Is the Blagojevich administration getting nervous about what Dawn DeFraties and Mike Casey might say at their upcoming civil service hearing? It sure looks like it.
Blagojevich administration lawyers want an attorney representing two fired state employees tossed off the case because he may be called as a witness in their upcoming civil service hearing.
The attorney, Carl Draper, called the move “a crucial interference with my clients’ right to have an attorney of their choosing.” […]
“The nature of the dispute revolves around whether or not Dawn DeFraties or Mike Casey were, in fact, directed to answer questions,” Draper said. “The testimony that will come out on that is that specific question was asked. The answer was ‘no.’ We’ll be putting on a case that they cooperated with everything that was required of them.”
No official transcript or recording was made of the meeting. Attorneys for the state said at a hearing Thursday that there is a dispute over what was said at the meeting, something that might require testimony from Draper. The answer, they said, is directly linked to the charge that DeFraties did not cooperate with the investigation.
“This issue is whether (Draper) can testify and continue to represent (DeFraties),” said Thomas Bradley, one of the attorneys representing the state.
That is just ridiculous. Draper is a direct threat to this administration, and it probably should be no surprise that the guv’s office would try every legal trick in the book to get him off the case. But even I’m surprised by how far they’re willing to go.
- Justice - Friday, Jan 26, 07 @ 9:01 am:
Draper is that pesky thread sticking out from the button holding a flood of charges that could crack the armor of the guv’s image once and for all. Pull the thread and the whole mess starts to unravel. DeFraties and Casey are the beginning, the trumpet that sounds the race to the bottom. They must stop this or be besieged with trouble from this day forward. Most likely to happen anyway but this could hasten their demise. I suspect those emails released were just a teaser and the gov’s office knows it. Keep in mind that Draper also represents the past IHPA Director in a suit against this administration as well. Don’t want him on a winning streak.
- VanillaMan - Friday, Jan 26, 07 @ 9:04 am:
I’m not surprised by anything Blagojevich’s goon squad is capable of. When you get closer to the truth, they will fight harder.
- Little Egypt - Friday, Jan 26, 07 @ 9:10 am:
Any governor, who out of retaliation to the a majority leader of his own party would suspend A LAW, will stoop to a new level to keep the lid on his Pandora’s box. Folks, he has tricks up his sleeve that we cannot begin to imagine. And “we ain’t seen nothin’ yet”.
- Crimefighter - Friday, Jan 26, 07 @ 9:13 am:
CMS - Completely Mismanaged Stupidity. What a fiasco.
- Cassandra - Friday, Jan 26, 07 @ 9:15 am:
I think these are typical litigator tactics. Fight them every inch of the way, etc. Doesn’t mean a thing.
This case should be settled. Defraties and Casey were clearly not very bright individuals who were tossed into the incredibly complicated state personnel system and given far more authority than they should have been given based on their obvious lack of experience and ability. Sound familiar?
The fact is that there are major ambiguities in the state hiring rules, a state of affairs that
is beneficial to whichever politicians happen to be in charge at the moment. In their greed for
power, jobs and campaign contributions, Blago’s henchpeople, the ones in the guv’s office who were overseeing Defraties’ and Casey’s work, took as much advantage as they could of these ambiguities and in quite a few cases they seemingly overreached. Despite evidence of overreaching there has been no great clamor
for reform on the part of the electorate. Blago has read his electorate correctly.
DeFraties and Casey should be given reasonable discipline for whatever actual infractions they committed in Personnel, taking into account their obvious lack of experience and the obvious failure of adequate supervision by whoever was supposed to be in charge of them in the guv’s office. They should be encouraged to take a clean resignation but if they refuse, put them somewhere where they can’t do any more damage. Given the ubiquity of do-nothing state jobs in Illinois, that should’t be too hard.
- Duh! - Friday, Jan 26, 07 @ 9:57 am:
Little Egypt - Keep the lid on his Pandora’s box.
