CHICAGO — CHICAGO - Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich was arrested yesterday in what U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald called a "political corruption crime spree" that included alleged attempts to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.
Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, were named in a federal criminal complaint that alleged a wide-ranging criminal conspiracy aimed at providing financial benefits to the governor, his political fund and his wife.
Blagojevich was taken into federal custody at his home in Chicago yesterday morning.
Blagojevich's arrest dealt a tumultuous blow to Illinois government, raising questions about the leadership of the state and the fate of the open Senate seat - which the governor has the sole power to fill under the state constitution.
The allegations against Blagojevich provide a sharp contrast to a Democratic governor who campaigned for office promising reforms in the aftermath of disgraced, scandal-tainted Republican chief executive George Ryan. The complaint comes a little more than two years after Ryan was sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison on federal corruption charges.
Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn called on Blagojevich to step aside at least temporarily or resign.
"I think he knows what he needs to do for the people," said Quinn, a Democrat.
Attorney General Lisa Madigan, who had been viewed as a likely 2010 primary challenger if Blagojevich sought a third term, said he should immediately step down. Madigan also said she was moving forward on legal issues if the governor did not resign.
Despite facing myriad federal investigations throughout his nearly six years in office, Blagojevich has maintained that he committed no wrongdoing. On Monday, Blagojevich said any discussions he has had were "always lawful."
Blagojevich's and Harris' arrests followed a series of Chicago Tribune articles revealing that federal investigators had compiled secret recordings of the governor with the cooperation of a longtime confidant. In recent days, the focus expanded beyond a probe of allegations of wrongdoing involving state jobs, contracts and appointments in exchange for campaign dollars to the possibility that the Senate succession process had become tainted by pay-to-play politics.
Spurring federal investigators to act was Blagojevich's pending appointment of a Senate successor to Obama, whose resignation took effect Nov. 16. Blagojevich had said he expected to name a new senator near the end of the year.
