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Quinn Re-Hires Controversial Ex-Chief Of Staff

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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (CBS) - Gov. Pat Quinn has re-hired his controversial former chief of staff, who resigned a few months ago amid an ethics probe.

Jerry Stermer stepped down in August over three politically-oriented e-mails sent from his government account.

He will now return to the Quinn administration as a senior adviser, for a salary of $125,000 a year.

In the position, he will consult with the governor on health care, education, social services and the budget.

Stermer gave in to pressure to quit, after former state Executive Inspector General James A. Wright found he had “engaged in prohibited political activity.” Stermer said at the time that he voluntarily told Wright he had “inadvertently” sent campaign-related e-mails from a state computer.

“Last year, I inadvertently used my state e-mail account to send three emails that the [inspector general] later found to be prohibited under the state’s Ethics Act,” Stermer said in a statement in August. “While my intention was not to do anything wrong, I recognized that a mistake was made and quickly disclosed this information to the Governor’s Ethics Officer.”



Walter: Mayor’s Brother Won’t Deliver The Goods Here

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Bill Daley being chief of staff won’t do much for Chicago, if anything at all.

He will not do what people are saying he’ll do because he’s Mayor Daley’s brother. People think he’ll do what a Daley brother does, which is look out for Chicago.

It is true that Bill Daley, chief of staff, will have the muscle he needs to get from the federal government what his brother in Chicago needs. But he will not flex because he cannot — not without causing a problem for the president. 

If Bill gets the government to build better highways or schools or buses or trains in Chicago, the president will have to explain what looks like -– may not be but looks like -– a favor to Chicago.

He did not favor Chicago when Rahm Emanuel was chief of staff, and he won’t while Bill Daley is chief of staff. 

In fact, he’ll have to lean over backwards to do nothing that may even appear to favor Chicago.

Bill will be good for Barack, no doubt about that. He won’t be good for us. No doubt about that, either.


Emanuel Returns For Visit To White House

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UPDATED 03/04/11 12:45 p.m.

WASHINGTON (CBS) – Mayor-elect and former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel was back in Washington Friday, to pay his first visit to President Barack Obama since the mayoral election.

As CBS 2’s Mike Puccinelli reports, from family and political strategy to the Blackhawks – who themselves will be coming to the White House later this month – the men had plenty to talk about. The content of their discussion was not immediately learned.

It was Emanuel’s first visit to the White House since he left in order to run for mayor.

Back in October, Emanuel resigned as Chief of Staff and left Washington after a very public send off ceremony. Although President didn’t endorse Emanuel outright, it was clear he had his support.

Obama called the office of mayor of Chicago one “for which he is extraordinarily well qualified.”

LISTEN: Newsradio 780′s Bernie Tafoya Reports

Download: mp3_bc__carts_rahm-report2-mar4.mp3

Emanuel has said that he has remained in touch with President Obama throughout the campaign. His closeness with the first family was evident Thursday while talking about food deserts, as he referred to the First Lady by her first name.

“Because of bringing the attention that Michelle…” Emanuel caught himself, “the First Lady, has – I apologize for that – the first lady. Moment of familiarity.”

Emanuel will spend the next two weekends in the nation’s capital, where his children have to finish up the school year. He’s not set to be sworn in as mayor until May 16.

But that hasn’t stopped the politics.

On Thursday, Emanuel was forced to answer questions about a little known group called For a Better Chicago, which has been funneling money toward pro-business candidates that it believes will support the new mayor’s agenda.

The Chicago Tribune published an article Thursday about For a Better Chicago, which was created after Mayor Richard M. Daley announced this past September that her was retiring. Political Consultant Greg Goldner heads up the group, and told the newspaper his organization is “very supportive” of Emanuel, but has not been directly connected to his campaign.

Later Thursday, Emanuel said he is independent of the group.

“The candidates I’ll support will be candidates I’ll support because they endorse an agenda for reform and change, and the things that I laid out in the election, and I’m going to be doing that individually my way,” Emanuel said.

For a Better Chicago has donated more than $400,000 to aldermanic candidates it likes. One candidate who received $10,000 from the group now says she no longer wants the money.

Emanuel says the group should reveal who its donors are.

In his Perspective Thursday night, CBS 2’s Walter Jacobson also called for scrutiny of the group.


Tapes Reveal Thanks From White House Not Enough For Blagojevich

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UPDATED 05/04/11 7:19 p.m.

CHICAGO (CBS) – When Rod Blagojevich learned in late 2008 that all he would get from the Obama administration was thanks and appreciation for appointing a friend President-elect Barack Obama to the U.S. Senate, he had two simple words for the White House: “F*** them.” CBS 2′s Dana Kozlov has more on the tapes recorded of the former governor.

Former Blagojevich chief of staff John Harris was on the stand for a second day on Wednesday when he told jurors at Blagojevich’s retrial that on Nov. 11, 2008, he got a call from Washington, D.C., lobbyist John Wyma with a message from the Obama administration.

“He wanted to relay a message to me to relay to the governor,” Harris said. “That the president-elect would be thankful and appreciative if the governor would appoint Valerie Jarrett to the Senate seat.”

Jarrett, a close friend and adviser to Obama, was a key member of his transition team and wanted to take his place in the Senate.

Minutes after Harris told jurors about the phone call from Wyma, jurors hear Blagojevich’s reaction to the news in a secretly recorded phone call with Harris the next day.

“They’re not willing to give me anything except appreciation? F*** them,” Blagojevich said.

A day later, Jarrett pulled out of contention for the Senate seat to take a job at the White House.

She was a key figure in Blagojevich’s alleged schemes to trade or sell the Senate appointment for campaign cash, a Cabinet position or other high-paying job.

For two days, Harris has been helping prosecutors make their case on the Senate seat allegations. Harris was arrested on the same day as Blagojevich on Dec. 9, 2008 and has been cooperating with the federal investigation in exchange for a plea deal.

LISTEN: Newsradio 780′s John Cody reports

Download: mp3_bc_-wav_carts_blago-v1-5-4.mp3

Harris has told jurors about a number of discussions he and Blagojevich had about possible candidates for the Senate seat in the days just before and just after the 2008 election.

Blagojevich and his advisers had been told through intermediaries that Obama wanted Jarrett assigned to the seat. The governor thought he could use that as leverage to get himself a Cabinet position or an ambassadorship with the Obama administration, or perhaps get Obama’s help securing a top job at a major charitable foundation.

Harris testified that Blagojevich clearly wanted to get out of Illinois and join Obama in Washington, D.C.

In a secretly recorded phone call, Blagojevich told Harris that he felt depressed on the night he was re-elected in 2006, because he knew he wouldn’t be able to get much of his agenda accomplished, with Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan, a political rival, blocking his every move.

“It was a joyless election night. It’s good to get reaffirmed by the people, that means a lot to me, and I, and so, that cuts into the depression, but I was like, you know, it was like, almost like Nixon after he was re-elected, f***ing angry the next day,” Blagojevich said. I was kind of getting stuck into this four thing, four-year deal. And I know it’s gonna be f***ing, getting, just screwed by Madigan.”

“I’d like to get the f*** out of here,” Blagojevich said in another conversation.

Harris also testified Wednesday about a conversation that he and then-deputy governor Bob Greenlee had with Blagojevich on the day after the 2008 election. In that conversation, Blagojevich asked Greenlee to research various charitable and advocacy groups that he might be able to run.

“The pay on these things is very good,” Greenlee told Blagojevich.

But later, after doing some research at Blagojevich’s request, Greenlee told Harris that it was unlikely the governor could get that kind of job.

“He believed that these private foundations were unlikely to be achievable for the governor to head these organizations because they tended to be endowed by family trusts” Harris testified. “And that members of the family headed up these organizations.”

So Harris came up with an idea of his own. He suggested the governor could push for a top job at the “Change To Win” campaign, a political action committee founded by labor unions. Harris told the governor that labor leaders with ties to Obama might be willing to let him run “Change To Win” if he named Jarrett to the seat, as labor leader Tom Balanoff was also pushing for Jarrett.

