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<DIV><FONT size=2>The more crooks in politic that are caught and severely
punished, the better. Unfortunately, exposures, convictions, and
relatively light punishments do no seem to have much deterrence
value.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>W.</FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=thansen@moscow.com href="mailto:thansen@moscow.com">Tom Hansen</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=vision2020@moscow.com
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">vision2020@moscow.com</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, December 09, 2008 7:14
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [Vision2020] Governor of
Illinois Arrested</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>>From USA Today
-<BR><BR>--------------------------------------------------------<BR><BR>Illinois
governor charged with public corruption<BR><BR>Here's the formal complaint and
news release that we received from the <BR>Justice Department. <BR><BR><A
href="http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/files/rjb_complaint.pdf">http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/files/rjb_complaint.pdf</A><BR><BR><A
href="http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/files/rrb_jh_129_final_rel.pdf">http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/files/rrb_jh_129_final_rel.pdf</A><BR><BR>This
is the summary of probable cause that FBI Agent Daniel Cain uses in <BR>the
court filing:<BR><BR>--------------<BR><BR>Since approximately 2003, the
government has been investigating <BR>allegations of illegal activity
occurring in State of Illinois government <BR>as part of the administration of
Governor Rod Blagojevich. As further <BR>detailed below, the investigation has
developed evidence that: (a) <BR>beginning not later than in or about 2002,
Rod Blagojevich has conspired <BR>with multiple individuals, including,
beginning not later than in or about <BR>October 2008, John Harris, to devise
and participate in a scheme, which <BR>used and contemplated the use of the
mails and interstate wire <BR>communications, to defraud the State of Illinois
and its residents of the <BR>honest services of Rod Blagojevich and John
Harris by corruptly using the <BR>office of Governor of the State of Illinois
to obtain and attempt to <BR>obtain personal gain, including financial gain,
for Rod Blagojevich and <BR>third parties with whom he is associated; and (b)
beginning no later than <BR>November 2008, Rod Blagojevich and John Harris
have corruptly solicited <BR>and demanded the firing of Chicago Tribune
editorial board members <BR>responsible for editorials critical of Rod
Blagojevich, intending to be <BR>influenced and rewarded in connection with
State of Illinois financial <BR>assistance in connection with the sale of
Wrigley Field. The evidence <BR>demonstrates that the corrupt conduct
undertaken included but was not <BR>limited to the following:<BR><BR>a.
Defendant Rod Blagojevich and at times defendant John Harris, together
<BR>with others, obtained and attempted to obtain financial benefits for Rod
<BR>Blagojevich, members of the Blagojevich family, and third parties
<BR>including Friends of Blagojevich, in exchange for appointments to state
<BR>boards and commissions, state employment, state contracts, and access to
<BR>state funds; b. Defendants Rod Blagojevich and John Harris, together with
<BR>others, offered to, and threatened to withhold from, the Tribune Company
<BR>substantial state financial assistance in connection with Wrigley Field,
<BR>which assistance Rod Blagojevich believed to be worth at least $100
<BR>million to the Tribune Company, for the private purpose of inducing the
<BR>controlling shareholder of the Tribune Company to fire members of the
<BR>editorial board of the Chicago Tribune, a newspaper owned by the Tribune
<BR>Company, who were responsible for editorials critical of Rod Blagojevich;
<BR>c. Defendants Rod Blagojevich and John Harris, together with others,
<BR>attempted to use Rod Blagojevich's authority to appoint a United States
<BR>Senator for the purpose of obtaining personal benefits for Rod
<BR>Blagojevich, including, among other things, appointment as Secretary of
<BR>Health & Human Services in the President-elect's administration, and
<BR>alternatively, a lucrative job which they schemed to induce a union to
<BR>provide to Rod Blagojevich in exchange for appointing as senator an
<BR>individual whom Rod Blagojevich and John Harris believed to be favored by
<BR>union officials and their associates.<BR><BR>--------------<BR><BR>Update
at 9:47 a.m. ET: USA TODAY's Judy Keen has confirmed with <BR>prosecutors that
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was arrested this morning <BR>on federal
corruption charges. <BR><BR>The U.S. attorney's office says the Democratic
governor and his chief of <BR>staff, John Harris, are accused of soliciting
bribes and committing wire <BR>fraud.<BR><BR>"The breadth of corruption laid
out in these charges is staggering," U.S. <BR>Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald
says. "They allege that Blagojevich put a 'for <BR>sale' sign on the naming of
a United States Senator; involved himself <BR>personally in pay-to-play
schemes with the urgency of a salesman meeting <BR>his annual sales target;
and corruptly used his office in an effort to <BR>trample editorial voices of
criticism. The citizens of Illinois deserve <BR>public officials who act
solely in the public's interest, without putting <BR>a price tag on government
appointments, contracts and decisions," he adds.<BR><BR>Update at 9:34 a.m.
ET: The Associated Press says Blagojevich and his <BR>chief of staff were
taken into custody.<BR><BR>Update at 9:26 a.m. ET: The Chicago Sun-Times says
it has confirmed the <BR>Blagojevich arrest with an unnamed source of its own.
A news conference is <BR>expected later today.<BR><BR>Original posting at 9:21
a.m. ET: Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was <BR>arrested this morning by
federal agents, according to the Chicago Tribune. <BR>The paper, which cites a
single unnamed source, says it couldn't confirm <BR>the information with a
spokesman for the Democratic governor or federal <BR>prosecutors.<BR><BR>The
charges have not been disclosed. <BR><BR>The FBI has been conducting a
wide-ranging investigation of corruption in <BR>the Blagojevich
administration.<BR><BR>Earlier this morning, the Trib reported that federal
investigators were <BR>authorized to surreptitiously record the governor while
he was choosing a <BR>replacement for President-elect Barack Obama in the U.S.
Senate.<BR><BR>--------------------------------------------------------<BR><BR>Seeya
round town, Moscow.<BR><BR>Tom Hansen<BR>Moscow, Idaho<BR> <BR>"For a
lapse Lutheran born-again Buddhist pan-Humanist Universalist <BR>Unitarian
Wiccan Agnostic like myself there's really no reason ever to go <BR>to
work."<BR><BR>- Roy
Zimmerman<BR><BR><BR>---------------------------------------------<BR>This
message was sent by First Step
Internet.<BR> <A
href="http://www.fsr.com/">http://www.fsr.com/</A><BR><BR><BR>
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