BrianGarst.com

No one familiar with Chicago politics will be surprised:

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was arrested at his North Side home Tuesday morning. His chief of staff John Harris was taken into federal custody as well.

The criminal complaint by the FBI agents said the two had been arrested on federal corruption charges. Each were arrested on two charges of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and solicitation of bribery.

Blagojevich and Harris will have an initial appearance in U.S. District Court Tuesday.

The arrest is the latest step in a three-year probe of “pay-to-play politics” in the governor’s administration. A statement by U.S. attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said Blagojevich and Harris “allegedly conspired to sell U.S. Senate appointment, engaged in pay-to-play schemes and threatened to withhold state assistance to Tribune Company for Wrigley Field to induce purge of newspaper editorial writers.”

Federal authorities were permitted by a judge to record the governor secretly before the November election after raising concerns that a replacement for President-elect Barack Obama would be tainted.

Fitzgerald’s office said the 76-page FBI affidavit alleges that Blagojevich was taped conspiring to sell or trade Obama’s vacated U.S. Senate seat for financial and other personal benefits for himself and his wife.

According to the affidavit, Blagojevich floated the idea of “a substantial salary for himself at a either a nonprofit foundation or an organization affiliated with labor unions;” a corporate board seat for his wife worth as much as $150,000 a year; promises of campaign funds, including cash up front; and a Cabinet post or ambassadorship for himself.

Blagojevich also tried to get critical columnists fired from the Chicago Tribune.

In addition, the charges allege that Blagojevich tried to influence the composition of The Chicago Tribune editorial board in exchange for state aid to the Tribune Company, which owns the newspaper.

Fitzgerald said Blagojevich was recorded in wiretaps as saying, “Fire all those bleeping people, get them the bleep out of there and get us some support.”

Sadly, the larger lesson from this aspect of the story will likely be ignored.  Government involvement in business is dangerous and prone to corruption.  When a political body supplies funds, it inevitably attaches strings.  This is true whether it’s the federal government giving money to the states, or government giving money to business.   It becomes particularly problematic in the latter case, as government has the force of law behind it to create a further uneven playing field.  Politicians seem incapable of restraining themselves from exploiting this kind of arrangement.

But many of the same people in the media who will likely, and rightfully, condemn this attack on their freedom to criticize government without fear or coercive reprisals are, at this very moment, cheerleading the democrats’ efforts to gain controlling stakes in automotive and other industries.  Does anyone really think Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Barney Frank will be any better at keeping their grubby hands of private enterprise than Gov. Blagojevich?

corruption Democrats Rod Blagojevich