Blagojevich and Harris also pitched the idea to political consultant and pollster Fred Yang, who endorsed the plan, comparing it to a three-way baseball trade.

Harris and Yang said that Blagojevich could get what he wanted, a high paying job; Obama could get what he wanted, Jarrett in the Senate; and the unions could gain favor with Obama for brokering the deal, while also providing Obama with a “buffer” between himself and Blagojevich.

Prosecution Pokes Holes In Blagojevich Defense

Federal prosecutors have been making a concerted effort to shoot down Blagojevich’s defense that all of his talks about the Senate seat were aimed at ultimately appointing Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan to the Senate to make a political deal with her father, Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan.

Harris told the jury that Blagojevich’s talk about appointing Madigan was nothing more than an attempt to gain leverage with Obama while Jarrett was still being considered for the seat.
Blagojevich believed he could convince Obama that he was thinking of appointing Lisa Madigan in an effort to convince her father, Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan, to stop blocking the governor’s legislative agenda in Springfield.

Speaker Madigan and Blagojevich had been locking horns for years and the speaker was stopping virtually every initiative the governor tried to push through the General Assembly.

But Harris has testified that Blagojevich never spoke to either Madigan about appointing Lisa to the Senate.

“No one had approached Lisa Madigan or Speaker Madigan. There were no steps in that direction,” Harris testified.

Blagojevich Didn’t Want To Be Governor Anymore

At the same time Blagojevich was talking about what he could get from the Obama administration, he was telling his advisers how much he wanted to get out of Illinois.

In one conversation with Harris, Blagojevich lamented that Obama’s election hurt his chances of moving up the political ladder.

“Obama and the circumstances have now put a bit of ceiling on me, at least for now. Maybe forever, probably forever,” Blagojevich said. “I mean where am I goin’? And be governor endlessly a governor? What else can you do? Senator, okay. Uh, Obama’s job, but again that’s spoken for. … Mayor of Chicago? What, what else would you wanna do if you’ve been governor of Illinois, right?”

Harris said Blagojevich had already told his closest advisers that he was not going to run for a second term. And, frequently in his talks about the Senate seat, he was heard angling for a job in Washington, D.C.

But one of his problems was that his ties to convicted fundraiser Tony Rezko had made him politically toxic.

Harris and Yang told him that many of the Cabinet positions or other federal government jobs he wanted to ask Obama for would have required Senate confirmation and that Republicans would likely hold up any such confirmation.

“Obama can even ask them behind the scenes to hold it,” Harris added. “Double, double cross us.”

Blagojevich Calls Jesse Jackson Jr. ‘A Bad Guy’

Jurors also heard Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr.’s name mentioned for the first time on Wednesday.

As Blagojevich, Harris and Yang were discussing possible options for a Senate seat deal, Yang told Blagojevich “Actually I think the only option you should not contemplate is Jesse Jackson, Jr. as a United States senator.

“I don’t think he deserves to be in the United States Senate, number one. And I don’t think he could hold the Senate seat, number two,” Yang said.

Blagojevich added, “Not to mention number three, he’s a bad guy.”

“He’s really not the guy, I hoped or thought he was, he’s really bad,” the governor added.

The governor and Jackson had a falling out during Blagojevich’s first run for governor in 2002, when Jackson reportedly went back on a promise to endorse Blagojevich and, instead, endorsed former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris in the 2002 Democratic primary.

Jackson’s name has figured prominently in the Blagojevich case.

Prosecutors contend that one of Jackson’s chief fundraisers offered to raise $1.5 million for Blagojevich’s campaign fund if Blagojevich appointed Jackson to the Senate. Jackson has not been charged with any wrongdoing.

Prosecutors also have alleged that Blagojevich later tried to use a possible Jackson appointment to the Senate as leverage with the Obama administration, believing Obama did not want Jackson appointed to the seat and would be willing to make a deal to avoid that.

Wednesday afternoon, jurors heard Blagojevich talking to Harris about leaking to Chicago Sun-Times columnist Michael Sneed “that Jesse Jr.’s star is rising.”

But Harris testified that Blagojevich never seriously considered appointing Jackson.

In another tape, Blagojevich is heard saying that appointing Jackson is “a repugnant thought to me. I can’t believe anything he says.”

“I don’t believe him, I don’t trust him. I used to like him, I don’t like him anymore, you know, he’s… I think he’s a bad guy,” Blagojevich added.

Tapes Reveal Blagojevich Family Spat

Wednesday’s tapes also offered a glimpse into Rod and Patti Blagojevich’s personal life, as they were discussing Harris’ idea that the governor could ask for a top job at “Change To Win.”

After Blagojevich told his wife about that idea, Patti looks up the group on the Internet in an effort to find out how much its top officials get paid.

“Let’s see what they paid their people in 2006,” Patti said. “I’m not showing anybody getting paid. Directors, instructors, employees, key, nobody gets paid there.”

Rod tried to explain that he could negotiate his own deal for a lucrative salary as Patti tried to look up the salaries of the existing officials at “Change To Win.”

Eventually, Rod gets frustrated with Patti’s efforts, saying “It doesn’t matter. You’re f***in’ doin’, just wasting f***ing time.”

“All of this gets f***in’ created, you understand. It doesn’t mean a f***in’ thing who gets paid or doesn’t get paid over there. ‘Cause none of it is f***in’, we’re makin’ it up,” Blagojevich added.

The two continue fighting later in the call, after Patti appeared to get upset at her husband cursing at her.

“How about I hang up on you. What are you doin’? What is this?” Blagojevich asked Patti at one point.

“Well, what? I mean, what do you want me to say?” Patti said. “I tried to be helpful and you jumped down my f***in’ throat.”

That appeared to appease Blagojevich, who said, “That’s good. All right, that’s it be normal. I don’t like you talkin’ in some weird f***in’ way. I don’t know who the f*** you are when you’re doin’ that.”

“I gotta stop swearin’. I gotta stop swearin’,” he said later.

“It’s terrible,” Patti said. “Total gutter mouth.”

Blagojevich Tried To Get His Wife A State Job

Also Wednesday, Harris testified that Blagojevich asked him in Spring 2008 to help find his wife, Patti, a job because the Blagojeviches were struggling financially amid the federal probe of his administration.

“He would often tell me about it, tell it to others that Patti’s work as a real estate broker had suffered significantly as a result of the federal investigation,” Harris said. “That many clients were shying away from her as an agent and that the family’s income had suffered.”

Harris said that Blagojevich had asked about the possibility of getting Patti a position on the state’s pollution control board, a job with a $100,000 salary. But Harris said he told Blagojevich that it wasn’t a likely option, as such an appointment would need confirmation by the Illinois Senate, which would be problematic and potentially embarrassing if the Senate wouldn’t confirm her.

Blagojevich also had Harris set up meetings for Patti with friends of Harris who were investment brokers at two companies that had state contracts, even though Harris had told him Patti couldn’t work for a company that did business with the state.

Harris agreed to set up the meetings, but told his friends not to offer Patti a job, but only to give her advice on working in the industry and to recommend other firms that didn’t do business with the state.

But, according to Harris, that apparently wasn’t good enough for Blagojevich. He testified that Blagojevich and his wife were upset when neither the Citibank broker nor the other investment broker did any follow-up with Patti after their meetings, so the governor ordered him to cut off the companies’ state business.

Harris said he ignored that order, because he figured Blagojevich would never know if those companies got further state work.

Technical Difficulties Delay Testimony

Harris’ testimony was interrupted by an unusual technical problem on Wednesday. A strange phonecall was somehow broadcast over the courtroom’s sound system while Harris was on the stand.

A man’s voice could be heard repeatedly saying “Hello? Hello?” At one point, the caller whistled and asked why nobody was responding to him.

“Anybody home?” the caller asked.

The interruption drew a few laughs from the jurors and others in the courtroom and Harris made light of the interruption, joking “That’s not me” as those in the courtroom listened to the caller.

