Rod Blagojevich: "I Want To Make Money"

Shocking! Not really. An Illinois politician trying to make money off his influence is pretty common. His predecessor, Gov. George Ryan [R], is currently incarcerated. Seems at every point when someone tried to give him sage advice, Rod dropped the f-bomb. All on tape. Classic.

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich [D]was arrested on Tuesday on charges that he brazenly conspired to sell or trade the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by President-elect Barack Obama to the highest bidder.

A 76-page FBI affidavit said the 51-year-old Democratic governor was intercepted on court-authorized wiretaps over the last month conspiring to sell or trade the vacant Senate seat for personal benefits for himself and his wife, Patti.

Otherwise, Blagojevich considered appointing himself. The affidavit said that as late as Nov. 3, he told his deputy governor that if "they're not going to offer me anything of value I might as well take it."

"I'm going to keep this Senate option for me a real possibility, you know, and therefore I can drive a hard bargain," Blagojevich allegedly said later that day, according to the affidavit, which also quoted him as saying in a remark punctuated by profanity that the seat was "a valuable thing _ you just don't give it away for nothing."

Pretty brazen stuff, Rod's own words will seal his fate. How could you be so idiotic in this day of wiring tapping, bugging and surveillance. Such wide ranging graft, too. I guess they'll spend the next few days trying to connect this to Obama, since it was his seat he was trying to sell. Probably nothing there.

U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald is in charge of the case, the guy who convicted Scooter Libby. Seems to be very thorough. At the press conference today, Fitzgerald said "the conduct would make Lincoln roll over in his grave".



Source: HuffPo