Month: November 2008

“Shakedown Schemes” and State Business?

A not guilty plea was entered in an Illinois case involving Tony Rezko, according to this report. [William] Cellini is accused of conspiring with Rezko and Stuart Levine, then a state pension fund board member, to shake down Thomas Rosenberg, a Chicago businessman who had become a Hollywood producer and was seeking to handle an […]

How Many Mint Juleps?

Kentucky Derby expenses are the focus of this story on Massachusetts lobbying law. Cognos ULC, a software vendor at the center of an ethics controversy on Beacon Hill, paid $13,000 to lobbyist Richard McDonough for expenses he racked up over three days at last year’s Kentucky Derby, leading the secretary of state to ask if […]