U.S. District Judge James B. Zagel took a break while court officials investigated the source of the problem. Proceedings continued after about 25 minutes, although Zagel did not explain exactly what happened.

Todd Feurer, cbschicago.com.


Blago On Tape: ‘It’s Very Important For Me To Make A Lot Of Money’

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UPDATED 05/05/11 3:49 p.m.

CHICAGO (CBS) – As federal prosecutors continued to focus on allegations that Rod Blagojevich was trying to sell or trade an appointment to the U.S. Senate, jurors in his retrial heard the former governor saying “it’s very important for me to make a lot of money.”

Former chief of staff John Harris testified Thursday that he advised Blagojevich in November 2008 to appoint President Barack Obama’s friend and adviser, Valerie Jarrett, to Obama’s vacant Senate seat without getting anything in return but Obama’s thanks and appreciation.

“There was some value in appointing Valerie to the Senate seat. She could be a strong ally of his,” Harris testified.

Harris said he believed Jarrett could help Blagojevich engender some “good will” with the public and “could help him in his efforts to be a more effective governor, increase his own political standing and help him deal with some of the political negatives that he was facing at that time.”

But Harris said Blagojevich wasn’t interested in a deal that didn’t help him make more money.

“He didn’t want something that didn’t satisfy his priorities, his first needs, which were more financial at this time and just getting out of the governorship,” Harris testified.

“But you understand, it’s very important for me to make a lot of money,” Blagojevich said in a recorded conversation jurors heard Thursday. “I need the independence. I, I, I need the freedom.”

“I’ve made my children and my wife vulnerable,” he added. “How the hell am I gonna send my kid to college. That’s the biggest f***ing downside that I, you know, that I’m really dealing with. And it’s like, never again am I ever gonna f***ing screw my kids and my family, and put them in a position like this. I gotta fix this.”

Harris had already told jurors on Wednesday that he had received a message from the Obama team on Nov. 10, 2011, that Obama “would be thankful and appreciative if the governor would appoint Valerie Jarrett to the Senate seat.”

When told of that message the next day, Blagojevich told Harris: “F*** them.”

A day later, Obama’s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel informed Harris that Jarrett had pulled out of consideration for the Senate seat to take a job at the White House.

Prosecutors: Offer Of Campaign Cash Leads To Blago Flip-Flop On Jesse Jr.

Emanuel also passed on a list of four preferred candidates that Obama would support for the seat; Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, Illinois State Comptroller Dan Hynes and Illinois Veterans Affairs Director Tammy Duckworth, a wounded Iraq war veteran.

Prosecutors have contended that, realizing he couldn’t convince the Obama administration to make a deal for their preferred candidates for the Senate seat, Blagojevich began cooking up new ideas to trade or sell the seat.

One possibility that had come up in conversations about the Senate seat was Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., but Blagojevich had repeatedly said in November 2008 that Jackson was not an option.

“I mean Jesse Jr., it’s a repugnant thought to me. I can’t believe anything he says,” Blagojevich said in a secretly recorded conversation on Nov. 12, 2008. “I don’t believe him, I don’t trust him. I used to like him, I don’t like him anymore, you know, he’s… I think he’s a bad guy.”

But less than a month later, Blagojevich was talking to Harris about seriously considering Jackson for the seat.

Prosecutors contend the reason for Blagojevich’s flip-flop was that Jackson supporters were prepared to offer him a major campaign contribution if the governor picked Jackson for the seat.

“I’m gonna begin for the first time to objectively honestly consider him,” Blagojevich said in a recorded conversation on Dec. 4, 2008, referring to Jackson as “the uber African-American.”

“He’s come to me with, through third parties, you know with offers of campaign contributions and help,” Blagojevich added. “You know what I mean? $1.5 million; they’ve, they’re throwin’ numbers around.”

During that conversation, Blagojevich and Harris discuss a number of possible African-American candidates that the governor might consider naming to the seat. Harris mentioned Cheryle Jackson, the head of the Chicago Urban League and a former communications director for Blagojevich.

But Blagojevich angrily shot down that idea.

“Cheryle Jackson’s a f***in’, there’s no f***in’ way. She’s so f***in’ incompetent and a f***in’ liar,” Blagojevich said. “She bounced a check. Forget about it, don’t, don’t put her in there.”

Harris testified that Cheryle Jackson – no relation to Congressman Jackson – had given Blagojevich a campaign contribution in the form of a personal check, but the check had bounced.

Prosecutors wrapped up their direct examination of Harris after questioning him about Blagojevich’s flip-flop on Jesse Jackson Jr.

The trial was cut short for the day – and the week – because defense attorney Aaron Goldstein had left sick for the day. Goldstein was slated to cross-examine Harris, but defense attorney Sheldon Sorosky said Golstein wasn’t able to proceed on Thursday.

U.S. District Judge James Zagel agreed to send jurors home early Thursday and resume the trial on Monday.

“Having looked at Mr. Goldstein, I’m inclined to believe you,” Zagel said. Goldstein had appeared pale and tired earlier in the day.

Blagojevich Lays Out Criteria For Senate Pick

On the day he learned Jarrett was taking a White House job and pulling out of the running for the Senate seat, Blagojevich provided Harris with a list of three criteria for his choice for the seat.

“These three criterion, in this order: Our legal situation, our personal situation, my political situation,” Blagojevich said. “This decision, like every other one, needs to be based upon, on, on that. Legal, personal, political.”

Harris explained that, by “our legal situation,” Blagojevich meant he was looking for “someone that could help him deflect or otherwise reduce the problems that he was facing with the federal investigation.”

As for his “personal situation,” Blagojevich was referring to his family’s financial problems, according to Harris. His “political situation” meant he was trying to exchange the Senate seat for a “position or career path that kept him politically viable.”
Harris Feared Blago Was Holding Up Racetrack Legislation For Campaign Cash

Later Thursday, prosecutors began introducing the first evidence about Blagojevich’s alleged scheme to squeeze racetrack owner John Johnston for campaign cash in exchange for legislation that would benefit the horse racing industry.

Harris testified that in November 2008, legislation that would have required the state’s casinos to provide financial subsidies to the horse racing industry was awaiting the governor’s signature.

Similar legislation had expired in the summer and Harris said Blagojevich supported extending the legislation for another two to three years, but had yet to sign a bill that would do so.

In late November 2008, Harris was getting calls from racetrack lobbyist Lon Monk – a friend and former aide to Blagojevich – from Blagojevich fundraiser Chris Kelly and from State Rep. Jay Hoffman, asking when Blagojevich would sign the legislation.

“It was costing the racetrack tens of thousands of dollars a day in lost subsidy each day that the governor did not sign it,” Harris testified.

But Blagojevich was holding off on the legislation. In a call with Harris, he said, I’m not gonna do anything…wanna sit on it till I sort things through on all kinds of bills, you know, and see how it all fits in.”

Harris testified that he wasn’t sure what Blagojevich was talking about, because the racetrack bill wasn’t tied to any other legislation and “There was no reason not to act on this bill.”

Harris said he feared that Blagojevich was holding up the legislation in order to get campaign cash from racetrack owners, so he asked the governor’s general counsel, Bill Quinlan, to try and convince the governor to sign the legislation right away.

Prosecutors contend that’s exactly what Blagojevich was trying to do: squeeze racetrack owner John Johnston for a contribution before he’d sign the legislation.

Jurors heard a call between Harris and Quinlan after Quinlan had talked to Blagojevich about the issue.

“Did he express a reason why the delay?” Harris asked Quinlan.

“Let’s just say, it is what you think,” Quinlan said.

Harris said that, because it appeared Blagojevich was trying to get campaign cash in exchange for his support for the legislation, he washed his hands of the matter. He testified that he was going to leave it up to Monk to handle the situation, since Monk was a longtime friend of the governor and was working as a lobbyist for Johnston.

“I viewed this as a matter between the governor and his best friend of 25 years, Lon Monk, and they would work it out,” Harris testified.

