It's a cold, rainy, and miserable night in the Chicago area--it matches the mood that the six men who were indicted in the "Blago case" late this afternoon.Who was charged?
Disgraced former Governor Rod Blagojevich, his brother Rob, who managed his campaign fund, two former Blago chiefs of staff, John Harris and Lon Monk, Blagojevich pal and fundraiser Christopher Kelly, and longtime Springfield political insider and the only Republican in the bunch, William Cellini.
It's the third time Kelly has been indicted, but the first time for public corruption--Kelly has already pleaded guilty to tax charges. Cellini was indicted last fall for allegedly attempting to extort campaign contributions for Blagojevich--who of course is a Democrat.
With the exception of Cellini, whose era as a powerbroker goes back to the 1960s--he's someone who probably never thought he'd get caught--the accused likely believe they've done nothing wrong. They're committed to the delusion that getting slapped with charges is part of working in--or in the vicinity--of Illinois government.
In the eyes of the law the six men are of course innocent until proven guilty.
The charges in the indictment are staggering--how about shaking down two congressmen. The pair is believed to be Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. and current White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.
For anyone even two or three degrees removed from Blagojevich and his inner circle, the wide range of charges should not come as a surprise.
Here's what Blago's 2006 primary opponent. Edwin Eisendrath, wrote three months ago:
A very savvy pol recently said to me, "Ed, if we only knew then what we know now. I replied that we did know it then. He laughed and admitted it was so. That's a far more grown up response than the "I-knew-it-was-bad-but not-this-bad" dodge that's in vogue.
They all knew. The majority of the House impeachment report cited documents that were public before the election — the same documents I cited when arguing the governor should not be re-elected. Instead of standing with me at the time, the party leaders poured over my petitions to see if they could keep me off the ballot.
Much of the case surrounding the "Blago 6" surrounds the alleged abuse or attempted abuse of pension fund money. How ironic. Illinois' public pensions are woefully underfunded.
Meanwhile, Blago just last week declared while guest-hosting a Chicago radio show that he was "fighting for the people" or something like that.
Blagojevich's wife Patti was not indicted. But within the indictment are references to real estate deals where Blago pal and convicted felon Tony Rezko alleged sent cash to the former first lady.
Oh, Blago is accused of attempting to sell Barack Obama's US Senate seat. But you knew that already.
The Chicago Democrat, if found guilty, could end up losing his Northwest Side home, his Washington apartment, and nearly $200,000 in cash. Just as his predecesor's campaign fund was frozen by the feds, so could Blagojevich's poltical stash.
Oh, he could end up going to prison for a very long time.
As for Blago....remember what Eisendrath wrote about his fellow Democrats:
They all knew.
They sure did.
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