If you are just getting home from work, the transcript of Patrick Fitzgerald's press conference is available here.

The complaint (pdf) says the latest phase of the Blagojevich investigation began in early October, 2008 with information from "Individual A." The wires and bugs were in by October 21, 2008. The wiretap of Blagojevich's home phone went up on October 29. The details of the fruits of the wires and bugs and information received from Individual A begins on page 28.

The Complaint says Individual A is a subject but not a target, someone hoping for immunity and is associated with the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board. Individual A gave information about Fundraiser A, who is the chairman of Friends of Blagojevich.

Is Individual A John Wyma? I suspect so, because his lawyer says Wyma didn't wear a wire talking to Blagojevich and Fitz says in the complaint Individual A refused to have his conversations recorded. More indications this may be correct here.

Anyone else have any ideas on who the other little people are -- the fundraisers, advisors, etc? (We ran down the Senate Candidates here.)As for Rezko, his deal with Fitz may have fizzled. [More...]

U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald stays true to form in the Complaint (pdf) against Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. It's filled with references to other individuals identified by status with a letter designation.

There's fundraisers, advisers and hopeful Senate candidates. Here's a likely who's who, which will be updated with corrections and additions. From the Washington Post:

• Senate Candidate 1: Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett
• Senate Candidate 2: Ill. Attorney General Lisa Madigan
• Senate Candidate 4: A deputy governor of Illinois, which could be Dean Martinez, Bob Greenlee and Louanner Peters.
• Senate Candidate 6: a wealthy person from Illinois. Gawker speculates it's J.B. Pritzker, Penny's brother.

Marc Ambinder says Senate Candidate 5 is likely Jesse Jackson, Jr or Emil Jones. Politico agrees.

Question: Where's Rep. Danny Davis in all this, he was referenced by Blagojevich as a possible Senate replacement.

“We spent part of Thanksgiving Day together, and he made some comments to the press that he thought I’d make an excellent senator, then he said ‘Well let me stop, I don’t want to prejudice anything,’ but yes, we are in conversation with the governor,” Davis said.

MSNBC just read a statement from President Elect Barack Obama on today's arrest of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Obama said he's saddened and sobered by the charges.

No mention of being "shocked." Interesting.

Random note: Blagojevich may be the most cumbersome name to type since Schwarzenegger. Anyone have a shorthand way of remembering how to spell it?

Update: Obama says he was not aware of Blagojevich's attempt to sell his Senate seat, a point, as we wrote earlier, was also made by U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald this morning.

Check out page 63 of the 78 page complaint (pdf)against Illinois Gov. Rod Blagovich where the Governor and aides and consultants are discussing whether to appoint Obama's preference, referred to as Senate Candidate 1, for his senate replacement:

ROD BLAGOJEVICH said that the consultants (Advisor B and another consultant are believed to be on the call at that time) are telling him that he has to “suck it up” for two years and do nothing and give this “motherf*cker [the President-elect] his senator. F*ck him. For nothing? F*ck him.” ROD BLAGOJEVICH states that he will put “[Senate Candidate 4]” in the Senate “before I just give f*cking [Senate Candidate 1] a f*cking Senate seat and I don’t get anything.” (Senate Candidate 4 is a Deputy Governor of the State of Illinois).

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U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald and FBI Agent Robert Grant are giving a press conference on CNN about the arrest of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. Fitz reminds me more and more of Eliot Ness.

Fitz says "there's politics and there's crime" and sometimes people "blur the lines."

There were others involved. FBI Agent Grant said he called the Governor at 6:00 am and told him there was a warrant for his arrest and the FBI was outside. He asked him to come quietly. The Governor said, "Is this a joke?" and Grant said "No." He went quietly, was handcuffed, and as he was leaving, his wife and kids were "beginning to stir."

The press release is here (pdf) and the 78 page complaint is here (pdf.) In addition to wiretaps, including one on Blagojevich's home phone, Blagojevich's personal office and a conference room were bugged.

[More....]

Tony Rezko lost his motion for a new trial Wednesday. His sentencing has been continued because he is singing for his supper and giving up information others (No, not Obama, don't even bother trying to go there in comments, Obama is not the subject or relevant to this post.)

