The Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich was taken into custody by the FBI a few minutes ago for, amongst other things, attempting to sell his gift of an appointment to the Senate seat left open following Barack Obama's election to the Presidency.
US attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, who has filed more than seventy pages of corruption charges against the Governor, said:
"The breadth of corruption laid out in these charges is staggering... Blagojevich put a 'for sale' sign on the naming of a United States Senator; involved himself personally in pay-to-play schemes with the urgency of a salesman meeting his annual sales target; and corruptly used his office in an effort to trample editorial voices of criticism"
According the charge sheet, Blagojevich had the following to say about Obama's open Senate seat:
"I’ve got this thing and it’s f****g golden, and, uh, uh, I’m just not giving it up for f***n’ nothing. I’m not gonna do it. And, and I can always use it. I can parachute me there... I want to make money”
Even before his arrest, Blagojevich's approval rating stood at a paltry 11%. It’s fair to say it may now have dropped even further!
A full copy of the 78-page list of charges filed in the Northern District of Illinois Eastern Divsion District Court can be found can be found here. Explosive stuff.
