Illinois Tollway not directly involved in Blagojevich indictment, but...

One out of nineteen counts of the US indictment issued today against deposed Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich and his cronies relates to the Illinois Tollway. Count 18 alleges that Blagojevich and others attempted extortion using the Governor's perceived power over Tollway projects and contracts.

A statement explaining the count is headed "Attempted extortion of Highway Contractor" and reads:

"On Sept. 18, 2008, Blagojevich, Monk and Robert Blagojevich met with Construction Executive, who was both an executive with a company that manufactured and distributed road building materials and a representative of a road construction trade group.

"Blagojevich said that he was planning on announcing a $1.5 billion road building program that would be administered through the Illinois (State) Toll Highway Authority (Illinois Tollway) and that he might authorize an additional $6 billion road building program later on.

"Blagojevich then asked for Construction Executive’s help in raising contributions for Blagojevich’s campaign by the end of the year.

"After Construction Executive left the meeting, Blagojevich instructed Monk to try to get Construction Executive to raise $500,000 in contributions.

"As Blagojevich knew, Monk later had a series of conversations with Construction Executive about the possibility of arranging for campaign contributions to Blagojevich.

"On Oct. 6, 2008, Blagojevich told Lobbyist A that he would make an announcement concerning a $1.8 billion project involving the tollway and that Monk would approach Construction Executive to ask that he raise substantial campaign contributions.

"Blagojevich further said that he could have announced a larger amount of money for road projects, but wanted to see how Construction Executive performed in raising contributions, and he added words to the effect of 'If they don’t perform, (fuck) ‘em.'

"On Oct. 22, 2008, approximately one week after Blagojevich publicly announced a portion of a $1.8 billion program to upgrade interchanges on the tollway system, Blagojevich called Construction Executive, spoke with him about the $1.8 billion program, and asked how he was coming with fundraising."

Blagojevich described as running a criminal enterprise

The indictment describes a Blagojevich criminal "enterprise" whose primary purpose was to "exercise and preserve power over the government of the state of Illinois for the financial and political benefit of (Blagojevich) both directly and through (the organization) Friends of Blagojevich, and for the financial benefit of his family members and associates."

Charged in addition to the ex-governor are his brother Rob, fundraiser Christopher Kelly, a chief of staff and lobbyist Alonzo Monk, another chief of staff John Harris, and a veteran insider William Cellini. The charges include extortion, attempted extortion, fraud, conspiracy, racketeering and lying to federal agents.  They are described as "engaging in a scheme to deprive the people... of their right to the honest services."

One aspect of the racketeering, the indictment says, was to use state government boards and commissions to dispense favors in return for payments to the racketeers. 

COMMENT: Senior Tollway staff and board members are not alleged to have been directly involved in Blagojevich's crimes. However they facilitated the crimes by allowing the Governor to use the Tollway as his personal political vehicle and as a criminal tool.

The Tollway paid for and acquiesced in the installation of huge signs featuring Blagojevich installed above Tollway roads.

See above. 

They regularly allowed Blagojevich to make Tollway announcements in his own name as if he was making Tollway decisions, when the legal authority for Tolllway decisions lay with the Tollway board of directors, not with the Governor. 

See press release nearby.

If the Tollway board had exercised their legal powers, made their own decisions, and announced them in their own name, Blagojevich would have been in no position to use his perceived power at the Tollway to extort.

The Tollway board and senior staff therefore facilitated the extortion through behaving like Blagojevich's pet rocks. They were enablers of the Blagojevich criminal enterprise. 

TOLLROADSnews 2009-04-02