Read the charging document here:
blagocharged.pdf
I don't think Team Obama expected the Illinois governor to be "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."
Most of the affidavit deals with post-election events, weird, because Blago has been under investigation for years. One allegedly incriminating conversation took place last Friday.
When discussing the Senate race, Blago allegedly told his chief of staff John Harris that, "I want to make money." (Unless there was a Senate candidate named Money, then he's got a problem.")
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 7 office; facilitating his wife's employment as a lobbyist; and generating speaking fees should he decide to leave public office.
Unless Blago is forced to leave office, he still gets to appoint the next senator. He or she will be tainted; Republicans will probably be able to find someone with just enough credibility and just enough ethical comportment to mount a strong challenge.
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