Illinois governor charged with corruption
Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich of Illinois was arrested and indicted on federal corruption charges, yesterday, partly in connection with his upcoming appointment of a replacement for President-elect Barack Obama’s Senate seat.

FBI agents arrested Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, early Tuesday, and the two appeared in court later in the day in Chicago.

Authorities said both men were charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud as well as solicitation of bribery.

The charges come on the heels of investigations in which U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said the government had bugged the governor’s campaign office and tapped his home phone. Recorded conversations, according to a 76-page affidavit written by federal authorities, caught the governor planning a sale or trade of Obama’s vacant Senate seat that would bring him and his wife, Patti Blagojevich, financial benefits in excess of $150,000 per year.

“It’s a very sad day for Illinois government,” Fitzgerald said of the arrest. “Governor Blagojevich has taken us to a truly new low.”

In addition to the accusations of possible financial gain, the affidavit said Blagojevich discussed using his gubernatorial authority to land himself as the appointed secretary of Health and Human Services under the soon-to-be Obama administration.

In a round of questions and answers, Fitzgerald said there are no allegations of any involvement by Obama, who later commented on the day’s events.

“I had no contact with the governor or his office,” Obama said, “so I was not aware of what was happening.”

The Republican National Committee labeled Obama’s reaction as “insufficient at best,” adding that Obama’s past associations with the governor give him the “responsibility to speak out and fully address the issue.”

Blagojevich denies any wrongdoing and was released on $4,500 bail.

Detainees at Guantánamo say they wish to plead guilty
The five men held at the Guantánamo Bay, Cuba prison in connection with the Sept. 11 attacks in New York told a military judge Monday that they plan on providing full confessions.

Apparently the plan had been under consideration for some time. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-described mastermind of the attacks, said in a Nov. 4 statement sent to the Army judge, Col. Stephen Henley, that he and the four other men planned to stop filing legal motions, referring to them as a waste of time.

Before guilty pleas can be accepted, Henley said, numerous legal questions must be resolved, including how the case will be handled by the U.S. government, which is not entirely clear because President-elect Barack Obama doesn’t take office for several more weeks.

8212;Compiled by Assistant City Editor James Palen
8212;Sources used: CNN, NPR, The New York Times, and The Washington Post