A Just Cause (32 page)

25
. David Ellis, taped interview by the author, January 28, 2014.

26
. Durkin, interview. The person making the calls was never indicted, and Durkin chose not to reveal the person's name.

27
. The criminal complaint referred to these people only by code names, such as Candidate A or B, and they had not been officially identified by the government, but the Chicago media speculated that Valerie Jarrett and Jesse Jackson Jr. were among the senate candidates discussed and that Nils Larsen was the Tribune Company executive.

28
. Illinois House of Representatives, 95th General Assembly, House Impeachment Committee Transcript, December 29, 2008,
http://www.ilga.gov/senate/house%20impeachment%20records/Committee%20transcripts/Transcript%2012-29-08.pdf
. These and subsequent page numbers in parentheses in this section are from this source.

29
. Genson, interview.

30
. Durkin, interview.

31
. Lou Lang, taped interview by the author, January 21, 2014.

32
. Before he attempted to expand FamilyCare by executive edict, Blagojevich had tried to pass a gross receipts tax on all service transactions, intending to use the revenue from this tax to finance the FamilyCare expansion. The tax failed to garner a single vote in the house. The loss of the gross receipts tax was a major embarrassment for Blagojevich.

33
. Coen and Chase,
Golden.

34
. Ibid., 202.

35
. Illinois House of Representatives, 95th General Assembly, House Impeachment Committee Transcript, January 7, 2009, 890.

36
. Ibid., 891.

37
. Ill. Const., art. 5, sec. 6.

38
. Coen and Chase,
Golden
, 307.

39
. Genson, interview.

40
. Durkin, interview.

41
. Ibid.; Illinois House of Representatives, 95th General Assembly, House Impeachment Committee Transcript, January 8, 2009, 961–62,
http://www.ilga.gov/house/committees/95Documents/January%208,%202009%20Transcript%20of%20Testimony%20from%20Roland%20Burris.pdf
.

42
. Durkin, interview.

43
. House Impeachment Committee Transcript, January 8, 2009, 946–48.

44
. Ibid., 966.

45
. Ibid., 985.

46
. Genson, interview.

47
. Coen and Chase,
Golden
, 308.

48
. Illinois Governor Impeachment Panel Vote, January 8, 2009, 1014.

4. The Impeachment Resolution

1
. Illinois HR Res. 1671, 95th General Assembly (2009).

2
. State of Illinois, 95th General Assembly, House of Representatives Debate Transcript, January 9, 2009,
http://www.ilga.gov/house/transcripts/htrans95/09500300.pdf
. This and subsequent page numbers in parentheses in this chapter are from this source.

3
. Susana Mendoza, taped interview by the author, April 30, 2013.

4
. David Miller, telephone conversation with the author, January 10, 2013.

5
. Ibid.

6
. For a discussion of the criteria for federal impeachment, see Sunstein,
Designing Democracy.

7
. Ellis, interview (2014).

8
. Heather Wier Vaught, chief counsel to the Illinois house Speaker, interview by the author, December 27, 2013.

5. Senate Preparations

1
. Cullerton, interview; Christine Radogno, interview by the author, December 5, 2012.

2
. Radogno, interview.

3
. Cullerton, interview.

4
. Illinois S. Res. 966, 95th General Assembly (2008).

5
. Cullerton, interview.

6
. Eric Madiar, interview by the author, June 11, 2014.

7
. Ibid.

8
. House Resolutions 1, 2, and 3 dealt with house organizational matters.

9
. Madiar, interview.

10
. State of Illinois, 96th General Assembly, Senate Transcript, January 14, 2009, 20–21.

11
. Ibid., 27.

12
. The Illinois Senate has fifty-nine members, but Senator Frank Watson, the former Republican leader, was absent because of a recent illness.

13
. Pam Althoff, interview by the author, May 29, 2014.

14
. State of Illinois, 96th General Assembly, Senate Transcript, January 14, 2009, 48.

6. The Trial

1
. Ellis, interview (2014).

2
. Manar, interview.

3
. Vaught, interview.

