Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Illinois Democratic Governor's Scandal Reaches To Hollywood

The Chicago Sun-Times reports:
A criminal investigation into whether lucrative state pension business was being traded for campaign contributions to Gov. Blagojevich has developed a Hollywood storyline:

Federal authorities want to know if an investment firm then co-owned by the Oscar-winning producer of "Million Dollar Baby" was pushed to donate money to Blagojevich as it vied for a $220 million state deal, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.

The producer, Tom Rosenberg, and Capri/Capital Advisors were approached in 2004 about contributing to the governor and were told it was a condition for securing investment funds from the state Teachers' Retirement System, sources familiar with the investigation said.

Capri rejected the request, sources said, and -- after a delay -- the firm got the business.
You haven't heard the last of this one.