The AP points out a major flaw in the governor’s self defense.
When asked whether [Tony Rezko and Stu Levine’s] conduct raises questions about his judgment, Blagojevich answered it shows the need for strong systems to root out corruption.
Blagojevich says a lot of the things Levine pleaded guilty to occurred before his administration had an inspector general. He says he believes the system is much better today.
However, Blagojevich first appointed an inspector general for his office in April 2003. Based on his guilty plea, Levine’s crimes continued until at least May 2004.
There is no indication Blagojevich’s inspector was involved in discovering the offenses that are part of a federal corruption probe.
This story shows once again that every word he says has to be checked and double-checked. He will say anything. That attribute makes him an incredibly good campaigner, as long as his opponent doesn’t have the cash to respond, but it doesn’t exactly make him a fount of reliable information.
As I wrote in this morning’s Capitol Fax, the “say anything” campaign is epitomized in this radio ad [wav file], which accuses her of all sorts of nasty things, including how she “runs down those who honor our veterans” and claiming she wants to raise taxes.
And here’s another one just like it.