CHICAGO -- An attorney for one of Gov. Rod Blagojevich's closest friends denied Friday that his client ever wore a wire or made recordings of the governor for the FBI and was unaware of any such recordings.

"Any allegation or insinuation to the contrary is simply untrue," Zachary T. Fardon, attorney for lobbyist and Blagojevich friend John Wyma, said in a statement.

His statement followed a report in Friday's Chicago Tribune that Wyma has cooperated with federal investigators in their probe of corruption in the Blagojevich administration and quoted unnamed sources as saying that the assistance provided by Wyma "helped lead to recordings of the governor and others."

The Tribune never reported that Wyma had worn a wire or made recordings.

Fardon declined to answer questions as to whether his client, a former Blagojevich staff aide who is now a lobbyist, was cooperating with the government.

The Tribune story sent shock waves through the state, following months of bombshell disclosures of corruption in the Blagojevich administration and the federal conviction of one of the governor's top fundraisers, Antoin "Tony" Rezko.

A top aide to Blagojevich, Lucio Guerrero, issued a statement Friday saying that Blagojevich "has been working on the things that matter most to the people of Illinois - creating jobs, keeping people in their homes, fixing the budget and making sure that everyone has access to affordable health care."

"He woke up this morning and saw the article just like everyone else did," Guerrero said. "The governor has not done anything wrong, improper or illegal."

Fardon said in his statement that news stories reported that Wyma had worn a wire to make recordings of conversations with Blagojevich at the FBI's request.

"Contrary to those stories, Mr. Wyma has not worn any wire or recorded any conversations; nor is he aware of any such recorded conversations," he said.

Fardon said he would have no further comment "out of respect for the federal investigative process."

Randall Samborn, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office, said he had no comment on the Tribune report as did FBI spokesman Ross Rice.

Wyma's name has been tied to aspects of the federal investigation, including a recent subpoena.

In October, federal prosecutors subpoenaed records from Mokena-based Provena Hospital regarding Wyma's work there. Wyma was registered to represent Provena when it got approval from the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board in April 2004 to proceed with development of an open-heart surgery unit in Elgin.

The federal subpoena sought information on the hospital's push for state approval of the heart program and a $25,000 donation the company's for-profit affiliate gave to Blagojevich's campaign fund.

In 2005, Wyma was involved in a real estate deal with the governor's wife, Patricia Blagojevich, who has a home-based real estate company. Wyma client Mark Wight sold a $650,000 condominium to Wyma, paying the first lady a $30,000 commission. Wight's architecture firm later won $10 million in no-bid state contracts for tollway work.

Neither Blagojevich nor his wife have been charged with any wrongdoing and he has repeatedly denied doing anything illegal.

During Rezko's trial, Blagojevich's name came up repeatedly in testimony regarding schemes to trade state favors for campaign contributions. Rezko was convicted in June.

Blagojevich took office in 2003 as a reformer, replacing Republican Gov. George Ryan, who is serving a 6 1/2-year prison sentence for racketeering.

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