Jurors have heard that one of the former governor's close friends,
lobbyist Arthur "Ron" Swanson slapped an envelope containing $5,000 in
cash into the hand of Ryan political strategist Donald Udstuen in the
basement men's room of a Chicago restaurant with Ryan and a table full
of big-paying business clients sitting upstairs.
Udstuen later gave the money back.
But he admits keeping at least $80,000 and possibly much more in
secret lobbying fees from Warner that were laundered through a
suburban consulting firm.
The same firm was used to receive consulting fees from Phil Gramm's
campaign for the 1996 Republican presidential nomination after Ryan
endorsed Gramm, then a U.S. senator from Texas.
The firm then issued checks to Ryan's children, his campaign manager,
Scott Fawell, and deputy campaign manager, Rich Juliano.
Swanson is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to lying to a
federal grand jury.
Udstuen, the former chief lobbyist for the Illinois State Medical
Society, is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to a tax fraud
conspiracy.
Fawell is serving 6 1/2 years for racketeering and awaiting sentencing
in a bid-rigging case while Juliano, who had to resign from a
high-paying Bush administration post over the scandal, is awaiting
sentencing for fraud.
Not a pretty picture.
From The Associated Press, 1/29/06:
http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/news/politics/13743035.htm
Ryan trial having an impact on voters, says ethics bill advocate
MIKE ROBINSON Associated Press
CHICAGO -
Seventeen weeks of scandal headlines emerging from George Ryan's
racketeering and fraud trial are having an impact on Illinois voters,
says one of the state's leading proponents of stricter laws governing
the relationship between politics and money.
"It's kind of like a low-grade fever," says Cindi Canary, the
executive director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, a
foundation-funded group that has crusaded for ethics laws.
"It's not like people are running around saying, 'Oh, my goodness, the
former governor is on trial.' We all know that. We've been living with
this scandal for seven years now."
Canary says, however, that Ryan's trial, now heading into Week 18, has
put a fresh spotlight on long-festering Illinois political corruption,
and voters don't like what they see.
"They're weary of it, they're sick of it, they're angered by it," she
says.
Canary is realistic about the prospects for bona fide ethics reform in
Illinois.
She's been on her soapbox a long time in a state where sky's-the-limit
campaign contributions are perfectly legal and reform talk often
produces little more than loud guffaws.
And yet the constant reminder of corruption emerging from the trial
has prompted a number of candidates to tuck ethics planks into their
platforms, just to be on the safe side, she says.
Canary reminded every member of the legislature of the Ryan trial this
month.
"Voters are increasingly convinced that public corruption is deeply
embedded in Illinois history and political culture," she said in a
"Dear Legislator" letter mailed out Jan. 18.
"With U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald's establishment of three
full-time public corruption units - reportedly more than any other
district in the country - a steady torrent of indictments of public
officials at all levels of government has been issued," she told the
lawmakers.
"On top of that, the trial of former Gov. George Ryan has cast a
spotlight on Illinois' long-standing culture of corruption."
Corruption isn't unique to Illinois.
In her letter, Canary noted that the nation's capital is currently
abuzz over the corruption scandal surrounding lobbyist Jack Abramoff
and that former Connecticut Gov. John Rowland is sitting in the
federal pen after admitting that he swapped favors for $100,000 in
repairs to his cottage, private flights to Las Vegas and vacations in
Vermont.
Ryan insists that things like that are exactly what he did NOT do.
The former governor denies charges that he steered big-money state
contracts and leases to his co-defendant, businessman Larry Warner,
and other longtime friends in exchange for vacations in Jamaica and
Palm Springs, loans to his brother's floundering company and other
valuables.
______________________________________________________
OK
Harry
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