Why The Harris Plea Deal Is The Most Important Yet In The Blago Case

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Jul 9, 2009 9:20PM

As our pal Steve Rhodes reminds us over at NBC, former Blago Chief-of-Staff John Harris served under Mayor Daley as his budget director and deputy aviation commissioner. Could the feds have an even wider net? Will Harris divulge things about Daley as well as Blago? Rhodes points out:

Harris' attorney, Terry Ekl, was asked by reporters after his client's plea agreement was made official if he would talk to investigators about City Hall.

"I'll tell you this," Ekl said. "When John Harris began to cooperate with the government, he did not pick and choose the subject matters. He's been questioned about a variety of subjects. He's been truthful and honest about all of those, and I'm not going to have anything further to say about what he has talked about in terms of other investigations."

Specifically, according to Rhodes, maybe some airport-related contracts that happened under Harris will come under closer scrutiny.

One other person seems to agree with Rhodes that Harris could come back to haunt Daley. Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica tweeted: "Harris can open up the flood gates in the City Hall investigations. He know where ALL the bodies are burried. Harris is the missing link." Sit tight, this could be fun.