Obama Pal Indicted On Federal Corruption Charges

All the President's Men

That shining exemplar of Chicago machine politics, Rod Blagojevich.

Obama was too busy kissing Saudi royal ass to comment.

Ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and five others were indicted Thursday on charges of scheming to auction off President Barack Obama's vacant U.S. Senate seat, pressuring a congressman for campaign money and lying to FBI agents. The 19-count indictment alleges Blagojevich and his aides discussed the possibility he could get a Cabinet post in the new president's administration, substantial fundraising assistance or a high-paying job in exchange for the Senate seat.

Obama's Deputy Press Secretary, Josh Earnest, said the White House would not comment.

Yeah, probably too busy catching up on his basketball picks.

Also swept up were Blago's brother and four others. I'm sure Obama has no connection whatsoever to them. Except for his close connections to them.

The sweeping indictment comes four months after Blagojevich was arrested and charged with engaging in pay-to-play politics in a major federal complaint that accused him of trading state jobs, contracts and regulatory favors for campaign contributions.

The criminal complaint charged Blagojevich with attempting to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama and seeking the firing of Tribune editorial writers in return for state help on the sale of Wrigley Field. The ballpark and newspaper are owned by Tribune Co.

While those allegations are repeated in today's charges, the 19-count indictment also includes allegations that convicted insider Antoin "Tony" Rezko steered real estate commissions to former first lady Patti Blagojevich despite her performing no work and paid cash to Monk for a car and home improvements. The indictment claims Blagojevich attempted to extort a U.S. congressman for campaign cash by withholding a $2 million state grant to a public school in the congressman's district.

All told, the ex-governor faces 16 felony counts, including racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud, extortion conspiracy and lying to federal agents. The government is seeking forfeiture of $188,370 from Blagojevich and will try to take his Ravenswood Manor home if needed.

Rezko, of course, helped Obama buy his house, but the media is curiously uninterested in him.

Try not to laugh while reading this.

Gov. Pat Quinn offered his reaction at a quick news conference after stepping off a plane at O'Hare International Airport.

"This is a very sad day for the people of our state the people of Illinois are entitled to honest government all the time, the charges today are very, very serious. The defendants are entitled to their day in court, we believe in that in America. The people of Illinois are entitled to honest government that works for them 24 hours a day every day, that's what I'm committed to, that's why I was sworn in, I think, 9 weeks ago," Quinn said.