News Release: Ethics Group Says Obama Cannot Distance Himself From Blagojevich

The following news release by Peter Flaherty, president of the ethics watchdog group, National Legal and Policy Center, is posted as released December 9, 2008 (4:36 pm ET), by PRNewswire/USNewswire:

“The Blagojevich arrest is a problem for Barack Obama for two reasons. First, Blagojevich’s bagman Tony Rezko was Obama’s political sponsor.

“Second, Blagojevich’s intercepted comments speak volumes about the way political business is conducted in Illinois. Blagojevich certainly expected Obama to be a willing participant in the dealings over Obama’s Senate seat. Of course, Obama is pleading ignorance, but he is either part of the political culture that produced Blagojevich or he is not. I doubt Rezko had one set of ethical standards when Obama was in the room, and another when he was with Blagojevich.

“The 76-page FBI affidavit alleging Blagojevich sought to silence critics at the Chicago Tribune and sell Barack Obama’s Senate seat is shocking but not surprising. Corruption is endemic in Chicago and in Illinois state government. We may soon see two Illinois Governors in prison at the same time — one Democrat and one Republican.

“I believe that the US Attorney acted now not only for the reasons he specified in his press conference, but also in the expectation that Obama might fire all U.S. Attorneys when he is inaugurated, like Bill Clinton did. Obama would be poorly advised to replace U.S. Attorneys who are conducting ongoing political corruption investigations.

“The cautionary tale here is that more government intervention in the economy guarantees increased corruption. Obama’s plan to saturate state and local governments with stimulus funds will empower corrupt politicians and union bosses. Transactional politicians of the Blagojevich ilk will be the big beneficiaries. As we have documented in our newsletter Union Corruption Update, corrupt politicians and corrupt union bosses have a symbiotic relationship.”