With Ryan in prison, feds' probe of current governor takes spotlight

November 8, 2007 (WLS) -- With former Governor George Ryan now in prison, the federal investigation into the administration of the current governor, Rod Blagojevich, is moving into the spotlight. Federal prosecutors are investigating Blagojevich and his administration on multiple fronts, in Chicago and in Springfield.

Federal prosecutors are reportedly looking at the way the governor and his administration handle jobs, contracts, pension funds, political fundraising, even a "birthday gift" from an old friend. But, according to sources familiar with the investigations, Blagojevich himself is not in the crosshairs, at this point, and of course the governor claims to have done nothing wrong. But US Attorney Pat Fitzgerald is tenacious, patient, and the beneficiary of unlimited resources to squeeze everyone around Blagojevich.

The biggest single threat to the governor is probably Tony Rezko, a major Blagojevich fundraiser and political operative, who is scheduled to go on trial in February for allegedly shaking down state contractors for cash and campaign contributions. Rezko is fighting the charge and not cooperating with the government at this point.

But so did Scott Fawell, George Ryan's top lieutenant, until he and his girlfriend were convicted of corruption, at which point Fawell decided to flip and become a star witness against his former boss.

So, Rezko is a wild card.

And so is another top Blagojevich fundraiser, Chris Kelly, who is said to be equally uncooperative with the feds, but they are scrutinizing his personal finances, which amounts to a squeeze.

The US attorney is also investigating multiple allegations of hiring fraud in the Blagojevich administration and that $1,500 birthday check to a Blagojevich daughter from old friend, Michael Askiridis, whose wife had just gotten a state job.

Corrupt businessman Stuart Levine meddled with state pension funds to raise money for the governor, but neither he nor another pension manipulator, lawyer Joe Cari, have pointed a smoking gun at Blagojevich, according to reliable sources.

When reporter Andy Shaw asked the governor if he had been contacted by the FBI during a September taping of ABC7's NewsViews, Blagojevich said, "I don't get into all the details of all of that except to say, you know, we do things right."

The governor hasn't talked much about any of this since his appearance on NewsViews. But a top advisor says they have nothing to worry about, which may be too optimistic, according to civic watchdog Jay Stewart.

" Given our state's very sad track record, it's impossible to rule it out. Would I be surprised by it? No," said Stewart, Better Government Association.

But Stewart says that is only an opinion, not based on any inside information, and the feds refuse to talk about any of this.

As for the governor, he was in Washington, DC, Thursday talking health care to the national media. But his comments in the past include a claim that he does things the right way. that these investigations are healthy. and that nowadays the government is looking at everyone, at City Hall, Cook County and in Springfield.

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