John Kass follows up his earlier column, and this new story with:
More than a hint of corruption and collusion…Some of you may be shocked with Wednesday's news out of the Tony Rezko corruption trial that frightened boss hog Illinois Republicans reportedly reached out to Bush White House political guru Karl Rove, asking Rove to rid them of troublesome federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald.
That is, if you get your news elsewhere, you'd be shocked.
But if you're a loyal reader of this column, you knew about the Illinois Combine-Rove connection years ago, and their seething antipathy toward Fitzgerald.
You readers knew all about the Combine, and that Republican bosses Big Bob Kjellander (pronounced $hell-and-der) and Big Bill Cellini did not appreciate the feds poking around, especially in the Democratic administration of Gov. Rod "The Unreformer" Blagojevich.
[From No one should be shocked that Fitzgerald was targeted -- chicagotribune.com]
In the meantime, Cellini has been named as "Co-schemer A" and Kjellander as "Individual K" in Rezko court documents. These Springfield Republicans made millions with the Chicago machine Democratic governor. In federal court Wednesday, prosecutors told Judge Amy St. Eve that they wished to call another admittedly corrupt political fixer, Ali Ata, to the witness stand to tell the jury a fascinating tale.
Ata "had conversations with Mr. Rezko about the fact that Mr. Kjellander was working with Karl Rove to have Mr. Fitzgerald removed," Assistant U.S. Atty Carrie Hamilton told the court. Kjellander—the former treasurer of the Republican National Committee who is helping plan the Republican National Convention in Minnesota—is a friend of Cellini.
Kjellander has made $4.5 million in questionable fees through investments of state pension funds so he can afford to place Democratic chocolate truffles on the pillows of every Republican delegate.
[The Judge] has ruled that another witness, Steven Loren, may not testify that Big Bill Cellini told him "Bob Kjellander's job is to take care of the U.S. attorney."
Take care of the U.S. attorney? That's so Illinois Combine, isn't it?
You're welcome to believe that Rove and Kjellander had no conversations about Fitzgerald.
You're also welcome to believe that the Bush White House really didn't try to get rid of other federal prosecutors who dared investigate Republicans for corruption, although the record declares otherwise.
You're also welcome to believe that the White House never encouraged former aide "Scooter" Libby to commit perjury to shield his superiors from Fitzgerald's investigation into who leaked the identity of a CIA officer.
Or that by commuting Libby's sentence, President Bush didn't make a fool out of every Republican who ever said the phrase "rule of law" in criticizing the perjury of President Bill Clinton.
You're also welcome to believe that it was pure coincidence that Edward McNally, the former criminal lawyer to George Ryan, was installed by the Bush Justice Department as acting U.S. attorney of the Southern District of Illinois, in time to testify at Ryan's trial.
McNally testified that Ryan was badly treated by the FBI. But he forgot to mention something. He had a whopping financial conflict of interest, owing thousands of dollars to Ryan's law firm, which was collecting the debt from another business failure.
You could believe all of this, and if so, you're also welcome to believe that if Kjellander and Rove and Cellini sprouted wings, they would fly happily across the sea, into the setting sun.
You don't have to be a cynic to see what's going on. Cynics by their nature don't care. They use their cynicism to shield themselves from painful truths. But you're a taxpayer. The truth is that this was your state once. The Combine has taken it away from you. And they want to keep it.
