naval Research Laboratory, not too far from here, which includes certainly government employees as well as some contractors on site; include the Air Force Wright-Patterson Laboratory which, again, include many government researchers and outside contractors.

(Via Mere Rhetoric, via Hot Air)

Wired is appalled, although as usual I’m not sure why; it’s hardly a news flash that the Democratic Party would consider Armed Services to be the perfect backwater in which to put a Senator like Burris. I just refuse to believe that Blagojevich is that prescient. If he was, he’d still be in office.

Nonetheless, I cannot wait for the Democratic Illinois primary. Particularly the part where the national Democratic party bends itself into amusing rhetorical pretzel shapes to avoid talking about why they’re supporting/not supporting Burris in it. Trust me, they’re not going to want to talk about it, either way.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

Dick Durbin knew all along that Blagojevich was selling off the seat.

[UPDATE]: Welcome, Hot Air readers. I agree with Allahpundit that this was probably legal of Durbin, but I still think that he really should have mentioned it to somebody when the indictments started piling up.

This would only be a bombshell if it had been unexpected.

AP Exclusive: Blago talked to Durbin about Senate

CHICAGO (AP) – Just two weeks before his arrest on corruption charges, then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich floated a plan to nominate to the U.S. Senate the daughter of his biggest political rival in return for concessions on his pet projects, people familiar with the plan told The Associated Press.

Blagojevich told fellow Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin he was thinking of naming Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan to the seat vacated when Barack Obama won the presidential election, according to two Durbin aides who spoke on condition of anonymity.

[snip]

The aides said the concessions Blagojevich wanted in return were progress on capital spending projects and a health care bill that were stalled in the Legislature.

Continue reading Dick Durbin knew all along that Blagojevich was selling off the seat.

Burris did in fact make an offer for the Senate seat.

Harry, you ignorant slut.

I am perilously close to being gobsmacked by this transcript of the Burris/Blagojevich conversation (via Hot Air). I’m not a lawyer, but it seems to me that there’s enough there to indicate that Roland Burris flat-out lied about not trading favors and money for the Senate seat. I am not, however, so stunned as to be unable to remind people about this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this…

Hold on: let’s see that video again.

Ha!

…this, this, this, this, this, this, this, and, finally, this. In short – and may you have as an enjoyable time reviewing those posts as I did – Rod Blagojevich’s pick of Roland Burris for the Illinois Senate was a transparent trap – and Harry Reid and the rest of the Democratic Senate caucus sprung it anyway. In fact, not being content with springing the trap, Reid and his caucus insisted on making every possible mistake that they could, too. All because they were afraid. People will be writing about this act of political revenge fifty years from now, and mocking the Senator from Nevada on every page, too.

Deservedly.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.