The Smoking Gun has highlights from the Department of Justice's 78-page complaint.

Here's the  full pdf of the complaint.

Below is the full DoJ press release sent out earlier this morning.

ILLINOIS GOV. ROD R. BLAGOJEVICH AND HIS
CHIEF OF STAFF

JOHN HARRIS ARRESTED ON FEDERAL CORRUPTION
CHARGES

Blagojevich and aide allegedly conspired to
sell U.S. Senate appointment, engaged in

 "pay-to-play" schemes and
threatened to withhold state assistance to Tribune Company

 for Wrigley Field to induce purge of
newspaper editorial writers 

CHICAGO
– Illinois Gov. Rod
R. Blagojevich and
his Chief of Staff, John
Harris, were
arrested today by FBI agents on federal corruption charges alleging that they
and others are engaging in ongoing criminal activity: conspiring to obtain
personal financial benefits for Blagojevich by leveraging his sole authority to
appoint a United States Senator; threatening to withhold substantial state
assistance to the Tribune Company in connection with the sale of Wrigley Field
to induce the firing of Chicago
Tribune editorial
board members sharply critical of Blagojevich; and to obtain campaign
contributions in exchange for official actions – both historically and
now in a push before a new state ethics law takes effect January 1, 2009.

Blagojevich,
51, and Harris, 46, both of Chicago, were each charged with conspiracy to
commit mail and wire fraud and solicitation of bribery.  They were charged
in a two-count criminal complaint that was sworn out on Sunday and unsealed
today following their arrests, which occurred without incident, announced
Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of
Illinois, and Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of
the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Both men were expected to appear
later today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Nan Nolan in U.S. District Court in
Chicago.

A 76-page FBI affidavit alleges that Blagojevich was intercepted on
court-authorized wiretaps during the last month conspiring to sell or trade
Illinois' U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama for
financial and other personal benefits for himself and his wife.  At
various times, in exchange for the Senate appointment, Blagojevich discussed
obtaining:

•  
  
  • a substantial salary for himself at a
    either a non-profit foundation or an organization affiliated with labor
    unions;
  • placing his wife on paid corporate boards
    where he speculated she might garner as much as $150,000 a year;
  • promises of campaign funds –
    including cash up front; and
  • a cabinet post or ambassadorship  for
    himself.

Just last week, on December 4,
Blagojevich allegedly told an advisor that he might "get some (money) up
front, maybe" from Senate Candidate 5, if he named Senate Candidate 5 to
the Senate seat, to insure that Senate Candidate 5 kept a promise about raising
money for Blagojevich if he ran for re-election.  In a recorded
conversation on October 31, Blagojevich claimed he was approached  by an
associate of Senate Candidate 5 as follows: "We were approached 'pay to
play.' That, you know, he'd raise 500 grand.  An emissary came.  Then
the other guy would raise a million, if I made him (Senate Candidate 5) a
Senator."

On November 7, while talking on the
phone about the Senate seat with Harris and an advisor, Blagojevich said he
needed to consider his family and that he is "financially" hurting,
the affidavit states.  Harris allegedly said that they were considering
what would help the "financial security" of the Blagojevich family
and what will keep Blagojevich "politically viable." 
Blagojevich stated, "I want to make money," adding later that he is
interested in making $250,000 to $300,000 a year, the complaint alleges.

On November 10, in a lengthy
telephone call with numerous advisors that included discussion about
Blagojevich obtaining a lucrative job with a union-affiliated organization in
exchange for appointing a particular Senate Candidate whom he believed was
favored by the President-elect and which is described in more detail below,
Blagojevich and others discussed various ways Blagojevich could
"monetize" the relationships he has made as governor to make money
after leaving that office.    "The breadth of corruption laid
out in these charges is staggering," Mr. Fitzgerald said.  "They
allege that Blagojevich put a 'for sale' sign on the naming of a United States
Senator; involved himself personally in pay-to-play schemes with the urgency of
a salesman meeting his annual sales target; and corruptly used his office in an
effort to trample editorial voices of criticism.  The citizens of Illinois
deserve public officials who act solely in the public's interest, without
putting a price tag on government appointments, contracts and decisions,"
he added.