Todd Feurer, cbschicago.com


Judge: Blago Lawyer’s Questions ‘Out Of Bounds’

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UPDATED 05/09/11 6:43 p.m.

CHICAGO (CBS) – A defense attorney for Rod Blagojevich drew some harsh criticism from the judge at the former governor’s corruption retrial on Monday for repeatedly asking questions that the judge had already ruled were “out of bounds.”

Blagojevich’s defense team got their first chance to poke holes in the prosecution’s case that the former governor was trying to sell or trade an appointment to the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President Barack Obama in 2008, but prosecutors objected more than 150 times to the questions from the defense.

Attorney Aaron Goldstein was questioning two key witnesses on the Senate seat allegations on Monday: former Blagojevich chief of staff John Harris and union leader Tom Balanoff.

U.S. District Judge James B. Zagel sustained dozens of objections from prosecutors, often because Goldstein was trying to make arguments in the form of questions.

In one instance, Goldstein was asking Harris about his legal background, in an apparent attempt to establish that Blagojevich was relying on him and other aides for legal advice about the governor’s ideas about the Senate seat – a defense Zagel has barred from the trial.

Harris had testified that he received a law degree from Loyola. At the first trial, he also testified that he had been a judge advocate general when he served in the Army.

But when Goldstein asked Harris on Monday whether he had been a prosecutor in the army, prosecutors objected and Zagel cut him off.

“If this is going where I think it’s going, it’s going to transgress” his earlier rulings, Zagel said.

At one point, Zagel grew so frustrated with Goldstein’s questions that he threatened to cut off his cross-examination entirely.

As Goldstein was questioning Balanoff about a conversation he had with Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett about her desire to take Obama’s place in the Senate.

Balanoff had testified that, in a meeting with Blagojevich in November 2008 to discuss possibly giving Jarrett the Senate seat, the governor had expressed interest in being appointed as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Balanoff, a close political ally of Obama, had said earlier that he believed Blagojevich wanted him to send a message to the Obama administration that, if he got the Cabinet post, he’d appoint Jarrett to the Senate.

Prosecutors objected and Zagel warned Goldstein “I’m coming very close to sitting you down. Don’t do it. … This one’s really out of bounds.”

Zagel had earlier ruled that Blagojevich’s defense attorneys could not use an advice of counsel defense – that Blagojevich believed what he was doing was legal because he consulted with several aides, many of them attorneys, who did not raise objections to his ideas about the Senate seat.

After sending jurors out of the courtroom at the end of the day, Zagel chastised Goldstein, saying that asking a witness if he believed he was the victim of a crime was no different than using the barred advice of counsel defense.

“You are treading in a different way toward this proposition of the defense of the governor that he relied on legal advice, which you know is a defense you can’t make,” Zagel said.

Zagel also suggested that, if the defense wants to establish that Blagojevich personally believed his actions were legal, they can only do so when they begin presenting their case.

“If you’re gonna make the defense, make the defense, don’t nibble around the edges with stuff that’s inadmissible,” Zagel said. “I have made my ruling. My ruling is very clear and it’s not the first time that I’ve made it. … I want you to comply with it, that’s all I want from you.”

Blagojevich did not comment on the prosecution’s repeated objections after court was over, but his wife, Patti, was clearly upset by them.

“I just want to say after sitting in that courtroom all day long today, I almost want to cry because I can’t believe what I saw. Just a deliberate attempt to hide the truth,” Patti Blagojevich said. “An unbelievable concerted effort on the other side to stop our lawyers from asking the most basic questions that would get at the truth of this matter and to prove my husband’s innocence.”

Goldstein racked up well more than 100 objections throughout his cross-examination of Harris, including when he asked Harris about the number of candidates that Blagojevich discussed as options for the Senate seat. He tried to ask the question several different ways, with prosecutors objecting each time until Zagel advised Goldstein to ask Harris about specific conversations about specific candidates.

Harris acknowledged that he and Blagojevich, at various points, discussed U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Illinois Senate President Emil Jones and Blagojevich himself as possible picks.

The apparent implication seemed to be part of the defense’s argument that all of Blagojevich’s discussions about possible Senate picks were nothing more than talk.

“Is it fair to say most of this was just shooting the breeze about politics?” Goldstein asked at one point before Zagel cut him off.

Goldstein also asked Harris at one point whether he ever told Blagojevich that he wanted the seat himself. Prosecutors objected, but Zagel allowed the question, even though he said “I don’t have any idea what it has to do with this case.”

Harris said he never asked to be appointed to the Senate seat.

Goldstein also implied throughout the morning that Blagojevich was planning to appoint himself to the Senate seat all along and that everything else he said about the seat was just talk.

“A lot of this was just the whole process of the governor to appoint himself?” Goldstein asked.

Prosecutors objected and Zagel sustained those objections, but Goldstein pressed on, asking, “Where were any of these discussions going?” and “What was the end result?” He was cut off by the judge each time.

The questions fit in the major theme from Goldstein’s opening statement, that the prosecution’s case is “a tale of sound and fury, signifying nothing” because Blagojevich never got anything for the Senate seat or from any of his other alleged shakedown attempts.

Defense Attacks Harris’ Credibility

Goldstein also tried to suggest that Harris is not an entirely credible witness, pointing to his plea agreement with prosecutors and his admission that he lied to the FBI on the day he was arrested.

Harris admitted that, when he was arrested on Dec. 9, 2008 – the same day Blagojevich was arrested – he lied to FBI agents in an effort to cut short the interview. Neither he nor Goldstein elaborated on exactly what Harris lied about.

But Goldstein also noted that Harris has been cooperating with federal investigators for about 2 ½ years, about the same length of time that he worked for Blagojevich.

“I believe the nature of the relationship is very different,” Harris said. “I worked for the governor, was very close to the governor.”

But, as for his relationship with federal prosecutors, Harris said “I agreed to cooperate fully with them and all my meetings with them are pursuant to that agreement.”

Goldstein also pointed out that Harris faces a maximum of 70 to 80 months in prison for the charges he has pleaded guilty to, but in exchange for his truthful testimony, prosecutors will recommend a sentence of about 35 months.

“It’s the government that assesses whether you’re truthful or not, isn’t that right?” Goldstein asked.

Harris said that the judge ultimately decides if his testimony was truthful.

Goldstein also tried to imply that Harris has simply been telling the jurors what prosecutors want them to hear, drawing repeated objections from prosecutors.

“You’d do anything for your family?” Goldstein asked. “You’d do what’s best for your family in regards to your legal situation, is that right?”
Zagel sustained objections to both questions.

Defense Tries To Poke Holes In Other Shakedown Allegations

Harris also has told the jury about conversations he had with Blagojevich about a $2 million state grant for the Academy for Urban School Leadership in 2006. Blagojevich had approved the grant for the school, but was holding off on releasing the money.

Harris said that Blagojevich’s deputy governor Bradley Tusk had approached him about the grant because then-Congressman Rahm Emanuel was wondering why the money hadn’t been released. The school is in Emanuel’s district and he had helped arrange for the grant.

Goldstein asked Harris if Blagojevich ever said he was holding up the grant in order to get Emanuel to arrange for a campaign fundraiser for him, but Harris said no.

Harris also acknowledged that the funding was eventually released in bits and pieces.

Later, Goldstein drew repeated objections as he questioned Harris about allegations that Blagojevich was trying to squeeze a road building executive for campaign cash in exchange for a major tollway reconstruction project.

Harris has testified that Blagojevich agreed to move forward with a $1.8 billion project instead of a much larger project, because he first wanted to see how much money the road builders would donate to his campaign after authorizing the smaller project.

But Goldstein implied there was another reason Blagojevich wouldn’t move on the larger project: it required approval from the legislature and House Speaker Mike Madigan had been blocking Blagojevich’s agenda in Springfield. Zagel sustained repeated objections from prosecutors when Goldstein tried to question Harris about the governor’s feud with Madigan.

Harris had also testified about legislation to require the state’s casinos to provide financial subsidies to the horse racing industry. Prosecutors contend Blagojevich held up the legislation in late 2008 while trying to squeeze racetrack owner John Johnston for campaign cash.