It’s more like keeping a lid on his Pandora’s Steamer Trunk.
- Larry Mulholland - Friday, Jan 26, 07 @ 9:59 am:
Cassandra,
You are clueless. Sorry to say it but your comments make it clear that you are completly ignorant of the facts in this case or you are simply trying to spin it on behalf of the BLAGO crew… both are disingenuous.
No one should be suprised about of any of this. From the very first day in office when he fired the first 35 via press conference, the Gov his staff have been completly dishonest with the press, the employees and certainly the courts.
Defraties and Casey will win they will win big and they are entitled to punitive damages.
- Cassandra - Friday, Jan 26, 07 @ 10:49 am:
Larry,
Ignorant of what facts? We don’t have any facts.
What we have is opinions about what the facts might be. That’s okay. It’s a blog and blogs are about opinions.
Nobody who has read my posts on this blog would suggest that I am a Blago supporter.
My point is that one interpretation of the information we do have is that these were not very capable individuals being used to push the envelope in the state personnel system in order to facilitate patronage hiring. Blago or staff then panicked and fired them because of some complaints and some negative media. They should have disciplined them, re-educated them if they violated actual procedures, but so far I have seen nothing to suggest that they should have been fired.
FEMA, DCFS, state Personnel. It’s all the same
issue. When you don’t hire for ability and experience,Rutan or Rutan-exempt, you get expensive messes, as we are seeing now all over Blago’s administration. More capable staff could have hired lots of patronage staff legally. Patronage is not illegal in Illinois state government. In fact, the system is set up to make it fairly easy. As Blago and his folks well know.
And we signed off on it.
- maggiemae - Friday, Jan 26, 07 @ 10:50 am:
Cassandra - the more I read your posts, the more I’m convinced you’re a disgruntled ex-state employee that was probably fired or a wannabe state worker.
- values matter - Friday, Jan 26, 07 @ 11:13 am:
Cleary, DeFraetes and the others violated state law. The question will be what punishment will be tossed their way. The other question is what punishment will be tossed to the Governor’s personnel staff at the higher tier of leadership.
I could see all of them — DeFraetes and others in very hot water.
- Cassandra - Friday, Jan 26, 07 @ 11:20 am:
Maggie,
Wrong on both.
What I am is somebody who thinks that the Illinois citizenry should REFORM THE STATE PERSONNEL RULES TO ELIMINATE LOOPHOLES ALLOWING POLITICAL HIRES INTO THE PERMANENT CIVIL SERVICE.
- DOWNSTATE - Friday, Jan 26, 07 @ 11:39 am:
THINK ABOUT IT!!! If you had a choice of being indicted or keeping a lid on the truth by fighting with ever trick or lope hole in the law which would you do.When elected this bunch ,which includes the governor , set out to do 2 things.One get even with the repubs for the past 25 years andthe other to put their people in with no regard for the law.
- Squideshi - Friday, Jan 26, 07 @ 11:41 am:
“…it probably should be no surprise that the guv’s office would try every legal trick in the book to get him off the case. But even I’m surprised by how far they’re willing to go.”
You’re surprised, Rich? Really? I’m not at all surprised. This administration, like the Bush administration, has repeatedly shown that they’re willing to bend the law to suit their purposes.
Madigan and Jones should start studying up on Article IV, Section 14, of the Illinois Constitution. We’re getting to that point.
- Rollo Spumoni - Friday, Jan 26, 07 @ 12:05 pm:
Cassandra-
You can go ahead and say that Casey and DeFraties “aren’t very bright”. But I would submit they were pretty darn smart, as they clearly kept a paper record of darn near everything that happened — which points the finger right back at the Govs office.
And they were smart enough to get the material out the door with them before they got transferred.
It has been an awe inspiring display of the power and benefit of covering your **s with paperwork to protect yourself from idiots.
Those two may be many things, but dumb ain’t one of ‘em
- Larry Mulholland - Friday, Jan 26, 07 @ 12:07 pm:
Cassandra states..
