Cubs sale, election have link?
By JOHN O'CONNOR - The Associated Press
SPRINGFIELD – A sports consultant helping Tribune Co. with a potential Wrigley Field sale said in an e-mail to former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s top aide that the results of the presidential election had put “the opportunities we discussed” in front of Blagojevich, The Associated Press has learned.
Marc Ganis’ e-mail to Blagojevich chief of staff John Harris on Nov. 6 came as federal prosecutors were closing in on the Democratic governor. Blagojevich later was arrested, impeached and thrown out of office on allegations that include trying to get Chicago Tribune editorial writers fired for criticizing him in return for helping the newspaper’s parent company get a tax benefit on the sale of the iconic ballpark.
Tribune Co. has not been charged with wrongdoing.
“Now that the election has gone as we expected, the opportunities we discussed, and Rod and I talked even more about, are in front of you guys,” Ganis wrote in one of two dozen e-mail exchanges between Ganis and Harris obtained by the AP through the Freedom of Information Act.
“I was going to call the Gov today to get together to continue the discussion you had us start. ... There is a real possibility these next two years could be very different than the last two for you guys. An opportunity that this election may have presented.”
Ganis said Monday that the postelection missive was about the chance for Blagojevich to improve relations with the Illinois Legislature. He said he was talking to Blagojevich and Harris about the opportunity to have President Obama or his staff mediate Blagojevich’s long-standing differences with legislators.
The governor’s feud with Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan had immobilized the Capitol for several years.
Blagojevich and Harris were arrested Dec. 9 on a federal complaint that alleges they tried to sell an appointment to the U.S. Senate seat Obama vacated and to strong-arm the Chicago Tribune.
Both deny the charges. Ganis has not been charged with wrongdoing and said he was unaware of any alleged scheme.
A Cubs spokesman said Ganis works for Tribune Co., which owns the Cubs and Wrigley, and referred questions there. A Tribune spokesman declined comment. Harris’ attorney, Terry Ekl, also declined comment.
Ganis said in January that his contact with Blagojevich’s office was limited to discussions about the Cubs.