Harris has said that Blagojevich signed a similar piece of legislation two years earlier within a couple days of the proposal reaching his desk. But in 2008, he decided to sit on it, even though his advisers had said there was no reason to wait and, the longer he sat on it, the more money that the racetracks lost as a result.

But Goldstein implied that Blagojevich never intended to hold up or veto the legislation, noting that many other bills were waiting the governor’s signature at the time.

Harris acknowledged that, at the time, hundreds of bills had been passed by the legislature and were awaiting Blagojevich’s signature. Defense attorneys have suggested that Blagojevich was just taking his time to review the proposal before signing it.

Goldstein finished his cross-examination of Harris Monday afternoon and prosecutors then called Balanoff to the stand.

Balanoff testified that, on the day before the 2008 election, he and fellow labor union leader Andy Stern met with Blagojevich, Harris and former Blagojevich aide Doug Scofield to discuss the Senate seat.

According to Balanoff, Blagojevich said that Jarrett “would make a good senator and that he assumed he would hear from President Obama” if Obama wanted Jarrett to get the seat.

He also said that Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr.’s name came up as a possible pick, but “both I and the governor didn’t think it was a good idea.”

After that meeting, Balanoff got a call from Obama, but ignored the call because the caller ID on his phone said “unknown” on it. Obama left him a brief message: “Tom, this is Barack. Give me a call.”

When the two finally got in touch, Obama brought up the Senate seat and told Balanoff that he had two criteria for his preference of who would replace him in the Senate: “One, that they be good for the citizens of Illinois and, two, that they can be re-elected,” Balanoff said Obama told him.

Although Obama said Jarrett met those criteria, he didn’t plan on endorsing any particular candidate and preferred to bring on Jarrett as a White House aide, Balanoff testified. But Jarrett wanted the seat and met Obama’s criteria, so Balanoff said he decided to lobby Blagojevich on Jarrett’s behalf.

Two days later, Balanoff met with the governor and pushed for her to get the Senate seat. That’s when Blagojevich offered a proposal:

“My real passion is health care,” Balanoff recalled Blagojevich telling him. “If I can be the Secretary of Health and Human Services, then I can live out my passion.”

Balanoff said he believed Blagojevich wanted to get that Cabinet post in exchange for the Senate seat and he warned Blagojevich that wouldn’t happen.

But Balanoff said he passed on the information to Jarrett the next day, telling her Blagojevich “said some goofy stuff.”

The next week, Jarrett pulled out of consideration for the Senate seat and, after Balanoff confirmed that with political consultant and former Blagojevich adviser Doug Scofield, Balanoff said he had no more talks with Blagojevich about the Senate seat.

Blagojevich, 54, faces 20 charges at his retrial. Blagojevich’s first trial ended in a hung jury for all but one count against him. He was convicted of lying to the FBI. Prosecutors have dropped three other charges, leaving the 20 he faces at his retrial.

Harris, 49, is cooperating with federal prosecutors in exchange for a plea agreement.

–Todd Feurer, CBS 2 Web Producer


Distant Daley Relative To Be Emanuel’s Chief Of Staff

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CHICAGO (CBS) – Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel has appointed local government veteran and distant Daley family relative Theresa Mintle as his chief of staff.

Mintle, 46, has been chief of staff to Chicago Transit Authority Board Chairman Terry Peterson for the last four years.

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She will oversee day-to-day operations for the new mayor.

Mintle is a graduate of the University of Illinois, and has a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Wisconsin, Crain’s Chicago Business reported.

She worked in City Hall in the Office of Intergovernmental Relations, under Mayor Richard M. Daley in his earlier years in office, Crain’s reported.

Mintle is also a distant relative of Mayor Daley’s. Her paternal grandmother was a cousin of Mayor Daley’s mother, Eleanor “Sis” Daley, according to Crain’s.


Many Top City Executives Up For Raises In 2012 Budget

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CHICAGO (CBS) — While Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s first city budget includes layoffs, budget cuts, and higher fees and fines, it also includes rewards for some mayoral aides.

As WBBM Newsradio’s Dave Berner reports, the Chicago Sun-Times says Fire Commissioner Robert Hoff is in line for a 9 percent pay raise, which will drive his salary up to almost $203,000 per year.

LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio’s Dave Berner reports

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A 9 percent pay hike is also in order for the newly-appointed deputy commissioner in the Fire Prevention Bureau, who will make about $179,000, the Sun-Times reported.

The bureau was recently hit with a scandal in which its 54 firefighters were accused of falsifying their mileage expenses so they could be reimbursed for driving their own cars to inspections. The Fire Department moved to fire them all, but later decided only to fire a fraction of them.

Meanwhile, the Police Department is closing three district stations, consolidating its five detective areas into three, and combining a few functions with the Fire Department.

But the chief of staff to Supt. Garry McCarthy will get a raise of nearly 10 percent to about $185,000, while the new director of News Affairs will get a 9 percent raise to about $112,000 per year, the Sun-Times reported.

Others who are receiving raises include Transportation Commissioner Gabe Klein, whose pay will go up nearly 8 percent to $169,500; General Services Commissioner David Reynolds, who will get a 12 percent hike to about $157,000; and Mayor’s Office of Intergovernmental Affairs director Matt Hynes, who will get a 7 percent raise to about $169,000; and an administrative secretary in the mayor’s office, who gets a 22 percent raise to $90,000, among others, the Sun-Times reported.

The mayor’s office tells the Sun-Times many of the bumps up in salary are not really pay raises, but adjustments based on new hires.

Meanwhile, the budget slashes 510 middle or senior managers for a savings of $34 million, and cuts 776 vacant positions.



Michelle Obama Denies Tension With Rahm Emanuel

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(CBS) – First lady Michelle Obama is hitting back against reports there was tension between her and Rahm Emanuel when he was the White House chief of staff.

A new book, “The Obamas,” hit store shelves on Tuesday and it suggests there was bad blood between the first lady and the president’s top advisers.

As CBS 2’s Pamela Jones reports, Mrs. Obama spoke exclusively with CBS This Morning’s Gayle King about the book.

“Some people would say, “Well, Rahm Emanuel has irritated a lot of people,” King said in the interview.

“Yeah, but I’m the first lady. He’s not gonna; what do you think, Rahm is gonna come up and, you know, say cross words? No. You know? And we’re friends, you know?” Mrs. Obama said.

But sometimes Emanuel and Michelle Obama were “not so friendly,” according to “The Obamas,” a so-called “tell-all” biography released on Tuesday.

In the book, New York Times correspondent Jodi Kantor claims Michelle Obama had some serious issues with Emanuel when he was the president’s chief of staff.

King visited the White House on Tuesday to get Obama’s take on whether her friendship with Emanuel, now Chicago’s mayor, remains solid.

“Absolutely. He was just at our home for the holidays. So yeah, yeah. I mean, that’s just, you know, I mean, you know this is the White House. There’s a lot that goes on here and I’m sure there’s a lot of times where staff conflict,” Obama said.

Emanuel hasn’t disagreed with that.

“I have a great relationship with the president and with the first lady,” Emanuel said. “I’m honored to have worked for them.”

Another of the book’s claims centers on a lavish party on Halloween 2009, which the book suggests the administration may have tried to cover up.

On Tuesday, White House press secretary Jay Carney said the claim amounted to exaggeration.

“There are outlets that have reported this as a secret party, which is just silly and it’s irresponsible reporting to suggest that,” Carney said.

The interview with Michelle Obama will air Wednesday morning on CBS This Morning. It also will touch on her role as the president’s confidante.

Mrs. Obama said she doesn’t hesitate to tell her husband exactly how she feels on issues the president is dealing with.


Sentencing Delayed For Former Blagojevich Chief Of Staff Harris

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UPDATED: 3/16/2012 11:23 a.m.

CHICAGO (CBS)–The federal sentencing for the former chief of staff to disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich was postponed on Friday.

