The Blagojevich trial resumed Thursday morning as Joseph Cari continued his testimony, detailing alleged dealings with Stuart Levine which included an alleged shake-down of a Virginia-based private equity firm, JER Partners. While Cari admitted under cross that Blago wasn't directly involved with the JER dealings, he did say, “It was very clear to me, based on conversations with [Chris] Kelly, [Tony] Rezko, and the governor, that if you did not play ball the way they wanted, there were repercussions.” more ›

Monday afternoon the Illinois Senate did what, just a week ago, seemed to be the impossible: they approved the state ethics bill. The legislation, which passed 55-0, prohibits those who have $50,000 or more worth of business with the state from making contributions to individuals running for statewide office. Just as the House did earlier this month, the Senate overrode the governor's attempts to insert additional conditions to the bill, which were largely aimed at lawmakers. Critics claimed that Blago used his amendatory veto authority to kill the bill. the passage comes just a short time after Senator (and presidential candidate) Barack Obama persuaded his former colleague, State Senate President Emil Jones, to address the issue promptly; the bill becomes law in January.
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It's not just bags of cash that Ali Ata knew about. In testimony during Tony Rezko's federal fraud trial yesterday, Ata told jurors that he donated $25K to Blagojevich's campaign in 2002, dropping the check off at Rezko's office. He was then led into a conference room where the governor, his campaign manager Lon Monk, top fundraiser Chris Kelly and state Rep. Jay Hoffman (D-Collonsville) were waiting. According to Ata, Rezko explained to the governor that he was interested in joining the Blagojevich administration. Blago then allegedly asked Rezko if Ata had "identified job opportunities.” Sometime after that meeting, Rezko asked Ata to identify state jobs that might interest him, he testified. more ›

As if the allegations against Rod Blagojevich couldn't get more sensational in the Tony Rezko trial, prosecutors told judge Amy St Eve yesterday that Ali Ata, the former executive director of the Illinois Finance Authority, will testify that he helped deliver "black plastic bags" of cash to prevent contractors from putting a lien on Blago's home. more ›

Initially, we thought this Tony Rezko stuff was pretty boring, but sweet muscular Jesus, it's getting good. Prosecutors said today that they want to call Ali Ata set to testify that he had conversations with another Rezko lackey about getting Karl Rove to remove U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald to squash the Rezko investigation. Judge Amy St. Eve hasn't ruled yet if Ata can testify, but oh boy. more ›