Rod Blagojevich,often referred to by his nickname "Blago",is an American politician,political commentator,and convicted felon who served as the 40th governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009. He was impeached,removed from office,convicted,and incarcerated for eight years on federal charges of public corruption. A member of the Democratic Party,Blagojevich previously worked in both the state and federal legislatures. He served as an Illinois state representative from 1993 to 1997,and the U.S. representative from Illinois's 5th district from 1997 to 2003.
Patrick J. Fitzgerald is an American lawyer and partner at the law firm of Skadden,Arps,Slate,Meagher &Flom since October 2012.
The U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey is the chief federal law enforcement officer in New Jersey. On December 16,2021,Philip R. Sellinger was sworn in as U.S. Attorney. The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey has jurisdiction over all cases prosecuted by the U.S. attorney.
Michael Joseph Madigan is an American politician who is the former speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives. He was the longest-serving leader of any state or federal legislative body in the history of the United States,having held the position for all but two years from 1983 to 2021. He served in the Illinois House from 1971 to 2021. He represented the 27th District from 1971 to 1983,the 30th district from 1983 to 1993,and the 22nd district from 1993 to 2021. This made him the body's longest-serving member and the last legislator elected before the Cutback Amendment.
Roland Wallace Burris is an American retired Democratic politician and attorney who served as Attorney General of Illinois from 1991 to 1995. In January 2009,he was appointed a United States Senator,succeeding Barack Obama,who resigned to become president of the United States. Burris held this position until November 2010,retiring from front-line politics shortly after.
Abuse of power or abuse of authority,in the form of "malfeasance in office" or "official abuse of power",is the commission of an unlawful act,done in an official capacity,which affects the performance of official duties. Malfeasance in office is often a just cause for removal of an elected official by statute or recall election. Officials who abuse their power are often corrupt.
Alexander Giannoulias is an American financier and politician who is the Secretary of State of Illinois. He previously served as the 72nd Illinois Treasurer from 2007 to 2011.
David Claudio Iglesias is an American attorney from Albuquerque,New Mexico.
Crime in Chicago has been tracked by the Chicago Police Department's Bureau of Records since the beginning of the 20th century. The city's overall crime rate,especially the violent crime rate,is higher than the US average. Gangs in Chicago have a role in the city's crime rate. The number of homicides in Chicago hit a 25-year high in 2021.
Tom Cross is an American lawyer and former Republican member of the Illinois House of Representatives where he served from 1993 to 2015. He served as House Minority Leader from January 2002 to August 2013,when he resigned to run for Illinois Treasurer.
The 2010 United States Senate elections in Illinois took place on November 2,2010. There were two ballot items for the same seat:a general election,to fill the Class 3 seat beginning with the 112th United States Congress beginning on January 3,2011,and a special election,to fill that seat for the final weeks of the 111th Congress. Roland Burris,who was appointed to fill the vacancy created by fellow Democrat Barack Obama's election to the presidency,did not run in either election.
Operation Board Games is a federal fraud investigation initiated by United States Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald in December 2003,in order to investigate suspected fraud and extortion activity by Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. The investigation's name is a reference to two governing bodies in Illinois:one board controlling the Teacher's Pension System,and the second being the Health Facilities Planning Board.
In December 2008,then-Democratic Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich and his Chief of Staff John Harris were charged with corruption by federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald. As a result,Blagojevich was impeached by the Illinois General Assembly and removed from office by the Illinois Senate in January 2009. The federal investigation continued after his removal from office,and he was indicted on corruption charges in April of that year. The jury found Blagojevich guilty of one charge of making false statements with a mistrial being declared on the other 23 counts due to a hung jury after 14 days of jury deliberation. On June 27,2011,after a retrial,Blagojevich was found guilty of 17 charges,not guilty on one charge and the jury deadlocked after 10 days of deliberation on the two remaining charges. On December 7,2011,Blagojevich was sentenced to 14 years in prison.
A number of controversies related to Rod Blagojevich,formerly the Governor of Illinois,were covered in the press during and after his administration. In addition to a reputation for secrecy that was noted by the Associated Press,Blagojevich was the subject of political,legal,and personal controversies similar to those of his predecessor,Republican Governor George Ryan. To the surprise of many,Blagojevich said in 2008 that he agreed with the idea of commuting Ryan's federal prison sentence.
James Block Zagel was an American judge and attorney. After a stint as a prosecutor,he became a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in 1987,assuming senior status in 2016. He presided over numerous high-profile trials,including those of several members of the Chicago Outfit and the corruption trial of former Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich. Zagel also sat on the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court from 2008 to 2015.
Mark Robert Filip is an American lawyer specializing in class action and white collar criminal and regulatory defense. Formerly a partner at Skadden,Arps,he currently practices in the Washington,D.C. office of Kirkland and Ellis. From 2004 until 2008,Filip served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. As the George W. Bush administration ended,Filip served as Deputy Attorney General of the United States,and as the Barack Obama administration began he briefly served as acting attorney general.
Virginia Mary Kendall is an American attorney and jurist serving as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. President George W. Bush appointed her to the bench on January 3,2006. In addition to serving on the bench,Judge Kendall is also a noted expert on child exploitation and human trafficking,as well as an adjunct professor and author.
The University of Illinois clout scandal resulted from a series of articles in the Chicago Tribune that reported that some applicants to the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign (UIUC) "received special consideration" for acceptance between 2005 and 2009,despite having sub-par qualifications. The series began on May 29,2009. An investigatory committee appointed by Illinois governor Pat Quinn was formed a few weeks later. The controversy led to the resignation of B. Joseph White,president of the University of Illinois,who oversaw the three campuses in the university system,and Richard Herman,chancellor of UIUC. The scandal eventually spread to include evidence of graft by members of the Board of Trustees,resulting in the resignation of seven of the nine members.
Operation Crooked Code is a federal investigation into the corruption surrounding the City of Chicago's Department of Building and Zoning. As of September 2009,Operation Crooked Code had resulted in charges against more than two dozen individuals,13 of them city inspectors charged with bribery and bribery-related crimes. The investigated is spearheaded by Patrick J. Fitzgerald,the United States Attorney in Chicago,with lead prosecutors Assistant U.S. Attorneys Juliet Sorensen,April Perry and Christopher Hotaling. As of September 2009,the investigation had netted 12 convictions.
Corruption in Illinois has been a problem from the earliest history of the state. Electoral fraud in Illinois pre-dates the territory's admission to the Union in 1818. Illinois had the third most federal criminal convictions for public corruption between 1976 and 2012,behind New York and California. A study published by the University of Illinois Chicago in 2022 ranked Illinois as the second most corrupt state in the nation,with 4 out of the last 11 governors serving time in prison.