The delay was due to a court scheduling conflict, and the sentencing is now scheduled for March 28 at 1:30 p.m.

Harris was supposed to be sentenced the day after Blagojevich began his 14-year prison sentence. Harris pleaded guilty to a single count of wire fraud. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years behind bars.

Harris is seeking a sentence of only probation.

Harris was arrested the same day as Blagojevich on Dec. 9, 2008, when the feds accused him of scheming to sell or trade an appointment to the U.S. Senate. Unlike his boss, Harris resigned as chief of staff shortly after his arrest, began cooperating with federal investigators within days, and eventually became the star witness at Blagojevich’s two trials.

Last week, defense attorney Terry Ekl argued Harris should be sentenced to unsupervised probation in light of his guilty plea and cooperation with the feds.

Harris spent a total of 10 days on the witness stand at Blagojevich’s to trials, as the government’s chief witness against his former boss.

In arguing for a lenient sentence, Ekl claimed that Harris took a number of steps to try to deter Blagojevich’s misconduct, including telling the former governor he shouldn’t try to make a deal for a Senate appointment, that he refused to ask then-Illinois Senate President Emil Jones to give Blagojevich the money from his campaign fund in exchange for the Senate seat, and that he told Blagojevich he couldn’t accept campaign cash in exchange for appointing Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. to the Senate.

After resigning from his job as Blagojevich’s aide, Harris took a job as an apprentice electrician working on high power lines.

Blagojevich began his 14-year sentence at the FCI Englewood federal prison in Littleton, Colo., on Thursday. He was convicted last year of 18 counts of corruption, including trying to sell President Barack Obama’s vacant Senate seat.


Blagojevich’s Former Top Aide Gets 10 Days In Jail

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Updated 03/28/12 – 9:29 p.m.

CHICAGO (CBS) — The man who was Rod Blagojevich’s chief of staff when the former governor was arrested for trying to sell a U.S. Senate seat has been sentenced to 10 days in jail for his role in Blagojevich’s corruption case.

John Harris was the star witness for the prosecution at the two trials that resulted in Blagojevich’s conviction on 18 corruption counts and 14-year prison sentence.

He had pleaded guilty in 2010 to conspiracy to commit bribery and faced up to five years behind bars. He had been seeking probation, but was given a sentence of 10 days in jail, two years of supervised release and a $1,000 fine at his sentencing hearing Wednesday afternoon.

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Harris, 50, began cooperating with federal prosecutors within days of his arrest and agreed to testify against Blagojevich, providing the bulk of the testimony against the former governor. Harris was sentenced less than two weeks after Blagojevich began serving his prison term.

U.S. District Judge James Zagel praised Harris for his cooperation with investigators and said that he sympathized with Harris having to deal with such a difficult boss as Blagojevich. But while heaping praise on Harris, the judge said that some, but minimal, time behind bars was necessary.

“The offense is so serious and so crucial that I cannot impose upon you a sentence that does not involve custody,” Zagel said.

Zagel spoke at length about Blagojevich and his working habits and how he wore down his staff. Zagel even said that if he were in Harris’ shoes he may have acted the same way.

“But I would have left sooner, much sooner,” Zagel said.

Before going to prison, Blagojevich claimed his motives were pure, but Harris was the first major figure to cooperate with the government — agreeing to do so three days after his arrest on the same day as Blagojevich in December 2008 — and told a much different story.

Harris admitted trying to help Blagojevich win appointment as U.S. Health and Human Services secretary or to find work heading a non-profit.

In a pre-sentence filing, attorney Terry Ekl argued that Harris warned Blagojevich not to attempt to sell President Barack Obama’s Senate seat, advising against several different scenarios, and ignored instructions from Blagojevich to shake down or threaten the Chicago Tribune or to withhold state business from banks that failed to assist Patti Blagojevich in finding work.

In a pre-sentencing filing submitted earlier this month Ekl argued Harris should be sentenced to unsupervised probation in light of his guilty plea and cooperation with the feds.

“Mr. Harris has acknowledged his full and complete responsibility for his conduct through his guilty plea, his execution of the plea agreement and, most importantly, his truthful testimony before this Court during the two trials of Defendant Rod Blagojevich,” Ekl wrote.

More than 40 current or former public officials had written Judge Zagel to attest to Harris’ character.

Harris resigned his post within days of his arrest and voluntarily gave up his law license shortly thereafter. Ekl said in his pre-sentencing filing that Harris has worked as an apprentice electrician’s helper, working on high-tension lines, to try to keep his family’s bills paid.

(TM and © Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS Radio and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)


Former Blagojevich Aide John Harris To Report To Prison

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CHICAGO (CBS) — A former chief of staff for deposed Gov. Rod Blagojevich will report to jail next week.

As WBBM Newsradio’s John Waelti reports, John Harris is set to serve a sentence of 10 days, which is believed to be the shortest prison term ever for a public corruption conviction in Chicago.

LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio’s John Waelti reports

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Harris pleaded guilty in 2010 to conspiracy to commit bribery and faced up to five years behind bars. He had been seeking probation, but in March was given a sentence of 10 days in jail, two years of supervised release and a $1,000 fine.

Harris was close to the activity of Blagojevich’s office, but U.S. District Judge James B. Zagel believes Harris was in a difficult position, managed by a headstrong governor and essentially caught in the resulting undertow of corruption.

Harris began cooperating with federal prosecutors within days of his arrest and agreed to testify against Blagojevich, providing the bulk of the testimony against the former governor. Harris was sentenced less than two weeks after Blagojevich began serving his prison term.

At the sentencing hearing, Zagel praised Harris for his cooperation with investigators and said that he sympathized with Harris having to deal with such a difficult boss as Blagojevich. But while heaping praise on Harris, the judge said that some, but minimal, time behind bars was necessary.

“The offense is so serious and so crucial that I cannot impose upon you a sentence that does not involve custody,” Zagel said.

Harris’ attorney, Terry Ekl, says his client will enter the McHenry County Jail on Tuesday.

Blagojevich is serving a 14-year prison sentence at the FCI Englewood prison in Littleton, Colo.

(TM and © Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS Radio and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)


Judge Ends Ex-Blagojevich Aide’s Probation Early

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CHICAGO (AP) – Rod Blagojevich’s ex-chief of staff is free and clear of the justice system after a federal judge in Chicago ended his two-year probation period early.

An order posted Thursday grants John Harris’ request to cut short the oversight requiring contact with a probation officer and permission to travel out of state.

The 51-year-old helped convict former Gov. Blagojevich of trying to sell President Barack Obama’s vacated Senate seat and other charges. Blagojevich is serving a 14-year term.

Thanks to his extensive cooperation, Harris was sentenced last year to just 10 days in jail and two years’ probation for bribery conspiracy.

Harris’ motion said he’s excelled as a power-line electrician but that probation complicated his need to travel to storm-damaged regions. It also says he’s an assistant Boy Scout master.

(TM and © Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)


Former Brookins Aide Pleads Guilty To Taking $7,500 Bribe

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CHICAGO (STMW) – A former chief of staff to Ald. Howard Brookins pleaded guilty Thursday to taking a $7,500 cash bribe from an undercover FBI informant at a 2013 Christmas party at the alderman’s office.

Curtis Thompson Jr. initially quibbled with some of the details in his plea but eventually agreed to it in court, saying, “And I accepted the $7,500.”

At a meeting last year, the informant had allegedly passed a note to Brookins that said “12K to you for your letter of support” as he tried to land the alderman’s backing for a liquor license in the 21st Ward.

The informant got his letter from the alderman’s office, authorities said. But Brookins has not been charged and denies any wrongdoing.

When Thompson was charged in February with accepting a bribe, Brookins said he knew of no instance in which Thompson either solicited or accepted a bribe in exchange for persuading the alderman to support a liquor license.

A federal complaint alleged Brookins met with the FBI’s informant and Thompson at his office on Oct. 29, 2013, and was handed a post-it with the bribe offer. The informant was outfitted with hidden audio and video recording devices.

