Marathon Pundit: Rezko trial: Hastert implicated in "oust Fitzgerald" plot

Former Senator Peter Fitzgerald (R-IL), pictured on the left, broke precedent by reaching out to New York and bringing in Patrick Fitzgerald (no relation) to become US Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. Unlike most large cities, Chicago is quite insular, and its power-brokers are very suspicious of outsiders; this plum appointment usually goes to a Chicago area prosecutor with connections.

But since Patrick Fitzgerald's predecessor, a Clinton appointee, had already begun the investigation of the licenses-for-bribes scandal while George Ryan was still Secretary of State, Peter Fitzgerald suggested the aggressive Brooklyn native to President Bush as the best person to finish the job--which would end up leading all the way up to George Ryan, who by then was Illinois' governor.

Patrick Fitzgerald's investigation led to the conviction of Ryan, and several other prominent Republicans, as well as dozens of low-level staffers in the Secretary of State's office.

Former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R-IL) and Senator Fitzgerald feuded on a number of issues, mostly involving pork-barrel spending. Most famously, the senator tried to block federal funding of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum and Library--unless political hacks were prevented from running it. Hastert won that round, and the museum got the money. But Senator Fitzgerald, with the help of the late Steve Neal, a Chicago Sun-Times reporter--for the most part, kept the ward-heelers out.

US Attorney Fitzgerald has his hands full now with the multiple investigations surrounding Ryan's Democratic successor--Rod "I will govern as a reformer" Blagojevich. Tony Rezko was a powerful force in Blagojevich's administration--until Fitzgerald's investigators began to look into Rezko's alleged role in various influence peddling schemes. The Wilmette businessman was first indicted in the fall of 2006. But the investigation began in 2004. Which is why today's testimony in Rezko's trial becomes relevant to this story, as AP reports:

A government witness testified Monday that political fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko told him three years ago that Chicago's chief federal prosecutor was to be fired and replaced by someone chosen by then-U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert.

Restaurant owner Elie Maloof quoted Rezko as saying the new U.S. attorney in Chicago, whom Rezko said would be chosen by Hastert, would then kill a federal investigation into corruption under Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

"The federal prosecutor would no longer be the federal prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald would be eliminated," Maloof told (sic) Rezko's fraud trial.

"They will order the prosecutor to drop the investigation," Maloof said.

Last week, former Blagojevich administration official Ali Ata pleaded guilty to filing a false tax return and lying to an FBI agent. He told federal prosecutors that Rezko was working with Illinois Republican National Committee member Robert Kjellander, so he could convince Karl Rove to have President Bush dump Fitzgerald.

Rove vehemently denies knowing about these alleged machinations, as do Hastert and Kjellender.

Governor Blagojevich, on those rare occasions he bothers talking to the press, says he knows nothing at all about the reputed illegal activities of Rezko, but he surely knows that beginnings of impeachment proceedings against him have started in the Illinois House.

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