Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was found guilty on one count of giving a false statement to federal agents but the jury couldn't reach a unanimous decision on the other 23 counts, including the count that he had attempted to sell Barack Obama's Senate seat to the highest bidder. 

More from the New York Times:

After deliberating for 14 days, the jury found Mr. Blagojevich guilty of a single criminal count — making false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, one of the least severe penalties in the charges against him.

The jurors also said they could not reach a unanimous verdict on 23 of the 24 counts against him, including an accusation that he had tried to sell an appointment to fill the Senate seat once held by President Obama.

Prosecutors immediately announced plans for a retrial, but the outcome was seen as something of a victory, at least for now, for Mr. Blagojevich, a Democrat and lifelong politician from this city, who had always proclaimed his innocence.

“We have a prosecutor who has wasted millions and wants to keep spending money to persecute me,” Mr. Blagojevich told a swarm of reporters in the lobby of the courthouse after the judge declared a mistrial on the bulk of charges against him, including racketeering, wire fraud and extortion conspiracy.

Mr. Blagojevich, who was awaited on the streets outside the court by a crowd of the curious, said the results — despite his single felony conviction — revealed that the government could not prove he had done anything wrong.

The judge in the case also said he intends to declare a mistrial on the undecided counts. Mr. Blagojevich may be innocent of a crime but he remains a rather odious and ethically challenged individual who should forswear any future bids for political office.

Mike Flannery, Political Director of Channel 2 News in Chicago (CBS), is one of the most astute and articulate political reporters on the Chicago political scene today and he asks a legitimate question, "Will Illinois Dems Lose U.S. Senate Seat?"

As I discuss in my recently released book, Mr. and Mrs Grassroots, candidates become complacent and feel a sense of entitlement. There is the "entrenched incumbent" syndrome, and many of the "entrenched incumbents" are not the incumbents at all. But they feel a sense of entitlement for a variety of reasons.

There's more...

Jesse Jackson Jr. (aka Senate Candidate A) may have thought that his press conference, during which he adamantly denied any wrongdoing vis a vis accusations that he negotiated with Rod Blagojevich for Barack Obama's Senate seat, put the issue to rest.

It so did not.

An independent panel that reviews possible ethical lapses by members of the House of Representatives has launched a preliminary review of U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.'s efforts to be appointed to the U.S. Senate by ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, according to a published report.

The Office of Congressional Ethics voted in late March for the review, the Chicago Sun-Times reported in a story posted Tuesday on its Web site, citing documents released to parties involved in the inquiry.

The committee has asked for documents, e-mails and other correspondence from Blagojevich's gubernatorial and campaign staff regarding Jackson, Jackson's brother Jonathan and his campaign staff, the Sun-Times reported, citing lawyers close to the probe. It requested information from June through December 2008.

The specifics of the accusations levied against Jackson Jr. involve an alleged deal that Blagojevich thought was in place.

From CLTV:

Federal prosecutors say former Governor Rod Blagojevich believed he would get $1.5 million in campaign money if he appointed Jackson to the Senate seat.

Jackson has denied that any such deal was in place.

If Jackson's admission that he was indeed Senate Candidate A weren't enough to essentially disqualify him from running for the Senate seat, this should put the nail in that coffin.

There's more...

Today, Rod Blagojevich, along with his brother Rob and a few of their shady colleagues were indicted on corruption charges.

Ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and five others were indicted Thursday on charges of scheming to auction off President Barack Obama's vacant U.S. Senate seat, pressuring a congressman for campaign money and lying to FBI agents. The 19-count indictment alleges Blagojevich and his aides discussed the possibility he could get a Cabinet post in the new president's administration, substantial fundraising assistance or a high-paying job in exchange for the Senate seat. [...]

The indictment also charged that Blagojevich was involved in a corrupt scheme to get a massive kickback in exchange for the refinancing of billions of dollars in state pension funds. It said he took part in a plan with convicted political fixer Antoin "Tony" Rezko and two others to make money while Blagojevich was governor, then split the profits after he left the office.

Blagojevich, 52, and others are accused of illegally pressuring an Illinois congressman for help in raising funds and lying when FBI agents came to question him.

TPM has more details from the DOJ press release (pdf), which document Blago's alleged schemes to financially benefit from his position as governor going back to 2002.

In the meantime, Sen. Roland Burris responded to the indictment:

Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.) told The Hill that Blagojevich is the one who will have to "deal with it."

"It has nothing to do with me," Burris said. "The governor has his own problems and the law will take its course in reference to what he did. If he did anything wrong, the law will take care of the problem."

A surprisingly concise and cogent statement from Burris. Sigh, he used to be so entertaining.

There's more...

If you watched the TV news this morning, there was coverage of deposed Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich's gig as a talk radio host.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/arti cle/ALeqM5j_FIU74IvMLldNzWCBbvEy9C72hAD9 752JB00

You remember Blago. Blasted by the prosecutor at a news conference for attempting to sell Obama's senate seat. Tried and convicted in the press and by late night comedians on the basis of prosecutorial leaks and a bad 70's haircut. Impeached by the Illinois legislature on a hurry-up basis, without investigation, hearings, trial or the right to call witnesses.

There's more...