Why does governor have scarlet letter?
SPRINGFIELD -- Now that he's been unmasked as "Public Official A," Gov. Rod Blagojevich finds himself officially linked to allegations of shady deals and unsavory characters.
Documents filed by federal prosecutors in an upcoming fraud trial claim that in more than one instance, Blagojevich suggested the governor's office could be a place where taxpayers funded re-election campaigns.
Prosecutors claim the second-term Democrat tried to lure a fundraiser with promises of state contracts and told another insider his loyalty would pay off.
And the governor played a role, perhaps an unwitting one, in back-room scheming by appointing people to state boards who could assist in the fraud, prosecutors claim.
Blagojevich has not been charged with any crime, but the questions of misconduct have eroded his public support and political clout. The process is likely to continue as a former top fundraiser, Antoin "Tony" Rezko goes on trial next week.
Rezko, who raised record-breaking amounts of money for Blagojevich in 2002 and 2006, faces eight counts of wire fraud, money laundering and other charges in an alleged game to get kickbacks from companies seeking state investments or approval for construction projects.
The intent was, in part, to raise campaign cash for a politician prosecutors called "Public Official A," according to evidence filed in Rezko's trial. Media outlets have said for months that Blagojevich is the politician, mentioned 46 times in a 78-page outline of the scheme the government disclosed in December.
But federal U.S. District Judge Amy J. St. Eve officially put the "A" on Blagojevich's chest Monday in a pretrial ruling.
Previously, Blagojevich denied he was Public Official A. Aides said this week he knows nothing about the fundraising schemes and never had the conversations with Rezko or his confederates that prosecutors claim.
A real estate developer and fast-food franchise owner, Rezko allegedly teamed with longtime Republican fundraiser Stuart Levine, who sat on a state teachers pension board and one regulating hospital construction. Prosecutors claim Levine used his connections to try to get business for companies that would in turn pay fees to Rezko and Levine for the favors.
Levine has pleaded guilty and will be a key witness against Rezko. But defense lawyers have pointed out Levine had an extensive drug habit that could have impaired his memory.
St. Eve will allow Rezko's lawyers to ask Levine about the subject. While one instance involving the governor relies on Levine's possibly faulty memory, another depends on the recollection of another witness cooperating with the government.
Levine said he was on a plane with Blagojevich, returning from a New York fundraiser in fall 2003. When Levine thanked Blagojevich for reappointing him to the Teachers Retirement System, the governor said he should only discuss board matters with Rezko or someone identified as Co-Schemer B.
"But you stick with us and you will do very well for yourself," Blagojevich allegedly said.
According to a person familiar with the investigation who spoke only on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation, Co-Schemer B is Christopher Kelly, another Blagojevich fundraiser who is charged in a separate case with trying to disguise gambling debts as business expenses.
Another instance involved Blagojevich and former Al Gore fundraiser Joseph Cari, whom Blagojevich wanted to serve as a national fundraiser for the up-and-coming governor.
Rezko and Kelly had courted Cari for his vast national fundraising experience and connections. Cari declined.
Cari has pleaded guilty to attempted extortion in the scheme and is cooperating with authorities.
In a meeting with Blagojevich, according to court documents, the governor tried to entice Cari to join the team by telling him he had "a lot of ways of helping his friends" and that Rezko and Kelly were his fundraising coordinators.
Blagojevich "also informed Cari that he could award contracts, legal work, and investment banking to help with fundraising," according to prosecutors.
The scheme's crown jewel was an alleged attempt by Rezko and Levine to extort a $2 million "finder's fee" or a $1.5 million contribution to Blagojevich from movie producer Thomas Rosenberg. Rosenberg wanted his investment firm to get $220 million from the teachers pension board.
Rosenberg threatened to expose the players, prosecutors say, and Rezko and his team backed off. That was OK, one of the schemers said, because Rezko had assured him that the "big guy" said Rosenberg "means nothing to him."