The investigation began in 2012, according to the complaint, but led to an Oct. 9, 2013, meeting at which the informant handed Thompson a note offering the $7,500 bribe in return for a letter of support for his liquor license from the alderman.

“Okay, I understand, I understand,” Thompson allegedly replied, stating that he would bring it up with the alderman.

At a meeting at Brookins’ officer three weeks later, Brookins allegedly told the informant that he would get his “teeth kicked in” by residents of his South Side ward if he allowed another liquor store to open. But he allegedly told the informant it might be easier for him to support a liquor license for a “name brand” store such as a White Hen or a 7-Eleven.

After the informant allegedly handed Brookins a note with a $12,000 bribe offer, the alderman is accused of saying that he’d like to support him and would get back to him with a decision.

Two days later, Thompson was recorded saying that the informant “needs to quit writing things down,” the complaint states.

The alderman’s office went on to shake down the informant for more money — donations to the alderman’s holiday toy drive and to co-sponsor the alderman’s Christmas party, the complaint alleges.

After the informant agreed to pay up, he was handed a letter from the alderman which read, “Please allow this letter to serve as my full support for a 7-Eleven convenience store . . . This store will be a welcomed addition to [my] community and those that patronize the area for shopping and convenience needs. As well as wine and spirits (alcohol).”

The informant attended the alderman’s Christmas party on Dec. 19, and while walking out of the party with Thompson, allegedly gave Thompson a red envelope containing a Christmas card and 75 $100 bills. Thompson took the envelope from the informant, “felt it deliberately, looked at it and then placed it in a jacket pocket,” the complaint states.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2014. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Former Aide To Alderman Brookins Gets 15 Years For Taking Bribe

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CHICAGO (STMW) — The former chief of staff to Ald. Howard Brookins was sentenced to 15 months in prison Wednesday for taking a $7,500 bribe.

Curtis Thompson Jr. said in a court filing this week that he wore a wire for the feds to target Brookins but claimed the feds “ultimately blew the investigation.” The alderman has not been charged with any wrongdoing.

Thompson pleaded guilty in December to taking a $7,500 cash bribe from an undercover FBI informant at a 2013 Christmas party at the alderman’s office. He pocketed the Christmas card full of cash after helping the informant land the alderman’s essential support for a liquor license in the 21st Ward.

Thompson told U.S. District Judge Samuel Der-Yeghiayan in December “I definitely issued the letter of support” for the license.

“And I accepted the $7,500,” Thompson said.

On Wednesday, before his sentencing, Thompson apologized to his family, friends and community. He said he’s lost all self respect.

“It all just evaporated,” Thompson said. “It’s gone now.”

U.S. District Judge Samuel Der-Yeghiayan said at the sentencing hearing that, “Public corruption does hurt the public, and the public needs to be protected.”

Brookins — who won re-election in an April runoff — denies wrongdoing. He told the Chicago Sun-Times earlier this year that he does “not remember, acknowledge receiving or seeing any document. And I’m certain if that happened, it is on tape, and so the context of what, when, how, etc., only the feds could answer that.”

In fact, federal authorities have said they have audio and video recordings of the meetings in which the informant offered a bribe.

Prosecutors asked Der-Yeghiayan earlier this year to lock Thompson up for 15 months for giving Chicagoans “one more reason to give into the cynicism of a ‘Where’s mine?’ political culture.”

“With his words and his actions, Thompson showed that he cared about getting caught, not about what was right for the people and community he represented,” prosecutors wrote in a court filing in March. “He readily joined the ranks of corrupt public officials who have chosen to line their pockets at the public’s expense.”

Thompson met with the informant and another unnamed individual early in October 2013 at Brookins’ ward office, according to court records. That’s when the informant showed Thompson a note that read, “$7,500 to Ald for L.O.S.” Thompson took it to mean the informant was offering to pay $7,500 for a letter of support from the alderman, records show. Thompson said he understood and said he’d bring the proposal to his boss.

Documents then describe an Oct. 29, 2013, meeting between Thompson, Brookins, the informant and another unnamed individual in Brookins’ ward office. There, the informant handed the alderman a sheet of paper containing a photograph of a liquor store with a Post-It note attached sideways that read “$12K to you for letter of support.”

Brookins could be seen on video looking at the document and turning his head slightly sideways before eventually handing it off to the unnamed individual in the meeting. The paper was then passed to Thompson, who later told someone working with the informant that the informant needed to “quit writing things down.”

Over the next few weeks, Thompson prepared two letters of support for the informant on Brookins’ letterhead, signing Brookins’ name. Before doing so, he sought Brookins’ approval, records show. Thompson knew the informant later picked them up and planned to use them to obtain a liquor license for his proposed store.

Finally, on Dec. 19, 2013, prosecutors said the informant handed Thompson a Christmas card in a red envelope at Brookins’ holiday party.

It was filled with 75 $100 bills.

Thompson said “thank you,” according to prosecutors.

“I really appreciate you, brother,” Thompson said. “I got you back . . . I do all the work with little acknowledgement, so I don’t know how long I’m gonna be around.”

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2015. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)


Governor Rauner Taps New Chief Of Staff

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CHICAGO (CBS) — Four days after Illinois lawmakers overrode his veto of a $36 billion budget plan and an income tax hike, Gov. Bruce Rauner has replaced his chief of staff.

Rauner’s office announced Monday morning that chief of staff Richard Goldberg will be returning to work in consulting, and will be replaced with Kristina Rasmussen, who has been president and chief operating officer of the Illinois Policy Institute since last year.

“Rich is one of the most talented policy, political and communications advisors I’ve ever met and I will forever be indebted to his faithful public service for the last three and a half years,” Rauner said in a prepared statement. “I respect his decision to return to national security, foreign policy and consulting. Diana and I will always value his counsel and we wish him the best of luck in his next adventure.”

Goldberg had served as a top aide in the governor’s administration before he was appointed chief of staff, and was previously a top campaign adviser. He also previously was a top aide to then-U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk.

“When you lose, you look for a way to win the next time or a way to get as far as you can the next time,” Republican analyst Chris Robling tells CBS 2’s Derrick Blakley.

Before joining Rauner’s staff, Rasmussen was a top executive at the Illinois Policy Institute since 2009. In late June, she wrote a piece for the conservative policy group, saying Rauner was taking a “politically dangerous” stance by publicly supporting a tax hike.

Although Rauner issued a veto of the income tax hike from 3.75 percent to 4.95 percent, he previously had said he supported a tax increase with conditions – including a property tax freeze and significant changes to workers’ compensation laws. The governor said he vetoed the tax increase because it did not include any of the reforms he had demanded.

Weeks before his veto of the budget plan and income tax hike, Rauner and House Republicans had publicly supported a tax increase, but only if it was temporary and came with a freeze of local property taxes, workers’ compensation changes, local government consolidations, term limits for elected officials, and other reforms.

“The tax hike budget that the governor and Republicans in the Illinois General Assembly are advancing is toxic to Republican prospects,” Rasmussen wrote in a June 29 article that has since been removed from the IPI website.

After the House and Senate overrode his budget and tax hike vetoes with the help of Republican lawmakers, Rauner condemned the spending plan as “another step in Illinois’ never-ending tragic trail of tax hikes.”

Disgraced Former Madigan Aide To Collect $130K For Unused Vacation, Sick Days

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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The former chief of staff to Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan who resigned amid sexual harassment allegations will collect $130,500 for unused vacation and sick time, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

A 40-year state employee, Timothy Mapes will be reimbursed for 91 vacation days and will get half-pay for 146 sick days for a payout of $130,516.28, according to records disclosed under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act.

That is in addition to an annual pension the 63-year-old Mapes can collect of about $134,000, according to calculations based on his years of service and recent years’ annual salaries.

Forced to step down June 6 from his $208,000-a-year job, Mapes has been House clerk as well as chief of staff to the powerful Madigan since 1992.

