FBI Wants To Chat With Zell

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Dec 11, 2008 4:15PM

What a week for Sam Zell. First, his company filed for bankruptcy on Monday. Then on Tuesday, Gov. Rod Blagojevich was arrested, partly for trying to extort the editorial board of the Zell-owned Chicago Tribune. And it's that last item that has the FBI curious to talk to Zell about what he knew and what he did in response to Blago's threats and attempts to have editor John McCormick fired in exchange for helping along the sale of Wrigley Field. While Zell said in a television interview he was contacted by the FBI, he denied a request by his own Chicago Tribune for an interview. The Tribune Company sticks by their recent assertion that their behavior has been "appropriate at all times."