According to the complaint, "the defendants did, conspire with each other an with others to devise and participate in a scheme to defraud the state of Illinois and the people of the state of Illinois." The complaint also references the Tribune and Wrigley Field, saying the governor and Harris "…corruptly solicited and demanded a thing of value, namely, the firing of certain Chicago Tribune editorial members responsible for widely-circulated editorials critical of Rod R. Blagojevich, intending to be influenced and rewarded in connection with business and transactions of the state of Illinois involving a thing of value of $5,000 or more, namely, the provision of millions of dollars in financial assistance by the state of Illinois, including through the Illinois Finance Authority, an agency of the state of Illinois, to the Tribune Co. involving the Wrigley Field baseball stadium."

According to a Department of Justice statement today, the FBI tapped the governor's phones to gain its evidence, as well as gathering interviews with numerous individuals associated with Gov. Blagojevich who have been indicted on fraud charges, including Tony Rezko and Stuart Levine. Calls and emails to the governor's office of communications have not been returned.

In the complaint, the DOJ alleges that the governor tried to leverage a $100 million incentive package for the sale of Wrigley Field in exchange for the firing of editorial board staff at the Tribune who have been writing articles calling for Blagojevich's impeachment. "Rod Blagojevich and John Harris, together with others, offered to, and threatened to withhold from, the Tribune Co. substantial state financial assistance in connection with Wrigley Field, which assistance Rod Blagojevich believed to be worth at least $100 million to the Tribune Co., for the private purpose of inducing the controlling shareholder of the Tribune Co. to fire members of the editorial board of the Chicago Tribune, a newspaper owned by the Tribune Co., who were responsible for editorials critical of Rod Blagojevich," according to the complaint.

According to the complaint, the governor's office was going to approve the provide state assistance to Zell, worth about $100 million, for the purchase of Wrigley Field. In a taped conversation with Blagovich, "Harris said that it is basically a tax mitigation scheme where the IFA will 'own the title to the building' (believed to be Wrigley Field), and the Tribune will not 'have to pay capital gains tax," according to the complaint.

There is no mention that Zell caved into this alleged pressure; in fact, the DOJ indicates that taped conversations show that the writers in question kept their jobs. The sale of Wrigley Field, expected to reach $200 million to $300 million at one time, was to help the Zell recover from the purchase of the Tribune. There were layoffs at the paper on Dec. 4. The Tribune announced Monday that it is electing to restructure its debt under the protection of Chapter 11 bankruptcy. "The Chicago Cubs are not included in Tribune's restructuring and the business and baseball operations of the Cubs continue independent of Tribune's decision to restructure its debt," according to a Cubs statement Monday. "The sales process for the team, ballpark and related assets continues and its timetable for completion remains unchanged."

Instant Insights /

Gov Arrested, Field Sale Part of Complaint

Related Stories

Recommended For You