Legal News

Chicago Trib: Illinois Governor Taken Into Custody

By Dan Slater

Breaking news out of Chicago, and it’s not related to the Tribune Company bankruptcy filing, although the news is a product of one of that company’s finest assets:

The Chicago Tribune’s Breaking News blog is reporting that Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was taken into federal custody at his home this morning.

U.S. attorney’s office spokesman Randall Samborn said both Blagojevich and his chief of staff John Harris were arrested today. Authorities aren’t yet releasing details about those charges.

A Blagojevich spokesman said in an e-mail to the Trib that he was unaware of the development. “Haven’t heard anything — you are first to call.”

According to the Trib story, the arrest came amid revelations that federal investigators had recorded the governor with the cooperation of a longtime confidant and had begun to focus on the possibility that the process of choosing a Senate successor to President-elect Barack Obama could be tainted by pay-to-play politics. The Democratic governor has said he expects to make a decision on the state’s next senator in weeks.

On Monday, Blagojevich said he had done nothing wrong in his stewardship of the state and challenged critics to record him because his discussions were “always lawful.”

UPDATE: Here’s a copy of the criminal complaint. The complaint also alleges that Blagojevich and Harris conspired to demand the firing of Chicago Tribune editorial board members responsible for editorials critical of him in exchange for state help with the sale of Wrigley Field, the Chicago Cubs baseball stadium owned by Tribune Co.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on December 09, 2008 (boomark / email).