       
Mr. Grant said: "Many, including myself, thought that the recent
conviction of a former governor would usher in a new era of honesty and reform
in Illinois politics.  Clearly, the charges announced today reveal that
the office of the Governor has become nothing more than a vehicle for
self-enrichment, unrestricted by party affiliation and taking Illinois politics
to a new low."

Mr. Fitzgerald and Mr. Grant thanked
the Chicago offices of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation
Division, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the U.S. Department of Labor
Office of Inspector General for assisting in the ongoing investigation. 
The probe is part of Operation
Board Games, a
five-year-old public corruption investigation of pay-to-play schemes, including
insider-dealing, influence-peddling and kickbacks involving private interests and
public duties.

Federal agents today also executed
search warrants at the offices of Friends of Blagojevich located at 4147 North
Ravenswood, Suite 300, and at the Thompson Center office of Deputy Governor A.

Pay-to-Play Schemes

The charges include historical
allegations that Blagojevich and Harris schemed with others – including
previously convicted defendants Antoin Rezko, Stuart Levine, Ali Ata and others
– since becoming governor in 2002 to obtain and attempt to obtain
financial benefits for himself, his family and third parties, including his
campaign committee, Friends of Blagojevich, in exchange for appointments to
state boards and commissions, state employment, state contracts and access to
state funds.  A portion of the affidavit recounts the testimony of various
witnesses at Rezko's trial earlier this year.

The charges focus, however, on
events since October when the Government obtained information that Blagojevich
and Fundraiser A, who is chairman of Friends of Blagojevich, were accelerating
Blagojevich's allegedly corrupt fund-raising activities to accumulate as much
money as possible this year before a new state ethics law would severely
curtail Blagojevich's ability to raise money from individuals and entities that
have existing contracts worth more than $50,000 with the State of
Illinois.  Agents learned that Blagojevich was seeking approximately $2.5
million in campaign contributions by the end of the year, principally from or
through individuals or entities – many of which have received state
contacts or appointments – identified on a list maintained by Friends of
Blagojevich, which the FBI has obtained.     

The affidavit details multiple
incidents involving efforts by Blagojevich to obtain campaign contributions in
connection with his official actions as governor, including these three in
early October:

•         After
  an October 6 meeting with Harris and Individuals A and B, during which
  Individual B sought state help with a business venture, Blagojevich told
  Individual A to approach Individual B about raising $100,000 for Friends
  of Blagojevich this year.  Individual A said he later learned that
  Blagojevich reached out directly to Individual B to ask about holding a
  fund-raiser;
  • Also on October 6, Blagojevich told
    Individual A that he expected Highway Contractor 1 to raise $500,000 in
    contributions and that he was willing to commit additional state money to
    a Tollway project – beyond $1.8 billion that Blagojevich announced
    on October15 – but was waiting to see how much money the contractor
    raised for Friends of Blagojevich; and
  • On October 8, Blagojevich told Individual A
    that he wanted to obtain a $50,000 contribution from Hospital Executive
    1, the chief executive officer of Children's Memorial Hospital in
    Chicago, which had recently received a commitment of $8 million in state
    funds.  When the contribution was not forthcoming, Blagojevich
    discussed with Deputy Governor A the feasibility of rescinding the
    funding.

On
October 21, the Government obtained a court order authorizing the interception
of conversations in both a personal office and a conference room used by
Blagojevich at the offices of Friends of Blagojevich.  The FBI began
intercepting conversations in those rooms on the morning of October 22.  A
second court order was obtained last month allowing those interceptions to
continue.  On October 29, a court order was signed authorizing the
interception of conversations on a hardline telephone used by Blagojevich at
his home.  That wiretap was extended for 30 days on November 26, according
to the affidavit.

