For Blago and Illinois Friends, It’s Never Too Early to Say ‘Pardon Me’

The arrests of Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, made for an unusual event in federal law enforcement. Not that they were arrested for conspiracy to commit mail fraud and solicit bribes from those interested in being named as President-elect Barack Obama’s replacement in the U.S. Senate, but rather they were arrested prior to being indicted by a federal grand jury. Having worked many long-term federal criminal investigations as a Supervisory Special Agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration, I know from experience that a U.S. Attorney’s preferred method of operation is to indict someone first, then make an arrest as a result of his or her indictment. When someone is indicted, the assistant U.S. attorney will then go to a federal judge for the issuance of arrest warrants. Indictments essentially automatically generate arrest warrants without having to go through a complaint process, as was the case with Gov. Blagojevich. This tells me that the years-long investigation the FBI was conducting suddenly accelerated after the November 4th election when it became apparent that Gov. Blagojevich would be naming someone for Obama’s upcoming vacant Senate seat. That’s when it must have become very interesting to the agents listening to the court-authorized wiretaps and listening devices located in the governor’s office. It’s apparent to me that Patrick Fitzgerald, the same prosecutor who handled the Scooter Libby case, felt compelled to act now, rather than wait until after Gov. Blagojevich had named a successor. If he had, the successor would most likely also be indicted for bribing the governor, and the whole situation would have made an interesting discussion in a middle school civics class. The Wall Street Journal reported that Mr. Fitzgerald said at a news conference that he felt compelled to act because of a lot of “things going on that were imminent,” including legislation awaiting the governor’s signature that was allegedly being held, pending a potentially illegal payment to the governor. I’d like to read that piece of legislation. Unfortunately, Gov. Blagojevich can still appoint the next junior senator from Illinois and sign that legislation even through he’s been arrested. The Illinois legislature has made it known it will look into impeaching the governor, and that can’t come soon enough. In the federal complaint, Gov. Blagojevich is alleged to have solicited bribes from a Chicago-based children’s hospital in return for not cutting off state funding. I can only imagine how anyone who voted for this guy must feel now. When someone is indicted, this takes the place of a preliminary hearing. From a strategic standpoint, it allows the government to limit its exposure to exactly what evidence is on hand. That all comes out during the discovery process prior to trial. Knowing how assistant U.S. attorney’s think, there should be no doubt that the FBI has accumulated enough evidence to bring Gov. Blagojevich and his chief of staff to trial now. It’s a sure bet that Gov. Blagojevich and his chief of staff will be indicted before then, rather than go through a lengthy preliminary hearing, now scheduled for January. One question that remains is how many others will be indicted along with them. Mr. Fitzgerald has publicly said that there is no connection between President-elect Obama and the investigation. That may be true today, but it’s almost inevitable that someone involved in this scheme will be anxious to roll over on the other conspirators and cooperate with the government. The forthcoming trial and the people named could have a dramatic affect on the upcoming Obama Administration. Let’s hope that the arrest of Gov. Blagojevich is not a prelude to what we can expect from the upcoming Obama Administration. I say this because those you chose to associate with are usually a reflection of your own values. So far, Obama’s friend Tony Rezko has been convicted and now Gov. Blagojevich, Mr. Harris and most probably five or six others will go down that same path. The waiting list for pardons for Illinois politicians from President Obama will be lengthy by the end of his administration. But never fear. Attorney General-designate Eric Holder has plenty of experience from the Clinton Administration in securing presidential pardons for people like Marc Rich, whose ex-wife, Denise, made a substantial contribution to the Clinton Library. It’s never too early to ask for a pardon.