The Man Behind the Hair: In Defense of Rod Blagojevich (Pt. II)

Frances Martel
In the first part of the federal complaint, as a way to corroborate the evidence that Blagojevich tried to use his influence to have the Chicago Tribune fire a reporter unfavorable to him, the complaint cites an occasion where Blagojevich spoke to a supposed campaign donor about giving him a high-level job. The donor, senior Blagojevich advisor Ali Ata, allegedly “discussed…a potential appointment to a high-level position in the State of Illinois while a $25,000 donation check to Friends of Blagojevich from Ata was sitting on a table.” Ata is the first of a stream of dubious witnesses to provide sideline information after pleading guilty to corruption charges. Among typical corruption charges like tax fraud, Ata proved he was not above perjury, pleading guilty of making false statements to the FBI to stay afloat. In exchange for damning testimony on Blagojevich, the federal complaint states “the government will make a motion pursuant to 5K1.1 for a reduction from his 12-18 month applicable guideline range.” If he had lied before to get out of jail, there is little reason to believe he would not do it again if offered a bargain. Ata is closely linked to another disgraced Blagojevich fundraiser, Antoin Rezko, most famous for his shady land dealings with Barack Obama, though also a known fundraiser for his State Senate and US Senate campaigns. Rezko was supposedly at the meeting where Ata and Blagojevich discussed a job offer, but “has a different recollection regarding the timing and chronology.” He is also being offered a reduced sentence in exchange for his services against Blagojevich, but this time the complaint admits “the government is not yet satisfied that Rezko’s accounts are full and complete… the government is not relying on Rezko’s account for probable cause.”

Then there is the first witness mentioned who actually testified to the FBI in the Blagojevich matter, and did not provide recycled material from the Rezko case that seemed to have the right pronouns. Stuart Levine, a former member of the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board, stood accused of 28 counts of corruption (the usual: mail and wire fraud, extortion, bribery, and money laundering). Not surprisingly, he turned to Blagojevich, by now the most popular punching bag for indicted criminals in Illinois, in an attempt to claw himself out of trouble. His story—yet another not related to the Tribune incident or the selling of the Senate seat— is that Tony Rezko shook down Mercy Hospital in Rod Blagojevich’s name for campaign money. Most of Levine’s testimony involves conversations with Rezko, who would deal with the funds (Rezko, naturally, denies that any of the money went directly to him). Levine’s testimony is corroborated by Steven Loren, an attorney arrested for meddling in IRS affairs and bribed into talking with yet another shortened sentence.

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