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JP, Larry, Bill
you all are illiterate morons.
can't comprehend what is printed or spoken; only understands partisan republican talking points. Just because your repub leaders have gone through the most corrupt era in history, one (er, two, counting Jefferson) do not equal out to Bob Allen, Larry Craig, Mark Foley, Ted Haggard, just to mention a few.
Obama did not pay to play; otherwise, why else was blago swearing at him?
you guys must be part of the 25% who still want bush in office. try the 21st century some time...it's gotten a lot better since bush took office.

He just won't release any tapes that may implicate Obama or his chief of staff. The white washing begins and this administration is not even in office yet.

What is Fitz waiting for? Time to put up or shut up.

I sure hope Bubba has a very Happy New Year. This is a gift from the people of Illinois...
Don't drop the soap, pat!!

what in the world has happened to america???

Is this guy Fitzgerald nuts, or what? He wasted the taxpayers money going after Scooter (Cheney's right hand man), and never once questioned Karl (The Marx's-man) Rove, and in the end Bush just set him free? So,what gives here? The guy struts around with his 48 oz. coffee, with his two oversized brief cases,(probably filled with donuts) and his secretary,who seems to be gaiting right behind this lobo striding hic-cup of a Chicagoian prosecutor! His unprofessional handling of a premature press release prejudused by scathing remarks regarding Gov. Blago, and now handing over these tapes, not only jepordizes the case against Blago, but will desecrate the right to have a fair trial. My personal opinion would be to relieve this individual (cowboy) of his duties ,and bring an independent on board. This is getting to sound,and appear more like a public lynching,...

Boun-cha, Boun Boun.. a tennis pro leans against the net, 'Blago, you pitch or hit'

To jail with him, Bush, Rice, Rumsfeld, Cheney, Gonzalos, Ashcroft and Rove – any others I left out? of at least Scooter should accompany

We have had so many dirty politics in our lifetime that our children almost did not know what kind of virtues should someone bring to an office. Thanks to president-elect Obama, we had a sense of what good politic can be without resulting to use the underhanded tactics that we have seen and lived for we don"t know how long. Our children saw dirty tactics in politic as normal. Politicians as a whole have made a mockery of our values. They have done us a disservice to our country and that is why people over seas don't trust us anymore. I hope that president-elect Obama restore that status for us.

He should be in jail and/or impeached. Just another in a long line of corrupt officials. The courts and the people must sanitize the whole system first, then maybe there will be clean politicians and officials who do the right thing....Oh wait... that's just a dream!

Fitzgerald is playing politics by releasing redacted tapes of a federal wiretap before bringing charges against the Governor. This is a bad move, and one that will discredit Fitzgerald in this case as well as tarnish his reputation. Whatever happened to innocent until provem guilty - and why prosecute this guy in public before even charging him. This is bogus. I smell a coverup – trying to get rid of the Governor without putting Obama's staff under oath

String this mess out as long as possible –
just throw him in jail and forget it.

Blago is dirty.

I hope he gets ripped a new one.

Blago is typical Chicago style politics. Not much different than an unknown who had to rub shoulders with all the corruption in Chicago to move up the ladder so quickly...it makes you wonder.

What a joke to let this crook stay in office, way to go Illinois

At times like these, we NEED a TOUGH, DECISIVE and THOROUGHLY HONEST candidate for President! ... With a WHOPPING 4% approval rating, you CAN'T go wrong! ... Blagojevich for President!

Come on... let's get this good ole boy old time politics out in the open.... Both sides of the aisle must learn that these tactics will no longer fly! We the People are wide awake now.... and we are watching all of you!

The recordings disclosed after his arrest were so full of vulgarities and profanity it was difficult, in some instances, to understand what he was trying to say. One would think a man in his position had a better command of the English language and did not have to pollute the air in order to express himself. Or does polluting the air with garbage mouth jargon make him a Real Big Man? Does he also drive a certain type of car to compensate for .....?

Ian< According to the article, it's because they don't want to ruin the investigation. Makes sense to me.

I agree with BEN the LAW is for the RICH not the POOR. But one day the LAW is going to change

ian – if Fitz lets ALL the tapes out now, the criminals – oops, I mean politicians – who were elected to serve & not steal might get away with it after all.

At least this way we can go on believing some of 'em are ethical enough NOT to get caught doing the dirt while the tapes are running... for awhile.

you people need to focus on the issues at hand, Palin is old news..........

hey chuck if your family was being threatened with violence by and x-inlaw and you were the Governor, what the hell would you do?????

He is a repugnant self-serving scoundrel needing to be dragged from the Governors Mansion by the people of Illinois along with his gold digging wife.