Another
alleged example of a pay-to-play scheme was captured in separate telephone
conversations that Blagojevich had with Fundraiser A on November 13 and
Lobbyist 1 on December 3.  Lobbyist 1 was reporting to Blagojevich about
his efforts to collect a contribution from Contributor 1 and related that he
"got in his face" to make it clear to Contributor 1 that a commitment
to make a campaign contribution had to be done now, before there could be some
skittishness over the timing of the contribution and Blagojevich signing a bill
that would benefit Contributor 1.  Blagojevich commented to Lobbyist 1
"good" and "good job."  The bill in question, which is
awaiting Blagojevich 's signature, is believed to be legislation that directs a
percentage of casino revenue to the horse racing industry.

Sale
of U.S. Senate Appointment

Regarding
the Senate seat, the charges allege that Blagojevich, Harris and others have
engaged and are engaging in efforts to obtain personal gain, including
financial gain, to benefit Blagojevich  and his family through corruptly
using Blagojevich's sole authority to appoint a successor to the unexpired term
of the President-elect's former Senate seat, which he resigned effective
November 16.  The affidavit details numerous conversations about the Senate
seat between November 3 and December 5.  In these conversations,
Blagojevich repeatedly discussed the attributes of potential candidates,
including their abilities to benefit the people of Illinois, and the financial
and political benefits he and his wife could receive if he appointed various of
the possible candidates.

Throughout
the intercepted conversations, Blagojevich also allegedly spent significant
time weighing the option of appointing himself to the open Senate seat and
expressed a variety of reasons for doing so, including: frustration at being
"stuck" as governor; a belief that he will be able to obtain greater
resources if he is indicted as a sitting Senator as opposed to a sitting
governor; a desire to remake his image in consideration of a possible run for
President in 2016; avoiding impeachment by the Illinois legislature; making
corporate contacts that would be of value to him after leaving public office;
facilitating his wife's employment as a lobbyist; and generating speaking fees should
he decide to leave public office.

In
the earliest intercepted conversation about the Senate seat described in the
affidavit, Blagojevich told Deputy Governor A on November 3 that if he is not
going to get anything of value for the open seat, then he will take it for
himself: "if . . . they're not going to offer anything of any value, then
I might just take it."  Later that day, speaking to Advisor A,
Blagojevich said:  "I'm going to keep this Senate option for me a real
possibility, you know, and therefore I can drive a hard bargain." He added
later that the seat "is a [expletive] valuable thing, you just don't give
it away for nothing."

Over the next couple of days – Election Day and
the day after – Blagojevich was captured discussing with Deputy Governor
A whether he could obtain a cabinet position, such as Secretary of Health and
Human Services or the Department of Energy or various ambassadorships.  In
a conversation with Harris on November 4, Blagojevich analogized his situation to
that of a sports agent shopping a potential free agent to the highest
bidder.  The day after the election, Harris allegedly suggested to
Blagojevich that the President-elect could make him the head of a private
foundation.

Later
on November 5, Blagojevich said to Advisor A, "I've got this thing and
it's [expletive] golden, and, uh, uh, I'm just not giving it up for [expletive]
nothing.  I'm not gonna do it.  And, and I can always use it.  I
can parachute me there," the affidavit states.

Two
days later, in a three-way call with Harris and Advisor B, a consultant in
Washington, Blagojevich and the others allegedly discussed the prospect of a
three-way deal for the Senate appointment involving an organization called
"Change to Win," which is affiliated with various unions including
the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).  

On
November 10, Blagojevich, his wife, Harris, Governor General Counsel, Advisor B
and other Washington-based advisors participated at different times in a
two-hour phone call in which they allegedly discussed, among other things, a
deal involving the SEIU.  Harris said they could work out a deal with the
union and the President-elect where SEIU could help the President-elect with
Blagojevich's appointment of Senate Candidate 1, while Blagojevich would obtain
a position as the National Director of the Change to Win campaign and SEIU
would get something favorable from the President-elect in the future. 
Also during that call, Blagojevich agreed it was unlikely that the
President-elect would name him Secretary of Health and Human Services or give
him an ambassadorship because of all of the negative publicity surrounding him.

