With attention focused on Rod Blagojevich,the other guy arrested- John Harris- is more than just Rod Blagojevich's Chief of Staff.
Time reports:
John Harris, the Governor's co-defendant and chief of staff, was once one of Daley's top lieutenants at City Hall.
and what of the scandals at Mayor Daley's City Hall?
The most troubling for Daley, perhaps, was the Hired Truck scandal, in which scores of city workers and private contractors were convicted for idling on the city dime. Daley was interviewed by federal authorities for two hours during that investigation, which led to further inquiries into inappropriate hiring practices and patronage, but no charges were brought against him. At the time, in 2005, Daley said he did not think he was the target of a federal probe, but left open that the feds "did not indicate." "I have 38,000 people. I don't micromanage them.
Who's John Harris?
Harris, who served as a deputy police superintendent and city budget director, helped run the Hired Truck program under Daley. That investigation ultimately ensnared Daley's former patronage chief, Robert Sorich, who was convicted of mail fraud and rigging promotions and job fills at City Hall. Harris, widely considered a tough, prickly boss, was not charged as part of the probe.
The former intelligence officer and judge advocate general oversaw one of the most bald political plays under the Mayor — the 2003 wrecking of Meigs Field, a lakefront VIP and recreational airport that Daley, in the dark of night, ordered bulldozed to make way for a huge park.
For a greater understanding of the
Hired Truck scandal.Can John Harris tell Fitzgerald's prosecutors about how Chicago Mob bookie
Nick "The Stick" LoCoco ran The Hired Truck program?