There nothing on the tape. What a bunch of idiots.

WHY is Blagojevich NOT facing impeachment???

Blago seems crazy YET now that we've had a couple weeks to think, we should note that out of over two months of tapes Fitzgerald cherry-picked three sentences to reveal. While I don't think it matters that they weren't put in context, the fact that no action was taken leaves open the possibility that it was just crazy talk from a jerk.
They even gave OJ a trial - perhaps this nut should be allowed to have one before we take away his job. At this point, there is plenty of reason to think he did something, but none of us would want to be fired without having had an opportunity to prove ourselves "not guilty" at trial.
He's probably guilty. But let's not jump the gun on the moron.

THe tapes do not have to be released before the investigation is completed and they are for the most part considered to be evidence and as such they do not have to be released to the publice before a trial takes place. If they are used as evidence in a trial then they are a part of public record unless and except when they would be considered a breach of National Security in which case they would be herd in court and only there by a select few.

If this is a criminal investigation why is he releasing anything to anyone?

Blago is now the red-headed step-child of Illinois politics. And he further did himself in by blaspheming The Chosen One. You can bet that if he didn't try to rough house Obama nobody would've ever heard about this. Nope, Blago's out, just have to wonder if some type of 'accident' will happen to him (can anyone say Vince Foster?).

P.S. Nice try Chuck, keep up the kook front that Palin is corrupt. You obviously have issues with REAL, powerful women (unlike the hags who are Clinton and Pelosi).

Ian in Mpls – duh? Forced to release all tapes? Because it's a federal criminal investigation...geez.

The defense is becoming clearer, isn't it? He didn't really DO anything – he just "talked' about what he may or may not have wanted to do! You can't convict an elected official for just talking about his intentions – give me a break.

This is going to be interesting to watch – the state impeachment, the federal criminal case – Blago's protestations and his attorney's lame arguments. Pop your popcorn and settle in – it will either be the best comedy or the saddest tragedy of 2009!

ian minneapolis.

Why?

Simply put, Fitzgerald has a well deserved reputation for NOT showing his cards until he has to.

Additionally, if he released all the tapes, that could potentially negate the government from being able to get an impartial jury because they had already heard the evidence and formed an opinion of the tapes.

If you've ever been on a jury, you're instructed to NOT discuss the case with the other jurors until you get the case.

As a democrat, he is above the law and he knows it.

Blagojevich --Typical Democrat

How long does it take this guy to get things accomplished. He dragged his feet on the Valerie Plame thing, all to no avail. Either there is something there or there isn't. Get a Grand Jury and Indict the guy or clear him. If the Justice Department has been watching Sleaseojevich as long as they say, they should certainly have their case laid out by now. Waiting will only let the the mice continue to scurry and things will get lost and the real crooks get away.

Ian: because this is a pending investigation. You don't give the other side all the goods before you make your case. Also, Fitzgerald may have moved a little too fast in the arrest. It is my understaning he wanted to make the arrest before Blagojevich actually appointed someone to the senate seat. I hope he did not jeopardize the case too much by moving too soon.

For a variety of constitutional and statutory reasons, the State of Illinois is unable to force a federal official in Fitzgerald's position to disclose information obtained in a federal investigation.

All tapes will likely be released, his caution now is only that it not prejudice a potential juror or tip Fitzgerald's cards and give Blago a better chance to defend himself.

Let's get this over and done with.....dear God is there nothing of more importance to worry about!!!!

LEAVE BLAGO ALONE!!!!

ian minneapolis, mn December 29th, 2008 4:27 pm ET

Why isn't he being forced to release all tapes?
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The prosecutor is not allowed to just freely give out evidence to the public, as that could significantly effect the bias of a trial, or the credibility of the information.
That is why he needs court permission before releasing any evidence to anybody, even legislators.

I still don't think our Gov don't got nothing on Richard Nixon but I wouldn't mind hearing those tapes...

SARAH PALIN IS NEXT.

American justice means protect the rich from the poor, protect the rich from the law, protect politicians from every thing,and protect the poor from nothing

Blago's lawyer needs to buy an isolated island and he and Blago should go live there...alone where they can't bother anyone. Oh yeah...no cell phones or computers. Blago and his lawyer are "has beens" who will never get respect from the public again...if it ever was there in the first place

Ah yes, Barack's buddy Blago...

If Blago was trying to sell the senate seat now, I wonder what the status quo was when a certain president-elect was then seeking a senate seat back in 2004? Did Barry-O have to "pay to play" back then, too, like Blago expected of Barry's successor? Inquiring minds want to know... but not the media! Hey, what's that?! Look! Shiny objects!!

Why isn't he being forced to release all tapes?