Feds: (IL Gov) Blagojevich administration tried to have U.S. attorney (Fitzgerald) ousted

[sabra]

Source: IL Daily Herald

As federal investigators closed in, Gov. Rod Blagojevich insiders were angling with Bush administration architect Karl Rove to get U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald kicked out of office, according to disclosures made in federal court.

The far-reaching accusations came from the U.S. attorney's office in Chicago as part of the corruption trial against Blagojevich fundraiser and confidant Antoin "Tony" Rezko.

Federal prosecutors said in court that co-schemer Steven Loren was ready to testify he was told Illinois Republican insider Bob Kjellander was working to get Fitzgerald removed.

...

The statement was not further explained Tuesday, but in court this morning Hamilton told U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve that she expected Rezko business partner Ali Ata, who is cooperating with authorities, to testify Rezko told him the same thing in 2004.

"Mr. Kjellander is working with Mr. Rove to have Mr. Fitzgerald removed so someone else can come in" and end the investigation of state corruption, Hamilton said in summarizing Ata's expected testimony about what Rezko said.

Read more: http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=177986

[maddezmom]

1. Blago needs to go

Ex-Blagojevich aide tied to Rezko guilty


April 23, 2008Recommend

Chicago Sun-Times
A former top official in Gov. Rod Blagojevich's administration pleaded guilty Tuesday afternoon to charges tied to a loan-fraud scheme involving Tony Rezko.

Ali Ata, 56, of Lemont pleaded guilty to making false statements to a federal law enforcement officer and a tax-related count.

Ata - former executive director of the Illinois Finance Authority - said Blagojevich was in on discussions about trading campaign cash for his government post.

Ata was accused in June in a scheme that had already ensnared Rezko, now on trial on unrelated corruption charges.

While executive director of the state finance agency, Ata signed a letter bearing the agency's name to help Rezko fraudulently secure $10 million in loans, prosecutors charged. They said he did so at the request of Rezko to make it appear an investor had partial state backing for a deal to acquire two groups of Rezko's Papa John's pizza restaurants.

more:http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/news/909794,6_1_NA23_STATE3_S1.article

[sabra]

3. and why would Rove want to help get Fitz ousted?!?

:sarcasm:

[Robbien]

5. So true. Doesn't matter if the politician has a D or R after their name

The big players are all part of one big party.

[Name removed]

14. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ryanmuegge]

22. Couldn't agree more.

He's billing taxpayers for his flights from Chicago to Springfield, and he also tried to bill us for his professional makeup artists before his punk ass got called out on it.

He's a Democrat in name only.

I have a feeling he's going to get his ass handed to him when he is up for reelection.

[ck4829]

2. K&R

[leveymg]

4. Rove did say he "fully expects"to be indicted before the end of this year

This could be part of it. A nice, indirect way to slap an Obstruction of Justice charge on him without getting into the direct role of Rove (and Bush) in the Plame outing case.

Why didn't this come out earler, during the Congressional hearings into the USA removals? Rove's role would have gotten a lot more attention at that time.

[blayne]

13. I'm sure he wouldn't mind a conviction at all

before his pardoner leaves office.

[mopinko]

6. i think this whole case smells, myself.

people who were perfectly happy to have george ryan, now in prison for corruption, and others of his ilk, preside over state government for decades are now pissing their pants over rod blagojevich. there is even a move to change the state constitution to allow for recalls.
personally, it is my opinion that blago is not so much at fault for the stalemates and bs that have permeated illinois government. i think that the old time hacks that got along fine with the R leadership in the past (like the so-called 4 tops) that are dragging their feet, trying to destroy blaggo's administration from the inside.
remember, george ryan was the chair of the bush campaign in illinois. which is to say- nothing is what it seems. i mean, the whole thing is a big fat 2-fer- bag a dem governor, and smear a dem presidential candidate (who says he is going to change the culture of corruption) all in one tidy bag. just tooooo tidy for me.

[TacticalPeek]

7. GOP heavyweights reportedly tried to oust Fitzgerald

Source: Chicago Tribune


GOP heavyweights reportedly tried to oust Fitzgerald
U.S. attorney allegedly targeted by Karl Rove, Bob Kjellander

By Bob Secter

Tribune reporter

11:24 AM CDT, April 23, 2008
Click here to find out more!

In a bombshell disclosure before testimony began this morning in the Antoin "Tony" Rezko trial, a federal prosecutor said a former Rezko confidant was prepared to say that another friend of Rezko was attempting to pull strings with White House political director Karl Rove to fire U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald and kill his investigation into Rezko.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Carrie Hamilton said Ali Ata would testify to conversations he had with Rezko in 2004 about the power play. The Rezko investigation then was in its early stages.

Ata, a former official in the administration of Gov. Rod Blagojevich, on Tuesday pleaded guilty in connection with Rezko-related corruption, saying that Blagojevich was present in the room when Ata and Rezko discussed swapping a $25,000 campaign contribution for a job in the administration.

Before the jury was brought into the courtroom Wednesday, Hamilton told U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve that Republican National Committeeman Robert Kjellander allegedly was working with Rove "to have Fitzgerald removed."



