Blago Coming Back

[Annie]

Obama did good at getting Blago off the front pages for a couple weeks, but he's back:

Top Democratic consultant on FBI Blagojevich tapes - Yahoo! News

Top Democratic consultant on FBI Blagojevich tapes

By BRETT J. BLACKLEDGE and ADAM GOLDMAN, Associated Press Writers
38 mins ago

CHICAGO – A partner in a prominent, Washington-based political consulting firm is among those secretly recorded discussing ways Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich can cash in on President Barack Obama's old Senate seat. Frederick S. Yang, a top executive at Peter D. Hart Research Group Associates, is identified by prosecutors in the Blagojevich criminal complaint as "Advisor B," Michael D. Ettinger, a lawyer representing the governor's brother, said Thursday. Robert Blagojevich, who has not been charged with a crime, runs his brother's campaign fund.

The Hart firm has represented dozens of Democratic governors and members of Congress. The revelation that a key executive at the company was captured on FBI wiretaps working with the governor could embroil one of the nation's most respected and influential polling and consulting groups in the Blagojevich scandal.

Blagojevich is accused of using his elected office to exchange official actions for favors, including offering Obama's Senate seat to the highest bidder.
The intercepted discussions between Yang, who has not been charged, and the governor involved ways to secure Blagojevich a high-paying union job or persuade Obama to name him secretary of Health and Human Services in exchange for Valerie Jarrett's appointment to succeed Obama in the Senate...

Not good that Jarrett was Obama's choice...

In a Nov. 7 recorded conversation characterized by prosecutors, Yang told Blagojevich he "should leverage the President-elect's desire to have 'Senate Candidate 1' (Jarrett) appointed to the Senate seat in order to get a head position" with a union organization called Change to Win.

Ettinger and other defense lawyers believe they can show Blagojevich's actions, and those working with him, were not criminal, just part of ordinary horse-trading in politics. Ettinger said prosecutors have many secretly recorded tapes that could shed more light on the Blagojevich's actions, including as many as 50 taped conversations with his brother.

We'll see....

All "Advisor B" references are contained in the complaint's final section, which focuses on evidence that Blagojevich conspired with his chief of staff, John Harris, "and others," to sell off Obama's Senate seat. Harris, charged with the governor, has discussed a cooperation agreement with prosecutors, but has not yet decided to serve as a government witnesss, his lawyer, James Sotos, said last week.

During the first call cited in the Blagojevich complaint that included Yang, on Nov. 7, the governor told Harris and Yang, "I want to make money." He said he'd take a cabinet post or the Change to Win job in return for Jarrett's appointment.

Yang also participated in a Nov. 12 call where the formation of nonprofit organization was discussed, with the hope that Blagojevich could hold a high-paying position. Yang suggested the union job would lead to less questions and scrutiny for Obama, the complaint states.

"Advisor B stated that he likes the ... idea, but liked the Change to Win option better because, according to Advisor B, from the President-elect's perspective, there would be fewer 'fingerprints' on the President-elect's involvement with Change to Win," the complaint says.

Yang noted that Change to Win already has a revenue stream, meaning Blagojevich "won't have stories in four years that they bought you off."
Garin-Hart-Yang represents 12 senators, 18 House members and six governors, while Hart Research conducts public opinion polling for a number of major media organizations, according to the firm's Web site.

The union organization that figures in the complaint, Change to Win, is a 6 million-member coalition of unions that was started in 2005. Its members include the Service Employees International Union, the Teamsters and the United Farm Workers of America. Tom Balanoff, an official at SEIU's Local 1 in Chicago, has been identified as the SEIU official mentioned several times in the Blagojevich complaint, including being identified as "an emissary" for the appointment of Jarrett.

SEIU is listed as a client of Peter D. Hart Research, which has conducted surveys for Change to Win, according to a union news release.

Any connections? Feigenholtz wise to follow footsteps of Alvarez :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Laura Washington

...The Service Employees International Union is still puffed up over its prowess in the 2007 Chicago aldermanic elections, when the SEIU helped turn over seven seats and blew a lot of dead weight out of the Chicago City Council.

For now, the union is keeping its powder dry in the 5th, says Jerry Morrison, executive director of the SEIU Illinois State Council. SEIU "has several friends in the race," he notes, and "may stay out of it entirely." Most of the candidates are talking about the union's top priorities: economic recovery and heath care reform.

 

[elvis]

He's like Rasputin. (sp)

or herpes.....

 

[LeoLady]

He's like Rasputin. (sp)

or herpes.....

Perhaps Chicago could use some Valtrex

 

[elvis]

Perhaps Chicago could use some Valtrex

that they could.