Rezko's motion for new trial is here (pdf). The Judge's 34 page ruling is here (pdf).

Chicago Ald. Edward Vrdolyak, aka "Fast Eddie", pleaded guilty last week and Springfield Republican political fundraiser William Cellini was indicted. [More...]

Remember the juror in the Alaska trial of Sen. Ted Stevens who didn't show because her father died?

It was a lie. She went to a horse race.

It looks like she is delusional. The Judge doesn't appear to want to penalize her:

U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan let her go, saying that he was going to "accept Mr. Kramer's representation that you were not able to (deliberate) and for reasons that were serious to you."

He added: "I'm convinced you were not able to deliberate."

She also said had she deliberated, she would have voted to convict.

In the wake of the Ted Stevens guilty (times seven) verdict, John McCain bravely called for Stevens to step down. With the election just a week away, Alaska voters may relieve Stevens of the burden of making that choice.

McCain, of course, wasn't really all that brave to speak out at long last against his corrupt Republican colleague. Now that McCain has decided to attack Obama as "soft on crime," he can't very well ignore the latest glaring example of criminality within the Republican Party.

Sarah Palin, on the other hand, proclaimed yesterday "a sad day for Alaska and a sad day for Senator Stevens and his family" and promised to "carefully now monitor the situation and I’ll take any appropriate action as needed." She did not ask Stevens to resign. Instead, she complained about "the corrupting influence of the big oil service company up there in Alaska that was allowed to control too much of our state." What she did about that problem during her short service as governor went unmentioned.

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Late this afternoon, Judge Sullivan dismissed the juror in the Ted Stevens trial who had traveled to California after her father died. Judge Sullivan had not been able to reach her and did not know when she would return. Over defense objections, Judge Sullivan decided to seat an alternate juror. Jurors will begin deliberations on Monday. Because the new juror did not participate in last week's deliberations, the jurors will be instructed to begin anew without considering prior deliberations.

The decision is a blow to Stevens's defense team, which wanted the judge to wait until Monday to see whether the court could establish contact with the juror. If the woman could not be reached, then the court should proceed with just 11 jurors, said defense attorney Robert Cary. ...

Since deliberations began last week, there have been signs of tensions during talks, including reports of one woman being "rude" and making "violent outbursts" among the jurors. Signs of tensions usually are positive for defense attorneys, but a new juror could potentially provide a calming presence.

At this rate, Ted Stevens' jury may still be deliberating on Election Day.

The father of a female juror, identified only as juror No. 4, died suddenly and she is on her way to California to be with family. U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan delayed the trial until at least Tuesday to accommodate the missing juror and to allow time to determine the next step in the case.

Juror 4 may be understandably distracted and in no shape to deliberate next week. Deliberations must start anew if an alternate steps in to fill the missing juror's spot. But as more time passes, there's greater reason to worry that the alternates will watch a news story or read TalkLeft commentary or talk to a friend or otherwise become contaminated by facts they encounter outside the courtroom. Of course, that risk exists even with deliberating jurors, but it's especially difficult for alternates to stay away from the news if they think their role in the trial has probably ended.

One of the jurors in the Ted Stevens trial apparently caught a plane out of town to be with a seriously ill family member. The court will decide today whether to put deliberations on hold until the juror returns or to substitute an alternate juror. If an alternate joins the deliberations, the jury will need to set aside prior discussions and start fresh.

Second update: The jury retired early again, citing exhaustion. The jurors seem to have resolved the chaos that interrupted deliberations earlier today. They will return tomorrow to continue working toward a verdict.

Bump and update: After a "stressful" day one of jury deliberations in Ted Stevens' trial, day two is being described as "chaotic." At least one juror is described as having violent outbursts; some jurors are asking the court to send that juror home.

The request is problematic. Is the juror refusing to deliberate in good faith (which might be grounds for excusing the juror) or simply stating opinions forcefully? If the juror is excused, is it too late to get an alternate on board, or have the alternates been contaminated by reading or viewing news coverage? A mistrial or hung jury may be coming, but it's still a bit early to make that prediction.

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