Wiretapping: How to Bug a Governor 101

How Did Feds Listen In on Blagojevich?

Investigators Can Use Wiretaps, ‘Surreptitious Entry’ to Listen to Targets

U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, right, announces charges leveled against current Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, left, during a news conference at the Dirksen Federal building in Chicago, Illinois today. Blagojevich still has the power to name a U.S. senator to fill the seat vacated by fellow Democrat President-elect Barack Obama, the federal prosecutor in the case said on Tuesday. U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said the governor, who was arrested on Tuesday on corruption charges including trying to “sell” Obama’s seat in the U.S. senate, has sole power to name a successor for Obama

Court records from the investigation into Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich are filled with recorded conversations of the governor allegedly offering to sell an appointment to President-elect Barack Obama’s former U.S. Senate seat. How did the government find out what he was saying?Federal investigators tapped Blagojevich’s home phone and bugged his personal office and a conference room in the Friends of Blagojevich campaign headquarters. Officials began listening to conversations in late October, the court documents say.

New Jobless Claims Reach 26-Year High

New Unemployment Claims Rise More Than Expected as Layoffs Continue

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008.

New claims for unemployment benefits reached their highest level in 26 years last week, as companies cut workers at a rapid pace.The Labor Department reported Thursday that initial applications for jobless benefits in the week ending Dec. 6 rose to a seasonally adjusted 573,000 from an upwardly revised figure of 515,000 in the previous week. That was far more than the 525,000 claims Wall Street economists expected.

Blagojevich’s Past Paved With Allegations

Case Sheds Light on History of Friends, Family Caught in His Alleged Schemes

The arrest of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Tuesday also focused attention on his wife Patricia. Though the first lady has not been accused of any wrongdoing, she has been under investigation before and emerges through quotes in the federalaffidavit as an enabler of her husband’s corruption.

Greed, corruption, ambition and a stunning fall from power — the federal complaint against Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich reads like a Shakespearean tragedy.Beyond the recent allegations of fraud and influence peddling against Blagojevich, those who know and have worked with the governor say the man who rose from the city’s gritty Northwest Side, married into a well-connected political clan and feuded with everyone from family members to the speaker of the state House is a tale that could only happen in Chicago.

Workers at Chicago Factory Vote to End Sit-In

 CHICAGO —  Jubilant workers, cheering and chanting “Yes We Can,” celebrated outside a Chicago factory after approving a $1.75 million agreement to end their six-day sit-in, a dispute that became a symbol of the plight of labor nationwide.Republic Windows & Doors, union leaders and Bank of America reached the deal Wednesday night. It was not immediately clear when workers would leave the North Side factory.

Fla. Investigates Graves at Boys School

There are secrets hidden at the Florida State Reform School.

One day in the late 1950s, Richard Colon was working in the school’s laundry room. After a long bathroom break, Colon, then a student inmate in his early teens, said he returned and found the room empty and quiet, except for one tumble dryer that was running.

A young boy had been shoved into it, he said.

Even Santa’s Job Isn’t Safe

In the movies, the life of Santa Claus is all about the North Pole and sleigh bells. But in real life, this year, Santa’s riding the New Jersey Transit trains and New York City subways.

Uncle Sam’s Credit Card Rate? Zero Percent

ABC News’ Daniel Arnall reports: For the first time ever, the Federal Government was able to borrow money from the open market for FREE. That’s right… no interest payment at all for Uncle Sam.

The most recent auction of $30 billion worth of 28-day Treasuries had four-times the number of buyers than they had bonds, and at zero percent interest. First time that’s ever happened.

House Passes Auto Rescue Plan

 

Senators Richard C. Shelby, left, David Vitter, and Jim DeMint, right, joined other Republican senators who object to a proposed government rescue of the American automobile industry at a news conference on Wednesday.

 

WASHINGTON — The House voted 237 to 170 Wednesday night in favor of a $15 billion rescue for the automobile industry, but the fate of the measure was uncertain because of shaky support among Republicans in the Senate.