Reply #2: John Wyma?

[maddezmom]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x408547

~snip~
Individual A
Those efforts began just months ago, in October, when, according to the criminal complaint released in the wake of the governor 's arrest Tuesday, Wyma -- believed to be the person identified in documents only as Individual A -- began talking with the FBI. The timing hardly seems a coincidence: it dovetails with the weeks, according to published accounts, that Wyma was named in a subpoena sent to former client Provena Health. The hospital company had donated money to the governor 's campaign shortly after receiving a favorable ruling.

Whatever his role in the hospital donations, Wyma's cooperation soon proved fruitful to prosecutors. According to the criminal complaint, Wyma is one of the key sources to the source of the tip that Blagojevich is using the final months of the year to raise funds through payoffs before the new state ethics law goes into effect in January. That law would sharply limit any individual or entity with state contracts worth more than $50,000 from donating to the governor's campaign coffers.

Though Wyma, according to the complaint, declined requests to wear a wire, he met with prosecutors numerous times to detail key instances of alleged payoffs he witnessed firsthand. Blagojevich's goal, according to Wyma, was to raise a total of $2.5 million before the end of the year, primarily from individuals identified on the list by Friends of Blagojevich.


For instance, he explained how on Oct. 6, he and someone identified as Individual B met with the governor and his now charged chief of staff John Harris about whether the governor could help Individual B's business venture, according to the complaint. Following the meeting, the governor allegedly asked Wyma to get Individual B to raise $100,000 for Friends of Blagojevich before the end of the year.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=7971144

lagojevich's Fundraising Shakedowns Detailed (John Wyma is Individual A)
Blagojevich's Fundraising Shakedowns Detailed
POSTED: 01:34 PM ET, 12/10/2008 by Derek Kravitz
TAGS: Congress, FBI, Rod Blagojevich, federal courts



Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, center, leaves his home through a back alley Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008, a day after being arrested on federal corruption charges. (By Mark Carlson / AP)

What ultimately led to federal conspiracy and bribery charges against Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (aside from well-placed wiretaps)? Federal agents say it wasn't the elaborate scheme for an ambassadorship or notions that he would sell President-elect Barack Obama's now-vacant Senate seat.

It was the shakedowns.

Since October, the FBI has conducted several interviews with longtime fundraiser John Wyma, chairman of the Friends of Blagojevich campaign committee (Wyma is dubbed "Individual A" in court documents - PDF). He told federal agents that the governor was making a strong push to collect at least $2.5 million in campaign cash by Jan. 1, when stricter new ethics laws take effect in Illinois.

With Wyma's help, federal agents allegedly caught the two-term governor not only trying to raise cash from wealthy donors in exchange for favors, but threatening to withhold state money and projects if he didn't get what he wanted.

At one point, Blagojevich allegedly instructed a lobbyist to approach and solicit $500,000 in campaign money from an unnamed highway contractor (The Chicago Sun-Times says at least one of the lobbyists the governor dealt with was former chief of staff Alonzo Monk). That highway contractor stood to benefit from a $1.8 billion project to build new interchanges and "green lanes" in Illinois, an initiative announced in October.