4
. State of Illinois, 96th General Assembly, Senate Impeachment Tribunal Transcript, January 26, 2009,
http://ediillinois.org/ppa/docs/00/00/00/01/51/44/20090209191257_1-26-2009Transcript-Approved.pdf
. This and subsequent page numbers in parentheses in this section are from this source.

5
. Coen and Chase,
Golden.

6
. See Gordon S. Wood,
Empire of Liberty
(New York, Oxford University Press, 2009), 422–24. Chase was impeached by the US House of Representatives in 1804 and tried in the US Senate in 1805. An outspoken Federalist, he was accused of criminal behavior and mistakes in procedure during one of his trials. He was charged with eight articles of impeachment. The Republican-controlled Senate managed to get a simple majority conviction on three of the articles, but could not reach the two-thirds necessary for conviction.

7
. Althoff, interview.

8
.
US v. Blagojevich
, para. 2.

9
. State of Illinois, 96th General Assembly, Senate Impeachment Tribunal Transcript, January 27, 2009,
http://ediillinois.org/ppa/docs/00/00/00/01/51/45/20090209191331_1-27-2009Transcript-Approved.pdf
. This and subsequent page numbers in parentheses in this section are from this source; paragraph numbers are from
US v. Blagojevich.

10
. Coen and Chase,
Golden
, 395.

11
. Coen and Chase,
Golden.

12
. Press release, Patrick Fitzgerald, “Businessman and Political Fundraiser Antoin Rezko Indicted in Two Fraud Cases . . . ,” US Department of Justice, October 11, 2006.

13
. Mathew A. Crenson,
The Federal Machine: Beginning of Bureaucracy in Jacksonian America
(Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1975).

14
. Coen and Chase,
Golden.

15
. Ibid., 163–64.

16
. Levine was sentenced in July 2012 to sixty-seven months in prison. “Stuart Levine, a Key Figure in Blagojevich Case, Gets 67 Months in Prison,”
Chicago Sun-Times
, July 19, 2012.

17
. Coen and Chase,
Golden
, 181–82.

18
. Steve Loren cooperated with the federal authorities and was sentenced to two years' probation for his role in the Mercy Hospital incident. Jacob Kiferbaum also cooperated with the federal authorities and was sentenced to twenty-seven months in prison. “Corrupt Attorney Who Cooperated in Blagojevich Probe Gets Probation,”
Chicago Tribune
, September 19, 2012; “Final Board Games Defendant Faces Sentencing,”
Chicago Tribune
, July 30, 2013.

19
. Krozel subsequently testified at Blagojevich's criminal trial. Coen and Chase,
Golden.

20
. See also ibid., 239.

21
. Ibid., 242.

22
. Ibid., 205.

23
. Lon Monk was representative of a type of lobbyist that has descended on Springfield in recent decades. Lobbyists are traditionally advocates of their clients' causes and represent their clients' points of view in the public debate. Traditional lobbyists are retained based on their understanding of the client's interests, knowledge of the legislative process, and ability to negotiate within the policy dialog. But during the last decade, Springfield has been inundated with individuals who sell their connections with powerful office holders. Such lobbyists usually have past relationships with the office holders. In some cases, the powerful office holder refers the lobbyist to potential clients, sometimes subtly but often overtly. The potential client, conscious of his own interests and issues, hires the lobbyist recommended by the office holder. The lobbyist provides the client with clout and direct access to decision makers. The arrangement with the office holder is ongoing. The office holder expects continued support from the lobbyist, and support usually comes in the form of campaign contributions from the clients. For the lobbyist and the office holder, this results in a plus-sum game. The office holder wins by ensuring a source of campaign money, and the lobbyist wins by attracting a list of high-paying clients. When Blagojevich took office in 2003, several people with no prior Illinois legislative experience suddenly appeared as lobbyists and had large lists of clients. After working in the Blagojevich administration, Monk became a lobbyist.

