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Feds taped Blagojevich: Adviser cooperated with corruption probe, sources say
Chicago Tribune
December 5, 2008
Jeff Coen, John Chase and David Kidwell
Federal investigators recently made covert tape recordings of Gov. Rod
Blagojevich in the most dramatic step yet in their corruption investigation of
him and his administration, the Tribune has learned.
As part of this undercover effort, one of the governor's closest confidants and
former aides cooperated with investigators, and that assistance helped lead to
recordings of the governor and others, sources said.
The cooperation of John Wyma, 42, one of the state's most influential lobbyists,
is the most stunning evidence yet that Blagojevich's once-tight inner circle
appears to be collapsing under the pressure of myriad pay-to-play inquiries.
Wyma, Blagojevich's chief of staff when he was in Congress, has long been one of
the few advisers trusted by Blagojevich and kept in the loop on matters of
policy and politics. As the federal probe intensified, Wyma met privately with
the governor and his former chief of staff at the governor's campaign
headquarters on the North Side for 90 minutes on Oct. 22.
Confronted outside that meeting, Wyma declined to talk to Tribune reporters
about what the meeting was about before jumping into his car. The next day, the
Tribune was the first to report that Wyma's name appeared in a federal subpoena
delivered to Provena Health, a former client of his.
The subpoena sought records about Provena's lobbying relationship with Wyma, the
hospital's efforts to win state approval of a new heart program and a $25,000
donation the company's for-profit affiliate gave to Blagojevich's campaign fund.
On Thursday, Wyma did not return phone messages and e-mails from the Tribune.
His attorney, former federal prosecutor Zachary Fardon, declined to comment for
this article.
The governor, a Democrat contemplating seeking a third term in 2010, has not
been charged with any wrongdoing and has denied involvement in any illegal
schemes. He repeatedly has said, "The truth shall set you free" in answers to
reporters on every new development in the investigation. But the news of the
expanding probe has crippled Blagojevich's approval ratings, which sank to an
all-time low of 13 percent in a recent Tribune poll.
Wyma's name has surfaced repeatedly in many aspects of the federal
investigation, including allegations of pay-to-play contracts, fundraising and
even the investigation of the real estate business of First Lady Patricia
Blagojevich.
In 2005, another Wyma client won $10 million in state tollway contracts after
the owner of a company paid Patricia Blagojevich's home-based real estate
company more than $30,000 in commissions on the sale of his condominium to Wyma.
Mark Wight, owner of the architectural firm Wight & Co., said he and Wyma worked
out the terms of the sale in private and the $650,000 condominium never was
listed.
Indeed, Wyma's and the Blagojeviches' relationship has always been both personal
and professional. The governor routinely reported exchanging personal gifts and
often appeared at Wyma-sponsored fundraisers where Wyma's clients hobnobbed with
the governor before turning over checks for his campaign fund.
On at least two occasions this summer, Wyma held private fundraising events for
Blagojevich at a downtown restaurant and a Rush Street restaurant.
This year, the Tribune reported on an exclusive club of Blagojevich donors who
contributed $25,000 to Friends of Blagojevich that included hundreds of men,
women and companies who enjoyed favorable state rulings, contracts or state
appointments after their donations. Many of those donations came from the Wyma
fundraisers.
The fundraisers occurred as legislation was sitting on Blagojevich's desk that
would have banned taking campaign cash from state contractors.
Blagojevich has been under federal scrutiny for more than three years despite
riding into office as a reformer who vowed to overhaul state government
following the scandal-scarred administration of Republican
George Ryan, who is serving a 6½-year prison sentence for corruption.
But within two years of taking office, Blagojevich found himself in the middle
of controversy as federal investigators probed allegations of corruption at the
Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board and the Teachers' Retirement System.
The governor initially tried to dismiss the allegations as leftover corruption
from the Ryan administration, but the probe quickly snared people close to him,
including Antoin "Tony" Rezko,
another of his closest fundraisers and advisers.
During Rezko's trial, which resulted in his conviction in June, Blagojevich's
name popped up repeatedly as being at the center of some of the schemes to trade
state favors for campaign contributions.
Among the most explicit allegations, former Illinois Finance Authority Executive
Director Ali Ata testified that he attended a meeting at Rezko's offices with
Rezko and the governor before he was hired. At the meeting, Ata said, he brought
a $25,000 check that was placed on the table in front of Blagojevich, who then
mentioned a state job.
So far, 13 people have been indicted in the investigation code-named Operation
Board Games. The latest came in October, when longtime Springfield power broker
William Cellini was accused of extorting campaign contributions for Blagojevich
from a Hollywood producer whose investment firm was seeking business with the
state.
In tapes aired at Rezko's trial, targets of the investigation were heard
indicating Blagojevich was aware of the shakedown scheme.
In recent months, Rezko and his attorneys have been in talks with federal
prosecutors about a cooperation deal. But this week Rezko received a January
court date for his sentencing, an indication there is no deal.
Tribune reporters Ray Long and Rick Pearson contributed to this
report.
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