Mapes was caught up in the sexual-harassment scandal that has dogged the Illinois Democratic Party, for which Madigan is chairman and Mapes had been executive director. Mapes’ career ended abruptly after House Democratic staff member Sheri Garrett alleged that Mapes was dismissive of complaints of sexual harassment by lawmakers against her and other women and that he made sexually inappropriate remarks himself.

No one answered the door at Mapes’ Springfield home last week when an AP reporter visited seeking comment. Mapes did not respond to written messages left at the home.

The incidents occurred from 2013 and continued, Garrett alleged, until late last spring, well after Madigan had made a public showing of strengthening procedures for investigating sexual harassment because of the #MeToo anti-harassment movement, and after Madigan faced the first of several successive challenges this year to his handling of harassment and intimidation allegations in his political and government operations .

Garrett filed a complaint against Mapes with the legislative inspector general. The stiffest penalty Mapes could receive, if the accusations are proven, would be a $5,000 fine.

But even that wouldn’t have been possible before last fall, when lawmakers were pressured into a response to the #MeToo backlash that flattened the careers of dozens of prominent men in entertainment, politics and the media. Madigan sponsored legislation making sexual harassment a subject the legislative inspector general could investigate.

In the spring, bipartisan task forces in the House and Senate overhauled the Legislative Ethics Commission’s processes. The law Gov. Bruce Rauner signed June 8authorizes the commission to take action against proven harassment and intimidation even if the accused is no longer employed.

Mapes’ daily rate of pay was just under $797, the documents indicate. He receives that rate for each of the 91 vacation days and half that rate for the sick days. The sick days were accumulated from 1984 to 1998, when state law allowed a half-day’s pay for each sick day left on the books at the end of an employee’s career.

Half-pay for sick days was an initiative to combat rampant absenteeism among state employees in the early 1980s. It was revoked 15 years later when, at a time of tightening finances, retiring employees were raking in tens of thousands of dollars for sick days left on the books.

In all, Mapes racked up 320 unused sick days over a 40-year career. Although he received half pay for only 146 of them, the others figure into service time in calculating his pension.

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Bill Daley Resigning As Obama’s Chief Of Staff

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Updated 01/09/12 – 4 p.m.

WASHINGTON (CBS) — Chicagoan Bill Daley is stepping down as President Barack Obama’s chief of staff at the end of the month, after about a year as the president’s top aide.

Obama’s budget director, Jack Lew, will take Daley’s place.

In an announcement at the White House, Obama said Daley approached him last week and offered his resignation after returning from spending time with his family for the holidays. Daley told Obama, a fellow Chicagoan, that he wanted to spend more time with his family in Chicago.

The president said he asked Daley to reconsider, “But, in the end, the pull of the hometown we both love – a city that’s been synonymous with the Daley family for generations – was too great.”

Daley did not speak at Monday’s announcement and his letter of resignation simply said, “I have been honored to be a small part of your Administration. It is time for me to go back to the city I love.”

LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio’s Lisa Fielding reports

READ: Daley’s Letter Of Resignation

On Daley’s suggestion, Obama offered the job to Lew, who accepted the promotion on Friday.

“Jack’s economic advice has been invaluable and he has my complete trust,” Obama said. “Jack has fought for an America where hard work and responsibility pay off; a place where everybody gets a fair shot, everybody does their fair share and everybody plays by the same rules.”

In announcing Daley’s resignation as chief of staff, Obama touted a number of accomplishments in Daley’s one year on the job.

“Bill has been an outstanding chief of staff during one of the busiest and most consequential years of my administration,” Obama said.

The president noted that he tapped Daley as his chief of staff just days before U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) was shot in a shooting spree in Tucson that left six people dead.

Also, on Daley’s first day in office, he took part in a meeting with Obama and top advisers to discuss al Qaida leader Osama bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan. “This was all before he even had time to unpack his office,” Obama said.

Months later, Navy SEAL Team Six raided that compound and killed bin Laden as Obama, Daley and other top White House officials monitored the raid from the White House.

Obama also said that Daley played a key role in major decisions about ending the war in Iraq and aiding the revolution in Libya that toppled dictator Muammar Gaddafi, as well as crafting the president’s American Jobs Act legislation, tax cuts and passing trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama.

It was no secret, though, that there had been problems, between Daley and Obama. Even though he was as much as Washington insider as any Chicagoan, serving as President Bill Clinton’s Commerce Secretary, Daley ruffled enough feathers in the Obama administration that, late last year, part of his duties were handed over to someone else.

But Obama said he would continue to rely on Daley’s advice, even after he returns to Chicago.

“No one in my administration has had to make more important decisions more quickly than Bill and that’s why I think this decision was difficult for me,” Obama said. “There is no question that I’m going to deeply miss having Bill by my side in the White House, but as he will soon find out, Chicago is only a phone call away and I’m going to be using that phone number quite a bit. I plan to continue to seek Bill’s advice and counsel on a whole range of issues in the months and years to come.”

Daley is staying on to help prepare for the State of the Union address and Lew is staying as budget director until the end of the month to help prepare the president’s budget plan before making the switch.

“He’s coming back home, and we’re delighted to have him back home,” political strategist Rick Jascula said. “But look, it is not everybody’s cup of tea. I know a lot of really smart, talented people at the top of their game who find the White House to be an exasperating experience.”

Daley was named chief of staff on Jan. 6, 2011, a few months after former chief of staff Rahm Emanuel stepped down to run for mayor of Chicago after Daley’s brother, former Mayor Richard M. Daley, announced he would not seek a record seventh term in office. Emanuel was elected mayor in February 2011 and took office in May.

“I’m very proud of my brother’s ongoing commitment to public service and to the people of this great country,” Richard Daley said in a written statement.  “It is an honor for him to have been asked by the President to serve in his administration, and Bill remains grateful for the opportunity.”

Mayor Emanuel: Chief Of Staff Role Tough On Anybody

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Updated 01/10/12 – 5:04 p.m.

CHICAGO (CBS) — Mayor Emanuel, who was White House Chief of Staff before Bill Daley, says Daley can leave the White House with his head held high for a job well done.

However, WBBM Political Editor Craig Dellimore reports, the mayor acknowledges Daley had a difficult tenure.

LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio Political Editor Craig Dellimore Reports

The mayor called the chief of staff post the toughest job in America.

He also had a pointed rebuke for so-called “Washington insiders” who might have targeted Daley, after he was asked about the common perception of friction between Washington insiders and Chicagoans brought in by Obama.

Adviser David Axelrod tried to downplay that friction in a conversation with CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine, which is why it was a bit surprising to hear what Emanuel – who’s a bit of a Washington insider himself – had to say.

In Tuesday’s “The Hill,” a congressional newspaper, an unnamed Democratic congressional aide was quoted as saying “you almost need to be a Washington insider to have that job or it just doesn’t work.”

That comment seemed to strike a nerve with Emanuel.

“It was a little self-importance in my view,” Emanuel said. “What you’ve gotta know is loyalty – not a strong suit for Washington, I’ll tell you that. You’ve gotta know how to have a president’s back – not a strong suit from Washington.”

“What you’ve also gotta know is policy,” Emanuel added. “And I’ll tell you this … when it comes to knowing how to reform government and the policy that goes with it, I’d rather it come outside of Washington than from inside. What you’ve gotta know is politics and I think Chicago can teach Washington something about politics.”

Emanuel also went out of his way to praise Daley’s work as Obama’s chief of staff.

“Politics, press and policy … you’ve got to be able to work at all three of them and Bill did a good job,” Emanuel said.

Daley resigned on Monday, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family. He also will play a role in President Obama’s re-election campaign.

Daley lasted just over a year in the job. Emanuel lasted almost two years.

Emanuel made a point of detailing, president by president, the number of chiefs of staff each president has burned through. He blamed the rigors of the job rather than the long knives in Washington for the short tenures of most chiefs of staff.

The mayor said he’s spoken with Bill Daley by phone. But sources said he won’t see him or Obama on Wednesday if Daley, as expected, accompanies the president to Chicago for a series of fundraisers.





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