In
a conversation with Harris on November 11, the charges state, Blagojevich said
he knew that the President-elect wanted Senate Candidate 1 for the open seat
but "they're not willing to give me anything except appreciation.
[Expletive] them."  Earlier in that conversation, Blagojevich
suggested starting a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization, which he could head and
engage in political activity and lobbying.  In that conversation with
Harris and other discussions with him and others over the next couple of days,
Blagojevich suggested by name several well-known, wealthy individuals who could
be prevailed upon to seed such an organization with $10-$15 million, and
suggesting that he could take the organization's reins when he is no longer
governor, according to the affidavit.

On
November 12, Blagojevich spoke with SEIU Official who was in Washington. 
This conversation occurred about a week after Blagojevich had met with SEIU
Official to discuss the Senate seat, with the understanding that the union
official was an emissary to discuss Senate Candidate 1's interest in the Senate
seat.  During the November 12 conversation, Blagojevich allegedly
explained the non-profit organization idea to SEIU Official and said that it
could help Senate Candidate 1.  The union official agreed to "put
that flag up and see where it goes," although the official also had said
he wasn't certain if Senate Candidate 1 wanted the official to keep pushing her
candidacy.  Senate Candidate 1 eventually removed herself from
consideration for the open seat.

Also
on November 12, in a conversation with Harris, the complaint affidavit states
that Blagojevich said his decision about the open Senate seat will be based on
three criteria in the following order of importance: "our legal situation,
our personal situation, my political situation.  This decision, like every
other one, needs to be based upon that.  Legal.  Personal. 
Political."  Harris said: "legal is the hardest one to
satisfy."  Blagojevich said that his legal problems could be solved
by naming himself to the Senate seat.

As
recently as December 4, in separate conversations with Advisor B and Fundraiser
A, Blagojevich said that he was "elevating" Senate Candidate 5 on the
list of candidates because, among other reasons, if Blagojevich ran for
re-election, Senate Candidate 5 would "raise[] money" for him. 
Blagojevich said that he might be able to cut a deal with Senate Candidate 5
that provided Blagojevich with something "tangible up front." 
Noting that he was going to meet with Senate Candidate 5 in the next few days,
Blagojevich told Fundraiser A to reach out to an intermediary (Individual D),
from whom Blagojevich is attempting to obtain campaign contributions and who
Blagojevich  believes is close to Senate Candidate 5.  Blagojevich
told Fundraiser A to tell Individual D that Senate Candidate 5 was a very
realistic candidate but Blagojevich was getting a lot of pressure not to
appoint Senate Candidate 5, according to the affidavit.

Blagojevich
allegedly told Fundraiser A to tell Individual D that if Senate Candidate 5 is
going to be chosen, "some of this stuff's gotta start happening now . . .
right now . . . and we gotta see it."  Blagojevich  continued,
"You gotta be careful how you express that and assume everybody's
listening, the whole world is listening.  You hear me?" Blagojevich
further directed Fundraiser A to talk to Individual D in person, not by phone,
and to communicate the "urgency" of the situation.

Blagojevich
spoke to Fundraiser A again the next day, December 5, and discussed that day's
Chicago Tribune
front page article stating
that Blagojevich had recently been surreptitiously recorded as part of the
ongoing criminal investigation.  Blagojevich instructed Fundraiser A to
"undo your [Individual D] thing," and Fundraiser A confirmed it would
be undone, the complaint alleges.