24
. The conclusion in
US v. Blagojevich
, sec. 3, para. 117 reads:

 

Based upon the facts set forth in this affidavit, I believe that there is probable cause to believe that: (a) Rod Blagojevich and John Harris, and others have conspired with each other and with others to commit
offenses against the United States, namely to devise and participate in a scheme to defraud the State of Illinois and the people of the State of Illinois of the honest services of Rod Blagojevich and John Harris, in furtherance of which the mails and interstate wire communications would be used, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1341, 1343 and 1346; all in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349; and (b) Rod Blagojevich and John Harris, being agents of the State of Illinois, a State government which during a one-year period, beginning January 1, 2008 and continuing to the present, received federal benefits in excess of $10,000, corruptly solicited and demanded a thing of value, namely, the firing of certain Chicago Tribune editorial members responsible for widely-circulated editorials critical of Rod Blagojevich intending to be influenced and rewarded in connection with business and transactions of the State of Illinois involving a thing of value of $5,000 or more, namely, the provision of millions of dollars in financial assistance by the State of Illinois, including through the Illinois Finance Authority, to the Tribune Company involving the Wrigley Field baseball stadium; in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 666 (a) (1) (b) and 2. Accordingly, it is requested that arrest warrants be issued as detailed in this affidavit.

 

25
. Michael Kasper, taped interview by the author, February 10, 2014.

26
. Madiar, interview.

27
. Althoff, interview.

28
. State of Illinois, 96th General Assembly, Senate Impeachment Tribunal Transcript, January 28, 2009,
http://ediillinois.org/ppa/docs/00/00/00/01/51/47/20090209191423_1-28-2009Transcript-Approved.pdf
. This and subsequent page numbers in parentheses in this section are from this source.

29
. Althoff, interview.

30
. Harris, interview. Harris felt that Blagojevich took Cullerton's appearance before the press as a personal challenge. Blagojevich was someone who had to be the center of attention and considered himself always correct and always in charge, he said. When Cullerton implied that the governor's reluctance to come before the senate and instead go on national television was cowardly, Blagojevich, who looked at politics as individual combat, could not resist the challenge.

31
. Ibid.

32
. Cullerton's press secretary Rikeesha Phelon, interview by the author, July 1, 2014.

33
. Dale Righter, taped interview by the author, February 13, 2013.

34
. Madiar, interview.

35
. Harris, interview.

7. The Last Day

1
. Dale Righter, notes, January 28, 2009; Righter, interview.

2
. Cullerton, interview.

3
. Madiar, interview.

4
. State of Illinois, 96th General Assembly, Senate Impeachment Tribunal Transcript, January 29, 2009,
http://ediillinois.org/ppa/docs/00/00/00/01/51/48/20090209191510_1-29-09DRAFTTranscript-PendingApproval.pdf
. This and subsequent page numbers in parentheses in this chapter are from this source.

5
. Ellis, interview (2014).

6
. Franks, interview.

7
. Mendoza, interview.

8
. Durkin, interview.

9
. The Illinois Constitution provides that a governor can sign a bill, veto it, or make changes through an amendatory veto and send it back to the legislature.

10
. Dawn Clark Netsch, telephone conversation with the author, November 16, 2012.

11
. Jones, interview.

12
. Coen and Chase,
Golden.

13
. The charge of a contribution for receiving the permit was corroborated by independent witnesses during the Rezko trial and later admitted by Tony Rezko.

14
. Blagojevich confessed that he no longer wished to be governor and expressed frustration at being “stuck as governor.”

15
. Manar, interview.

16
. Ibid.

17
. Vaught, interview.

18
. Illinois House of Representatives, Final Report of the Special Investigative Committee, 96th General Assembly, January 8, 2009, 54.
Rutan
prohibits the hiring, firing, promotion, transfer, or recall of a lower-level public employee on the basis of his or her party affiliation.

19
. Blagojevich was a master on the campaign stump. A favorite story told of the time President Bill Clinton asked Blagojevich to travel with him on Air Force One. The first thing Rod Blagojevich, the kid from a Chicago
working-class neighborhood, did after boarding the president's plane was to call his mother. The symbols contained in the narrative served the desired image. The story associated Blagojevich with the prestige of the presidency and Air Force One. He was asked to fly with the president, which associated him with the popularity of Bill Clinton, and what was the first thing this kid from Chicago did when presented with the honor of flying with the president of the United States? He called his mother. Elderly women would smile. It worked with campaign audiences.