Federal agents arrested Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff Tuesday on charges of corruption and bribery.
According to a criminal complaint, Blagojevich attempted to use the vacant U.S. Senate seat of President-elect Obama for his personal gain, either by trading it for political favors, selling it or by taking the seat himself.
Although Blagojevich was released from court, he could face years in prison if convicted. His attorney told reporters he has no plans to resign from office.
The complaint also said Blagojevich tried to withhold substantial state financial assistance '¦ worth at least $100 million"" from the Tribune Company unless it fired members of the Chicago Tribune staff that had written editorials critical of Blagojevich.
Authorized federal wiretaps and recording devices in Blagojevich's office picked up conversations between Blagojevich and other members of his staff in which they talked about potential favors and jobs he could receive in exchange for the Senate appointment.
""It is not coming for free,"" he said of the appointment, according to the complaint. ""It's got to be good stuff for the people of Illinois and good for me.""
Blagojevich said in another conversation, ""If I don't get what I want and I'm not satisfied with it, then I'll just take the Senate seat myself.""
According to Charles Franklin, a UW-Madison political science professor, the scandal could postpone the appointment. ""Illinois is likely to have only a single senator for a good while,"" he said.
Blagojevich, a Democrat, is the second consecutive Illinois governor to be arrested. His predecessor, Republican George Ryan, is currently serving prison time for corruption.
""Illinois is the equal opportunity bipartisan corruption state,"" Franklin said.
He said although Wisconsin has maintained a history relatively low on corruption, residents would ""be naive to believe we can be immune to that.""
A few cases of corruption have occurred in Wisconsin's recent political history, but according to UW-Madison political science professor Dennis Dresang, they differ from Illinois cases in that they focus on political gain, not personal profit.