“these were not very capable individuals being used to push the envelope in the state personnel system in order to facilitate patronage hiring.”
Again, you do not understand what has happened. Casey and Defraties understood the rules and attempted to follow them. The FACTS are that they were pressured and ordered to circumvent the law to place the governor’s cronies disregarding qualifications, rutan, vets preference and any eligibilty lists. AS yet another example of this is indicated in the email exhange Casey had regarding one of their people…Casey stated the applicant has “NO RELEVENT EXPERIENCE” to which the Gov’s Office responded that they wanted to make him EXEMPT from the law. We have seen this over and over and over and over and over and over and over again with this administration.
Defraties and Casey were smart enough to keep their records and call in the Ferderales. They have teh back up for their stories. There will be criminal charges stemming from the hiring pratices of BLAGO. What you have seen to this point is merely the tip of the melting ice burg. Had Blago not had a knee jerk reaction and fired them for publicity, we would not be discussing this now. Instead, Pat Fitzgerald would be quietly building his case behind the scenes. Which is continuing to happen as we speak.
Casey and Defraties began swiming against the tide from the beginning. They wanted the electronic “blind” hiring system and were blocked by BLAGO and crew…..
They have the goods ….the prosecutors have the goods and it is sad to watch the Governor of Illinois continue to use people for his political gain.
- So Blue Democrat - Friday, Jan 26, 07 @ 12:20 pm:
Cassandra,
I agree with Rollo. The true facts will soon emerge in this case. Based on many of your posts, I also think you have a strange dislike of state workers. There must be something behind this weirdness. I know plenty of state workers. Most are very hard working, and are being screwed by the present administration. Many are very disappointed. They wanted change and reform in the state hiring process-not what the current administration has done.
- Team Sleep - Friday, Jan 26, 07 @ 1:33 pm:
DeFraties and Casey took marching orders from the upper echelon of the administration. They have to keep records to prove that hirings and firings were conducted - no matter how brazen they may have been. My wife works for a branch of the governor’s office and her boss is a director who has no real say in the office; the office director takes his marching orders from a deputy governor. The plaintiffs in this case were clearly made scapegoats by top advisors who were afraid of being indicted or perhaps even Blago himself getting the blame. They were patsies who were double-exempt and the governor’s office could have easily put them into their old jobs to ensure there was a buffer zone between the feds, the press and the public and the governor.
- Little Egypt - Friday, Jan 26, 07 @ 2:06 pm:
I’m not sure why Cassandra is getting fired on today but I will disagree with only one statement. Casey and DeFraites ARE VERY BRIGHT and have outsmarted the Blago Bunch. I’m betting they have printed every e-mail and have handed them over to their attorney. That’s a real serious problem when you flaunt the law and do so in writing. My bet is on Carl Draper, their attorney, that he will not only win reinstatement for them but will get punitive damages. What I’m not betting on, however, is that the war will be won at the Civil Service Commission hearing. Draper may have to go to civil court to prove his clients innocent but I’m absolutely confident in Carl Draper’s abilities to prove his clients innocence. The Blago Bunch better be careful what they ask for - they just might get it. If they are successful in getting Carl Draper off the case, I know an attorney who is even better who is just cracking his knuckles over getting into this case and will gladly take over as the new attorney. And then you can surely bet that Blago “ain’t seen nothin’ yet”.
- Larry Mulholland - Friday, Jan 26, 07 @ 2:37 pm:
Little E,
You raise an excellent point. The Civil Service Commission will rule on the case. The commision is now firmly in the hands of Blago. The the staff, the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) as well as the majority, if not all, of the members are Blago’s appointees. Inlcuding his nanny. You can be assured, the losing party will appeal.
We have witnessed the Gov’s wrestling the first personell case up to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. It was there they reached a favorable opinion…Only time will tell
- MIDSTATE - Friday, Jan 26, 07 @ 2:39 pm:
I think they are doing everything possiable to keep from having the hearing. Once the have to justify the firings, and answer questions about the e-mails, it will be a matter of record. That is the last thing they want. Because you can bet that “it may be used against them” in a court of law.
