This First Day of the Rest of Blago’s Life Updated X2

March 3rd, 2008 at 01:00am Aaron Chambers

Illinois has heard about “Public Official A” since 2005, the third year of Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s administration.

Back then, the mystery official popped up in plea agreements filed by political insiders who pleaded guilty as part of an alleged kickback scheme. One of those insiders pleading guilty said he heard from another insider, Stuart Levine, that Public Official A was steering state business to firms willing to make political contributions.

Only, Public Official A’s identity wasn’t such a mystery. Media outlets immediately speculated that the unnamed official was none other than Blagojevich, who had won election on a promise to clean up government.

The governor retorted that the allegations pointing at him were “hearsay upon hearsay upon hearsay by someone who pled guilty to extortion.”

“No one who is associated with me operates that way,” Blagojevich said at the time. “We do things legally, we do things ethically and we do things right.”

But the indictments and guilty pleas continued as part of the growing federal probe which, increasingly, appeared to focus on activity in the governor’s inner circle. Public Official A kept popping up in documents filed by prosecutors, and Blagojevich kept denying it was him.

Last Monday, a federal judge provided a bit of closure when she said Public Official A, or at least the Public Official A referenced in the case of Blagojevich pal Tony Rezko, is in fact Blagojevich. In an order describing evidence the feds intend to offer during Rezko’s trial, which begins today, U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve substituted Blagojevich’s name where prosecutors had used Public Official A.

It’s now unambiguous, among other allegations, that prosecutors contend Blagojevich’s campaign fund stood to benefit from kickbacks Rezko and Levine allegedly tried to extort from firms seeking business with the state.

Blagojevich’s new strategy is the same as the old strategy, with a twist. He still refuses to acknowledge that he is a central character in the federal probe. Only now, he’s acting like he has no idea what anybody is talking about when they ask about his place in the investigation.

“My reaction is it doesn’t matter what letter of the alphabet it is, what was described there doesn’t describe me or how I do things,” he said while touring the state this week.

“I don’t know much about it,” he said.

He added, “That’s a court case and a judicial proceeding that I’m not involved in. I don’t really know much about what’s happening with that particular court case.”

As Southtown Star columnist Phil Kadner observed, Blagojevich, like now-imprisoned George Ryan before him, is just the latest governor “who didn’t know nuttin’”:

The governor contends that he didn’t know anything. He claims that he has nothing to fear from either the Rezko trial or federal investigators.

Like Ryan, he does not comprehend that even without a trial, he stands guilty in the court of public opinion.

Citizens and jurors don’t buy the “I don’t know nuttin’ ” defense.

Blagojevich surrounded himself with people who were willing to trade on his name and, in the process, sell out the state of Illinois.

The word got out to businessmen and elected officials alike that if they wanted something done under the table, there were ways to cut deals with this administration.

Blagojevich, like Ryan, would have people believe that he couldn’t possibly know this was happening and was powerless to stop it.

Rezko’s trial begins Monday. Beyond Levine, the government’s key witness, the feds have indicated they plan to lead to the witness stand a parade of officials who traveled in Blagojevich’s inner circle.

Rezko also ingratiated himself to U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, raising money for the rising political star and entering into a kinky land deal that arguably helped Obama and his wife buy their mansion on Chicago South Side. Now that Obama is Democratic frontrunner in the race for president, the national media will be following Rezko’s trial closely.

But as the Tribune noted it its Sunday coverage:

Obama, however, is expected to be a footnote in the trial, Blagojevich and his administration will be a central focus.

Indeed. The feds have indicated they intend to lead a parade of former Blagojevich insiders to the witness stand, beginning with the former director of his campaign fund.

We likely will hear a lot more about how Blagojevich allegedly did business in the weeks to come. We’ll probably also hear the governor tell us just how little he knows.

UPDATE 1

The Sun-Times adds that Blagojevich’s early promises to clean up government now “ring hollow”:

As Rezko’s trial plays out and Blagojevich’s legal problems possibly deepen, he very well could carry the air of a lame duck unable to advance even the most basic things in Springfield, including a budget.

While Blagojevich continues to struggle, Illinoisans can look back to a legacy that was supposed to be different — that of a governor who promised to “change business as usual” as successor to the corrupt George Ryan.

“The people of Illinois expect a new day of integrity, of openness and accountability,” Blagojevich told Illinoisans barely a week into his first term, “and they deserve a government as good and honest as they are.”

The Rezko trial could end up showing how Blagojevich allowed that promise to go unfulfilled.

UPDATE 2

Here’s an update from the AP on jury selection at Rezko’s trial.

Entry Filed under: Tony Rezko, Rod Blagojevich