Something a bit out of the
ordinary happened earlier this month. On Saturday, the Chicago Tribune published
a story about a relatively minor allegation of corruption at the Illinois
Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). On Sunday, the Sun-Times ran
a similar story.
The stories weren't
unusual and neither was their content. The allegations centered around a
longtime pal of Gov. Rod Blagojevich who was given a high-level position at
DCFS and then somehow a bunch of money ended up in an account he controlled. It
was a significant story, but not really a huge deal in the pantheon of Illinois
corruption.
The unusual thing happened
on the first business day after the stories appeared, when federal prosecutors
immediately subpoenaed documents relating to the scandal.
The DCFS inspector general
is known to have forwarded the results of her investigation to an unnamed law
enforcement authority way back in late July, so it's possible that the papers
got a heads up that something was about to go down with the federales. Or,
investigators read the stories over the weekend and decided to take action on Monday.
Back when George Ryan was
governor, every time a news outlet broke a story that was even a little related
to Ryan's alleged corruption, the feds subpoenaed documents and hauled people
into their offices for not-so-friendly visits.
What often happens in
these types of high-level investigations is prosecutors throw out a very wide
net, hoping to pop somebody - anybody - on a relatively minor charge, then blow
it way out of proportion to force the subject to squeal on the ultimate
target.
So, it's possible that we
might be entering a similar phase with the Blagojevich administration. It was
obvious last month that the feds were gazing hungrily at the governor and his
two top fundraisers, Chris Kelly and Tony Rezko, when they allowed two guilty pleas
alleging corruption at the Teachers Retirement System to contain so much
unnecessary dirt on an alleged "fundraising strategy" supposedly
perpetrated by the Blagojevich/Kelly/Rezko troika. As I've already told you
before, if the feds didn't have their collective eye on the governor's
operation they most likely would have kept the allegations by two admitted
felons out of the agreements.
Rounding up and then
putting the arm on a few minor suspects would be an expected next step if
prosecutors want to build a case against the state's highest executive. We'll
just have to wait and see.
The Blagojevich
administration has proved to be a fertile ground for investigators. While we
haven't seen any high-level convictions yet, the "G" is crawling all
over the place. And, remember, the George Ryan probe began in 1998 and he is
just now coming to trial.
The list of ongoing or
still open state and federal probes is as long as the bathroom line at White
Sox Park during a playoff game.
There's the new DCFS investigation,
of course.
And then there's the twin
probes into Blagojevich-appointee Stu Levine at the Illinois Health Facilities
Planning Board and the Teachers Retirement System Board. Levine was allegedly
shaking down hospitals and financial contractors. Lots of the governor's pals
picked up hospital lobbying contracts after the 2002 election that swept the
self-described reformer into office.
Attorney General Lisa
Madigan has an investigation, along with Cook County State's Attorney Dick
Devine, into the retracted Dick Mell allegations regarding the governor's
people selling board and commission seats for campaign contributions.
The attorney general is
also involved in a hard-hitting probe of the Illinois Commerce Commission,
which has resulted in the forced resignation of its Blagojevich-appointed
chairman.
There's a federal
investigation of the so-called "power washing" scandal at the
Illinois Department of Transportation, when a top Blagojevich administration
hire allegedly funneled a contract to a relative's company.
Attorney General Madigan
is also investigating the Department of Central Management Services (CMS) at
the urging of Auditor General Bill Holland.
DuPage County State's
Attorney Joe Birkett is conducting a "civil" investigation of the
Illinois Tollway.
There was the FBI/State
Police investigation into corruption at the State Fire Marshall's office.
And there's a federal
probe into the mysterious decision by CMS to drop the longtime state
employee/retiree healthcare company, Health Alliance, after allegedly changing
the bidding rules midstream.
My apologies if I missed
any.
-30-
Rich Miller also publishes
Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter. He can be reached at
capitolfax.blogspot.com