Former Senator Torcelli Tied To Illinois Governor's Scandal

The AP reports:

Three law firms were put on the Illinois State Teachers Retirement System's list of preferred outside attorneys after Gov. Rod Blagojevich received from them thousands of dollars in donations, according to a published report.

Representatives from the firms were tied to two fundraising trips to New York made by Blagojevich and partially financed by former retirement system board member Stuart Levine, the Chicago Sun-Times reported in Friday editions.

Levine, who is expected to plead guilty next month to engineering corruption at the fund, paid for private flights for Blagojevich and supporters in October 2003 and December 2003, according to state records cited by the Sun-Times.

Levine, 60, is charged with using his position as a former member of both the pension board and the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board to pressure private companies to hire his associates or face being frozen out of state business. Published reports have been saying for weeks that Levine was cooperating with prosecutors.

Citing a source familiar with the investigation, the Sun-Times reported Friday that federal investigators are looking into Blagojevich's trips as part of their ongoing probe of the corruption-plagued boards.

Blagojevich, the law firms and their attorneys have not been accused of any wrongdoing.

A message seeking comment was left by The Associated Press late Thursday night for U.S. Attorney's office spokesman Randall Samborn. A message also was left for Levine attorney Jeffrey B. Steinback.

The governor's re-election campaign said there was no connection between pension business and donations.

"The governor has no role in what law firms TRS chooses to do business with," campaign spokeswoman Sheila Nix told the Sun-Times.

The retirement system released a statement Thursday night that said the agency "thoroughly reviewed the qualifications of these firms, and they were selected based on their experience and qualifications."

Blagojevich met with attorney and former Democratic National Committee finance chairman Leonard Barrack and former New Jersey Sen. Robert Torricelli, a consultant for Barrack's law firm, on Oct. 29, 2003, according to a copy of the governor's office schedule. Five days later, Barrack's law firm - Barrack Rodos & Bacine - and Torricelli each donated $10,000 to Blagojevich's campaign.

New Jersey politicians have a lot in common with Illinois politicians.No word yet on whether the Democrats want to run a campaign on the culture of corruption.