Feds subpoena governor's campaign fund records - Blagojevich camp mum on U.S. probe of aides, advisers

Feds subpoena governor's campaign fund records - Blagojevich camp mum on U.S. probe of aides, advisers
By Jeff Coen and Ray Long
Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune
Published May 23, 2007


Federal prosecutors have subpoenaed records from Gov. Rod Blagojevich's campaign fund as part of a sweeping corruption investigation into whether top aides and advisers exchanged state business and jobs for political support, the Tribune has learned.

The recent move is the first public indication that political financial records belonging to the governor are being sought. Sources describe the subpoena as the latest step in an ongoing investigation that has focused on major players in the record-breaking fundraising effort that propelled Blagojevich to consecutive terms.

Blagojevich has steadfastly refused to answer questions about the federal investigation, including specifics of why his campaign has paid the prominent law firm Winston & Strawn nearly $1 million since 2003. But constant questions about the probe have continued to follow the governor and present a political liability as he has sharply curtailed his public schedule even while pressing an ambitious legislative agenda in Springfield.

The governor has not been accused of any wrongdoing and has repeatedly deflected specific questions by saying "we do things right."

Speculation about the investigation has become an ongoing political parlor game in state government, and word of the subpoena has been circulating at the state Capitol for nearly a week.

On Tuesday, Blagojevich offered a rare opportunity for news media interviews. The administration refused an interview request from a Tribune reporter who rejected the condition that the questions remain solely about the governor's budget proposal.

The governor's office had no comment when asked about the subpoena late last week, referring questions to the campaign. A spokesman for Blagojevich's campaign did not return repeated phone calls Tuesday seeking comment on the subpoena but in previous days said, "We do not comment on these matters."

Details about what records were being sought were not immediately known. But three law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation said the subpoena for documents was issued in recent days and is a noteworthy signal that the federal probe is active and ongoing.

Randall Samborn, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office, declined to confirm or deny the subpoena.

The subpoena has broad repercussions for an administration whose hiring practices have been under scrutiny and a governor whose friends are being investigated on corruption allegations.

As early as March 2005, federal investigators began a grand jury investigation into allegations of "criminal wrongdoing" by top hiring aides. That investigation broadened to include allegations of political favoritism in state hiring that was supposed to be free from political considerations.

In a parallel investigation, federal prosecutors last fall charged top Blagojevich fundraiser and confidant Antoin "Tony" Rezko with soliciting a $1.5 million political contribution as part of a kickback scheme at a state pension board. Sources told the Tribune the contribution was intended for Friends of Blagojevich, the governor's campaign fund.

In a plea agreement with another political insider just a week before Blagojevich's re-election last fall, federal authorities alleged that Rezko and another top Blagojevich fundraiser schemed almost from the beginning of the administration to use their new-found influence for corrupt purposes. Sources identified roofing contractor Christopher Kelly, the governor's former campaign chairman, as the other fundraiser.

Kelly has denied wrongdoing.

Blagojevich also found his personal finances under federal scrutiny over allegations that the wife of a boyhood friend got a state job in exchange for a $1,500 check written as a gift to one of the governor's daughters. Blagojevich acknowledged helping the woman get a state job, but said the check did not play a role.

Since December 2003, Blagojevich's campaign has paid Winston & Strawn $981,000—more than $735,000 of that in the second half of 2006. The campaign has said it was for unspecified legal help, and the governor has refused to elaborate.

Revelations about the subpoena come at a critical time politically for Blagojevich as he enters what had been the final scheduled week of the spring legislative session. With relations souring between the governor and lawmakers, reflected in the recent 107-0 rejection of his business tax proposal in the House, Blagojevich finds his credibility with lawmakers severely strained even though his fellow Democrats control the General Assembly.

With so much at stake, Blagojevich has tried to closely control his interactions with the public and the press, attempting to focus on questions about his political agenda rather than the ongoing probe.

In March, following a meeting with the Tribune editorial board, Blagojevich sidestepped a question about whether he had been interviewed by federal authorities since 2005, saying he wasn't at the meeting to discuss those matters but would set up a time to do so later.

"I'm happy to make an appointment, talk to you guys about that," Blagojevich said. "But I feel real good about all the different things that we do because we follow the rules and we do things right and at the end of the day, as they say in the Bible, the truth shall set you free. The truth is what it is. And the truth is we do things right."

But in the weeks and months that followed, as the Tribune pressed for the sit-down interview, the administration declined.

Federal prosecutors also focused on the campaign fundraising of Blagojevich's predecessor, former Gov. George Ryan, who was convicted in Operation Safe Road.

Federal prosecutors in March 2003 won the conviction of Ryan's campaign fund, Citizens for Ryan, on corruption charges.

jcoen@tribune.com

rlong@tribune.com