Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Another superdelegate facing legal trouble? Plea deal by former aide to Blagojevich may signal future prosecution

A plea deal Tuesday by a former aide to governor Rod Blagojevich, a Dem superdelegate, has heightened speculation that the Democratic Illinois governor may be facing serious legal troubles of his own down the road. cbs2chicago:


In an explosive development reaching to the state's highest office, a former high-ranking state official claimed Tuesday that Gov. Rod Blagojevich was on hand when he presented $25,000 in campaign money to now-indicted fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko.

Ali Ata, 56, a former executive director of the Illinois Finance Authority, said Blagojevich then asked Rezko if he had talked to Ata about a job on the state payroll.

Ata said later, after he made a second $25,000 campaign contribution, Blagojevich again brought up the subject of a job and said it should be one in which Ata "could make some money."

Blagojevich has not been charged with wrongdoing and has consistently said he did not do business that way.

In a statement Tuesday night, Blagojevich spokesperson Abby Ottenhoff said, "As we've said many times before, we don't endorse or allow the decisions of state government to be based on campaign contributions."

The bombshell came in Ata's signed guilty plea to lying to the FBI about Rezko's role in getting him his state job. Blagojevich was not named in the plea, but it was clear from references in the agreement that Public Official A was the governor.

Ata's plea said Rezko was "very involved" in fundraising for Public Official A. Also, before his selection as head of the Illinois Finance Authority, Ata was told by Public Official A that he, the official, understood Ata would join his administration, it said.

Public Official A has appeared in numerous court papers surrounding the Rezko trial and been identified as Blagojevich, most recently by U.S. District Judge Amy J. St. Eve, who presides over the Rezko proceedings.

In pleading guilty, Ata agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors in any future case, which might include Rezko's fraud trial now under way in federal court or any other investigations of political corruption.

"If I was the governor, I would not be sleeping very well tonight," said CBS 2 legal analyst Irv Miller.

Can you say corruption? Ali Ata got his job at the Illinois Finance Authority after making a payoff to Tony Rezko for Blagojevich’s election campaign.

According to the plea deal, Ata will remain available for any additional corruption trial, not just Rezko’s. He won’t get sentenced until prosecutors are satisfied he has testified to the full extent of his usefulness, which might include a trial for superdelegate Blagojevich.

At some point the media will have to start noticing the corruption among the delegates to the 2008 Dem convention.

(photo courtesy iviipo.org/blagojevich)
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Rogues Gallery of Dem delegates:


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