The Chronicle

Kevin Miller
 Staff Writer

On the afternoon of Aug. 17 at the Dirksen Federal Building in downtown Chicago, former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich was convicted by federal prosecutors of one of 24 corruption charges he is faced with for lying to federal officials.

Shortly after the trial, Blagojevich proclaimed that the one charge he was convicted of was “a nebulous charge from five years ago.”

“I did not lie to the FBI.” Blagojevich said shortly after being convicted. Initial reactions were swift and protracted.

“This guy [U.S. Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald] is a master at indicting people for noncriminal activity,” said Blagojevich attorney Sam Adams Sr. “This guy is nuts.”   

The retrial is expected to cost in excess of $25 million dollars.

“With all due respect to justice and all, how much more money are we going to waste on this?” Ron, a Chicago Tribune reader, said. “The prosecution screwed up their case and they lost. Would the world be a safer place if Blago(sic) was found guilty on all counts? This is all about saving political face, and it has now become a waste of taxpayer money.”

The reaction on CLC campus was also decidedly manifest
“My initial reaction was, ‘Well, at least he didn’t completely get away with being corrupt,’” CLC professor Lynn Harper said via Facebook.

However, not all agreed with such an indictment of the former governor’s character.

“I think they should have been found not guilty on all counts. The government should be ashamed,” Chicago Tribune reader Deloris said on ChicagoTribune.com.

Tamara, another Chicago Tribune reader, substantiates this opinion.

“Give it up, Patrick,” Tamara said. “You lost. At least one person on the jury recognized this as a witch hunt. Move on.”

The retrial, which has yet to be scheduled, would almost certainly cripple Blagojevich’s already ailing finances, which are currently in the red from the one and a half years spent on this trial.
Robert Blagojevich, Rod Blagojevich’s brother, will not be retried by prosecutors. He was charged with four of the 24 charges Rod was charged with. He was acquitted of all four counts.

Rod Blagojevich will be retried by prosecutors, though it’s unclear who will be representing him. Rod Blagojevich has hinted at a future return to politics and has not ruled out any options for additional revenue streams. By Illinois law, former governor Blagojevich is barred from participating in politics due to his impeachment in early 2009 by the Illinois General Assembly.

Illinois has a history of governors being impeached or convicted of corruption.

In 2006, former Governor George Ryan was convicted of corruption charges stemming from a trucking license scandal that reached its culmination during his governorship. During Ryan’s trial, it was revealed that trucking licenses given to unqualified recipients in return for money could be traced to several automobile fatalities across the country.

Ryan, who is currently serving time in a federal penitentiary in Indiana, is seeking clemency from President Obama due to his failing health. Ryan is 76-years-old.

Rod Blagojevich is not the only Democrat in the country is having issues with corruption. In Washington D.C., Democrats have corruption problems of their own.

New York representative Charles Rangel, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus and former House Ways and Means chairman, is facing charges of corruption. Rangel is accused by a House ethics committee of receiving bribes to lower the tax rate for business partners. The House Ways and Means committee is a powerful Congressional tax writing committee. Rangel is also accused of failing to report income and certain offshore properties to the IRS, thus evading property and other taxes. Rangel was forced to step down from his chairmanship of the committee.

California representative Maxine Waters is accused of misappropriating funds. During the financial crisis of 2008, when Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) was being created, Waters allegedly used her position of power to arrange a meeting between TARP officials and a minority owned bank that her husband was on the board of and had investiture in. Shortly after that meeting, Waters’ husband’s bank received a vital cash injection from TARP officials. The allegation against Waters, who was not present at the meeting, is that had she not arranged the meeting between TARP officials and the bank, that the likelihood that the bank would have received TARP funding, and to the extent that the bank received the funds, would’ve been minimal.

Neither Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson nor House Speaker Nancy Pelosi were present at the meeting..

Both Rangel and Waters are seeking reelection, and have vowed to fight the charges against them. President Obama said that Rangel should resign from Congress “with dignity.”