- Belle - Friday, Jan 26, 07 @ 2:54 pm:
Anytime you deal with Blago and his little troopers it’s going to get dirty. These 2 people would not do illegal hiring. Common knowledge. They got kicked under the bus and were suppose to stay there. They didn’t. So are they suppose to give up their rights as citizens as well? There is no defense to this. It’s scared lawyers for the administration not scare tactics in this case. CMS, DCFS - looks like the chickens will be coming home to roost soon.
- Tessa - Friday, Jan 26, 07 @ 3:40 pm:
Paper trails mean everything in government. Without them, a persons word means nothing. If DeFraties and Casey have paper proof of what they were told to do and by whom, it could be very interesting.
With everything that has happened since he took office, Blago and his administration should be wary about what might happen. As a state employee, I welcome the interest that the Feds and now the courts are taking in things. We peons haven’t been complaining about nothing.
Delete nothing from e-mail and save every memo. Sadly, it’s the only way to protect oneself from this kind of stuff.
- Wild Ride - Friday, Jan 26, 07 @ 3:53 pm:
- Tessa is right, delete nothing from e-mail and save every memo.
Added protection: copy emails and questionable correspondance onto disc and take them home at least once a week. As we all know to well, no knows when you’ll be sent packing.
- Jechislo - Friday, Jan 26, 07 @ 4:20 pm:
I am sooooooooooo glad that I don’t work for the State anymore.
Blago’s bunch is using Bill Clinton’s handbook to the letter. Deny deny, bob and weave, shuffle and confuse. It will take another couple of years before the entire truth finally comes out, but the truth will come out. If you don’t believe it just take a look at George Ryan.
Rod will be convicted. He deserves to be. I don’t know if he will ever do time in prison. But he deserves that too.
- Max Maxwell - Friday, Jan 26, 07 @ 6:21 pm:
There are many, many state employees silently rooting for the DeFraties and Casey to win and put the blame for the screwed up personnel situation where it belongs. In the days of Thompson and Edgar, our agency would be told to hire someone every once in a while, but almost all the time you could hire on ability and experience. We had policy analysts with Master’s degrees from the Univ. of Chicago. Now you can only hope to get someone that can tie his own shoes.
- one of the 35 - Friday, Jan 26, 07 @ 6:34 pm:
From the very first day after Blagojevich’s coronation….. I mean inauguration,Dawn Defraties was one of the few people in the administration who understood the system and the fact that the laws and rules applied to all, regardless of party affiliation or who hired someone. She is a class act.
- State Worker w/ MBA - Friday, Jan 26, 07 @ 10:35 pm:
Govenors office to this day has to approve and sign off on EVERY job posting and the employees who fill them.
This is long after these 2 have been fired so you tell me who is rigginng the system.
- Disgusted - Friday, Jan 26, 07 @ 11:09 pm:
Since Cassandra seems to think she needs to constantly accuse state employees of everything except the Crucifixion, I wonder why she doesn’t mention our crooked legislators, judges, states attorneys and country employees. All these folks line their pockets with lobbyist money, plus their own salaries and anything else they can skim off the top. I’m sorry, Ms. C., but state employees are not being taken to fancy lunches or given trips to the sun or Chicago Bears (yeah, go!) tickets. They have to pay their own way, all the while wondering what’s going to happen to their pensions. There are crappy employees in every business, including state government but you seem to paint all with the same brush. Shame on you.
- Cassandra - Saturday, Jan 27, 07 @ 9:50 am:
I know I’m over my limit of three but I have to ask:
So there are no exempt positions? Nobody can be hired under an “exempt” category? If so, why do we have an exempt category at all.
With respect to the e-mail about “what do we have to do to get him hired” there are multiple interpretations, such are “are there any legal ways of hiring him even though he doesn’t have the qualifications?” I bet there are.