Also
on December 5, Blagojevich and three others allegedly discussed whether to move
money out of the Friends of Blagojevich campaign fund to avoid having the money
frozen by federal authorities and also considered the possibility of prepaying
the money to Blagojevich's criminal defense attorney with an understanding that
the attorney would donate the money back at a later time if it was not
needed.  They also discussed opening a new fund raising account named
Citizens for Blagojevich with new contributions.

       
Misuse of State
Funding To Induce Firing of Chicago Tribune Editorial Writers

According
to the affidavit, intercepted phone calls revealed that the Tribune Company,
which owns the Chicago
Tribune and the
Chicago Cubs, has explored the possibility of obtaining assistance from the
Illinois Finance Authority (IFA) relating to the Tribune Company's efforts to
sell the Cubs and the financing or sale of Wrigley Field.  In a November 6
phone call, Harris explained to Blagojevich that the deal the Tribune Company
was trying to get through the IFA was basically a tax mitigation scheme in
which the IFA would own title to Wrigley Field and the Tribune would not have
to pay capital gains tax, which Harris estimated would save the company
approximately $100 million.

Intercepted
calls allegedly show that Blagojevich directed Harris to inform Tribune Owner
and an associate, identified as Tribune Financial Advisor, that state financial
assistance would be withheld unless members of the Chicago Tribune's editorial board were fired,
primarily because Blagojevich  viewed them as driving discussion of his
possible impeachment.  In a November 4 phone call, Blagojevich allegedly
told Harris that he should say to Tribune Financial Advisor, Cubs Chairman and
Tribune Owner, "our recommendation is fire all those [expletive] people,
get 'em the [expletive] out of there and get us some editorial support."

On
November 6, the day of a Tribune editorial critical of Blagojevich , Harris
told Blagojevich that he told Tribune Financial Advisor the previous day that
things "look like they could move ahead fine but, you know, there is a
risk that all of this is going to get derailed by your own editorial
page."  Harris also told Blagojevich that he was meeting with Tribune
Financial Advisor on November 10.

In
a November 11 intercepted call, Harris allegedly told Blagojevich that Tribune
Financial Advisor talked to Tribune Owner and Tribune Owner "got the
message and is very sensitive to the issue."  Harris told Blagojevich
that according to Tribune Financial Advisor, there would be "certain
corporate reorganizations and budget cuts coming and, reading between the
lines, he's going after that section."  Blagojevich allegedly
responded. "Oh. That's fantastic."  After further discussion,
Blagojevich said, "Wow. Okay, keep our fingers crossed.  You're the
man.  Good job, John."

In
a further conversation on November 21, Harris told Blagojevich that he had
singled out to Tribune Financial Advisor the Tribune's deputy editorial page
editor, John McCormick, "as somebody who was the most biased and
unfair."  After hearing that Tribune Financial Advisor had assured
Harris that the Tribune would be making changes affecting the editorial board,
Blagojevich allegedly had a series of conversations with Chicago Cubs
representatives regarding efforts to provide state financing for Wrigley
Field.  On November 30, Blagojevich spoke with the president of a
Chicago-area sports consulting firm, who indicated that he was working with the
Cubs on matters involving Wrigley Field.  Blagojevich and Sports
Consultant discussed the importance of getting the IFA transaction approved at
the agency's December or January meeting because Blagojevich  was
contemplating leaving office in early January and his IFA appointees would
still be in place to approve the deal, the charges allege.

The
Government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Reid Schar, Carrie
Hamilton and Christopher Niewoehner.

If
convicted, conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud carries a maximum penalty
of 20 years in prison, while solicitation of bribery carries a maximum of 10
years in prison,  and each count carries a maximum fine of $250,000. 
The Court, however, would determine the appropriate sentence to be imposed
under the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.

The
public is reminded that a complaint contain only charges and is not evidence of
guilt.  The defendants are presumed innocent and are entitled to a fair
trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a
reasonable doubt.

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BradFlora
Brad Flora is CEO of WindyCitizen.com, a web service that lets people share their favorite Chicago news and events with their friends and neighbors. More