Gubernatorial Racketeering

The only factor that makes Gov. Blago an imposing political foe, is the size of his warchest. Freeze that, and Blago is a pimple of a politician who returns to private life after an emabarrassingly huge reelection losss in a state where Democrats dominate.

Disclaimer: This is an opinion and in no way do I intend to libel the acne sufferers of America.

Craine's Chicago Business

Money trail
Could federal prosecutors be after Gov. Blagojevich's campaign kitty?

Whatever scrapes Gov. Rod Blagojevich has been in, he's always been able to count on a huge, golden equalizer: a campaign war chest now filled with an unprecedented $14.4 million.

Be they Democrat or Republican, prospective challengers in next year's election know that war chest will fund an unending string of TV ads ripping them apart while praising the incumbent.

That reality has made even the strongest potential foe blink. But what if the golden hoard was snatched away or substantially diminished? What if Gov. Blagojevich didn't have $14.4 million at his back, with more arriving daily?

...The Blagojevich camp says it has not accepted any campaign donations from consultants who dealt with the pension fund. That having been said, the contents of Mr. Cari's plea were particularly curious in one regard: They revealed far more than necessary.

Mr. Cari could have pleaded guilty without mentioning "Public Official A." He didn't need to attest that the extortion was "part of a fund-raising strategy" in which firms seeking pension business were "required to make certain political or charitable contributions."But he did, and the question is why.

...Not only have the feds gone after Mr. Ryan, who has pleaded innocent, they've gone after his campaign committee. In fact, way back in June 2002, they convinced U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer to freeze virtually all the money in the committee's bank account — $1 million — on the grounds it was "a criminal enterprise" that likely would have to repay taxpayers for embezzled government resources.

...The judge didn't buy it. The federal racketeering statute actually is applied more often against crooked politicians than mobsters, according to G. Robert Blakey, a University of Notre Dame Law School professor who drafted the law."Political committees are entities, just like all others," says Mr. Blakey. "It makes no difference" if the person who controls the committee is a candidate. What matters is "what the entity did and who did it. If they raised the money illegally, it doesn't belong to them. It belongs to the U.S. government under forfeiture provisions of the law."A seizure requires proof that the assets are likely to be forfeited in the end, he adds. We'll see if things get that far.