The Latest Breaking News from Rod Blagojevich

Explore notable political scandals in US and UK history, from Watergate to Enron, and their impact.

State Rep. Ryan Spain’s proposal would keep any portrait of the former powerful Democratic House speaker, who is awaiting federal trial for corruption, from being hung at the state Capitol — though Madigan has yet to be convicted of any crime.

Madigan, the longtime Illinois House speaker, is charged with bribery and conspiracy. A lawmaker wants to ban his portrait from the House.

Primary meddling, dark money and self-funding loopholes help skew Illinois politics to favor moneyed candidates. But there are also solutions — like fighting big money with public funding of campaigns.

Calculating the true cost of corruption on Illinois residents is a complicated task wrapped in contradiction. A WBEZ analysis shows people may be more cynical, government more expensive, but voter interest in state elections only increased. 

Clayton Harris III, a former prosecutor and political aide, joins former Illinois Appellate Court Justice Eileen O’Neill Burke in the March 2024 primary run for state’s attorney.

Like our disgraced former governor, Chicago’s current mayor thinks he can quote his way out of a tight spot.

Longtime U.S. District Court Judge James Zagel, the former leader of the Illinois State Police who went on to preside over the corruption trial of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, the landmark Family Secrets mob trial, and many other of the area’s biggest cases, died Saturday night after a long illness,…

The federal judge also was a prosecutor in the Richard Speck case. Zagel died Saturday after a long illness.

The testimony capped the fourth week in the ComEd bribery trial. Prosecutors have presented nearly all of their evidence and predict they will rest their case by Tuesday.

Donald Trump is the first former president ever to be indicted, but he’s not the first politician who will have a mug shot taken