Read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-rezko-rove-fitzgerald-web-apr24,0,2332070.story

[Richard Steele]

8. K&R

[Gman]

9. So what did Obama know about this?

Was he complicit, did he work behind the scenes? I wonder if Obama's fingerprints are on this? This raises tons of questions about Obama and Obama has a lot of 'splainin' to do.

[sabra]

10. huh? - it's already been established Obama is not part of the Fed investigation...

[Gman]

20. The question is, should Obama be part of the investigation

and if he's not just why was he excluded?

[orleans]

12. (you're joking. right?) n/t

[Gman]

21. Serious as a heart attack. Why is Obama getting preferential treatment from the DOJ??

What kind of deal did Obama cut with the DOJ?

[Tinksrival]

11. That headline is misleading.

Chicago Trib:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-rezko-court-story,0,7957753.htmlstory

snip>>>>


More bombshells were lobbed in the Antoin "Tony" Rezko trial even before the jury was seated this morning and they involved a purported attempt to pull strings with the White House to fire U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald. In a hearing before court began, prosecutors said they hoped to call Ali Ata, the former Blagojevich administration official who pleaded guilty to corruption yesterday, to the stand.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Carrie Hamilton said she believed Ata would testify to conversations Ata had with his political patron, Rezko, about working to pull strings to kill the criminal investigation into Rezko and others when it was in its early stages in 2004.

" had conversations with Mr. Rezko about the fact that Mr. Kjellander was working with Karl Rove to have Mr. Fitzgerald removed," Hamilton told U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve.

That sentence is loaded with a who's who of political heavyweights. Bob Kjellander was the veteran Republican National Committeeman from Illinois who was a sometimes business associate of Stuart Levine, who has pleaded guilty to conspiring with Rezko to rig state boards for contracts.

snip>>>>

" had conversations with Mr. Rezko about the fact that Mr. Kjellander was working with Karl Rove to have Mr. Fitzgerald removed," Hamilton told U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve.

How is that....



"Blagojevich administration tried to have U.S. attorney (Fitzgerald) ousted" ?????????

[AngryAmish]

17. Blago is very close with Kjellander

Although different parties, it does not matter in Illinois. They are part of the same corrupt power structure. Blago gets money for Kjellander (through corrupt state investment deals) and Kjellander gets rid of Fitzgerald for Blago. One hand washes the other.

Blago is a steaming turd of a corrupt politician.

[notadmblnd]

15. So Seigalman isn't the first.

Seems to be this little tidbit could help the Governor.

[Supersedeas]

16. do you smell the filth that only Kkkarl Rove can produce?

[maddezmom]

18. Rove's attorney: "rove and Kjellander have been friends since college, but Rove does not remember

Rove's attorney, Robert Luskin, said Rove and Kjellander have been friends since college, but Rove does not remember Kjellander ever talking to him about Fitzgerald.
"He does not recall Kjellander speaking to him about Pat Fitzgerald and is certain he never spoke to anyone at the White House about removing Fitzgerald," Luskin said Wednesday, adding that Rove has never been contacted by the U.S. attorney's office about the alleged conversations.
A telephone message seeking comment was left at Kjellander's lobbying office, Springfield Consulting Group, in Springfield. He is a former treasurer of the Republican National Committee.

more:http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,352329,00.html

[maddezmom]

19. more: Former Ill Sen. Peter Fitzgerald that from at the behest of Denny Hastert

Rove didn't seek Fitzgerald ouster: Att'y

by Mark Silva and Andrew Zajac

~snip~
There were stirrings at the Justice Department, however, and Kjellander's possible involvement is consistent with earlier revelations.

Former Illinois Sen. Peter Fitzgerald told the Tribune that Rove, at the behest of former House Speaker Dennis Hastert and unnamed GOP insiders, had tried to persuade him to limit his recommendation for U.S. attorney to someone from inside the state. Fitzgerald Rove.doc

Peter Fitzgerald would not say who the insiders were, but Kjellander and Rove are decades-long friends and political collaborators. Fitzgerald was adamant about bringing in an outsider, the better to resist the blandishments of Illinois' entrenched political machinery. As a result, he recommended Patrick Fitzgerald (no relation), who is from New York.

Last year, then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' chief of staff, D. Kyle Sampson, told a Senate committee that in a 2006 meeting with White House counsel Harriet Miers, he briefly proposed putting Patrick Fitzgerald on a list of prosecutors slated for dismissal.
sampson fitzgerald.doc

more:http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/politics/blog/2008/04/printer-_andrew_zajac_this_mornings.html

[Tatiana]

23. Fucking Blago. I find it so disgusting that this is the best the Dems could put forward.

He's just as corrupt as the Repukes, but he trots out a few pet projects like KidCare to keep "the base" on his side and he's got the Chicago machinery behind him.

If Daley knows what is good for him, he will distance himself from Blago and his corrupt politics. There is no political capital to be gained at this point from supporting Blago.

I hope Fitzgerald cleans house in Chicago. Dem or Repuke, I'm sick of the moneyed interest controlling our politics.