Feds play candid camera with Gov. Blagojevich
SUN-TIMES EXCLUSIVE | Camera caught visitors to gov's campaign office, more phones were tapped
Federal authorities used a video camera as part of their cache of tools to investigate Gov. Blagojevich in the final weeks of 2008 before his arrest, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.
The camera, which likely was remote-controlled, was trained on the Friends of Blagojevich offices, 4147 N. Ravenswood, to help FBI agents identify individuals entering and leaving the campaign offices -- and to identify who was talking on bugs agents covertly planted inside.
(Richard A. Chapman/Sun-Times)
In addition, more phone lines and cell phones were tapped in the investigation than the government previously disclosed -- including the cell phones of at least three members of the governor's inner circle and two phones inside the campaign office -- capturing dozens of individuals in the days when the governor was pondering a U.S. Senate pick and when horsetrading for the seat was rampant, sources said. U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is likely among the numerous individuals recorded because he called Blagojevich's campaign office Dec. 3 to discuss his preferences for the seat.
Blagojevich was arrested Dec. 9 on charges he schemed to trade official actions, including President-elect Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat, for campaign cash and other perks.
Joseph Ways, former No. 2 at the Chicago FBI office who now works for Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, said it's typical that when bugs are planted a camera is installed on an outdoor pole.
"It can be maneuverable so you can sit with a control and move it around," Ways said. "It's a logical addition to a planted microphone."
If agents don't recognize the person or can't make out his or her face, a remote control allows them to visually follow an individual to his or her car and get the plate number. The FBI has used such cameras in the past, including in the visitors' area at a prison during the Family Secrets mob investigation. The camera helped identify various individuals caught on recordings.
The FBI doesn't need a judge's approval to install an outdoor camera because it's taping a public area, Ways said.
Ways said there's a possibility that some wires in the Blagojevich case could even still be up and running. "Just because this thing's been splashed on the front page across the country doesn't mean criminal conversations aren't going on over the phone," Ways said.