Obama Citizenship

Chicago Politics: Top Obama Aides Included in Blagojevich Subpoenas

By Phil

From the Quad-CityTimes.com:

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) ? Sweeping federal subpoenas of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s administration include requests for records involving David Axelrod and Valerie Jarrett, senior advisers to President Barack Obama.

Among 43 subpoenas released by the Blagojevich administration Friday, one from Dec. 8 seeks notes, calendars, correspondence and any other data that relate to Axelrod, Jarrett and 32 other people and organizations.

That was the day before the FBI arrested Blagojevich, a two-term Democrat, on charges that he tried to trade his appointment to replace Obama in the Senate for campaign contributions. Wiretapped conversations show Blagojevich thought Jarrett was interested in the seat and he wanted campaign money or a high-paying job in return, according to a sworn statement.

Obama’s staff released a report in December that said his staff had no inappropriate contact with the governor’s office about the Senate seat, nor was anyone aware of any dealmaking. Axelrod, a Chicago political strategist now in the White House, was not mentioned in the report.

Prosecutors have said Obama is not implicated in the case, and none of his advisers has been accused of wrongdoing. Aides to the president did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

However, we do know that Judicial Watch obtained information based on an FOIA request detailing the contacts that the President’s now-defunct Transition Team had with the Illinois Governor; whether this leads to anything of substance remains to be seen.

Here are some details on at least a partial listing of those individuals and organizations being subpoenaed…

Feds sought info on dozens before arrest

U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald issued a subpoena to Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s office on Dec. 8, the day before the Democratic governor was arrested on public corruption charges. It sought “any and all documents, including notes, calendars, lists, correspondence, communications, logs, records, or other data, relating in any way to any of the following individuals and/or entities:”

*Patricia Blagojevich, first lady

*River Realty, her former employer

*Friends of Blagojevich, the governor’s campaign committee

*Citizens for Blagojevich, his former committee

*Robert Blagojevich, the governor’s brother and campaign chairman

*Antoin “Tony” Rezko, former adviser and fundraiser for governor

*Christopher Kelly, former adviser and fundraiser for governor

*Alonzo Monk, former Blagojevich chief of staff, now a lobbyist

*Milan Petrovic, lobbyist and campaign fundraiser

*John Wyma, former Blagojevich adviser, now a lobbyist

*Paul Rosenfeld, lobbyist

*J.B. Pritzker, wealthy Chicagoan whom Blagojevich might have considered to replace Obama in U.S. Senate

*Gery Chico, former Chicago school board president and one-time U.S. Senate candidate

*Doug Scofield, former Blagojevich adviser, now a consultant

*Scofield Communications

*Valerie Jarrett, Obama adviser

*David Axelrod, Obama adviser

*Service Employees International Union

*Tom Balanoff, SEIU Illinois president

*Change to Win, an SEIU-affiliated activist group

*Sam Zell, owner of the Chicago Tribune

*Nils Larsen, an adviser to Zell

*The Chicago Tribune

*The Tribune Co., the newspaper’s parent company

*Michael Vondra, owner of asphalt and construction companies

*Gerald Krozel, vice president of a concrete company

*John Johnston, president of Balmoral Park racetrack

*Fred Yang, Washington, D.C.-based Blagojevich consultant

*Garin Hart Yang Research Group, Yang’s firm

*William Knapp, Washington, D.C.-based Blagojevich consultant

*Squire, Knapp & Dunn, Knapp’s firm

*Doug Sosnick, political consultant

Source: U.S. attorney’s office

The article to which all of the above is linked contains more information on this subject; definitely worth a read.

-Phil

Full post as published by The Right Side of Life on January 25, 2009 (boomark / email).