When Burris Wanted to Get to Blagojevich, He Called Lon Monk

So Roland Burris on Friday told members of the House committee investigating the impeachment of Governor Blagojevich that he had called Alonzo ("Lon") Monk ("Lobbyist 1" in the federal criminal complaint against Blago). According to Burris, he called Monk, Blago's former chief of staff whose cell phone was tapped by the feds, to ask if Monk had any excess lobbying business to throw the way of Burris's lobbying firm, Burris & Lebed. Burris also put the bug, so to speak, in Monk's ear that Burris (whose tombstone advertises him as a "Trail Blazer") was interested in having Blago consider him as Barack Obama's replacement in the Senate.

Burris said that he made the call to lobbyist Monk in July or September; if his memory is accurate, it probably means that the call preceded the tap and so would not have been recorded.

Burris's supporters argue that Monk was off the state payroll at the time. Monk left Blago's employ after the '06 election to launch his lobbying business and, Burris says, Monk never threw any lobbying business Burris's way. There is nothing untoward about Burris making that call, his supporters add--it was just business coupled with political ambition. Burris would surely like Democratic leaders to believe that when Monk exited the governor's staff, their relationship ended. That is almost certainly not true.

Two years younger than Blago and a native of southern California (grew up in Rodondo Beach), Monk has been a friend of Blago's since their second year of law school at Pepperdine in Malibu in the early 1980s--a bond strengthened when they both joined a Pepperdine group that studied for a semester in London and lived at the same hotel. When I interviewed them in 2003, they both remembered leaving their rooms at 2 a.m. to get to Piccadilly Circus by three to see a Tommy Hearns/Sugar Ray Leonard fight live from Las Vegas.

They roomed together in law school and stayed closely in touch after graduation--Monk was a groomsman at Blago's wedding--and later Blago, then a U.S. Congressman, persuaded Monk to give up his business as a sports agent--he represented figure skater Nancy Kerrigan--to work as Blago's legal counsel in Washington, then to run his campaign for governor in 2002, to serve as his chief of staff, and, finally, to run his reelection campaign in 2006.

Monk had the office next to Blago's in the Thompson Center and ran with him many mornings. Ald. Dick Mell, Blago's father-in-law, told me when I interviewed him in 2003, before the two became estranged, that Monk was Blago's "closest" friend.

Mell also became close to Monk, at least professionally. Mell's daughter Patti told me back then, before she and Mell also became estranged, that job seekers used her father as the conduit to the governor. "I kind of feel bad for my dad because people come to him trying to get to Rod." She said that it became so frequent and so intrusive that "we had to work out a system on it." They decided, she said, that Mell and Lon Monk would meet every week and deal with these requests. Monk told me that he and Mell met for breakfast every two weeks, often at the East Bank Club. Monk says that Mell was feeling "frustrated" and taking the heat from his constituents because the son-in-law was not making the transition to placing Democrats in all jobs as quickly as people in the party would like.

"Mell has a lot of people who expected Rod or any Democratic governor to come in and basically turn on the lights and all the sudden the state was going to become very Democratic. ... Because of all the people envisioning Ald. Mell with all this influence with Rod, he comes under a lot of pressure to try to make that happen. ... Rod wants to make sure that the right people get in the right spots. ... That ... frustrates Mell because he has to deal with that on a day-to-day basis with his constituency. ... And people don't believe this, but Rod makes the decision. He's setting the agenda. Mell's far more a father-in-law than he is a political operative."

(Monk recalls Blago, as a law student, calling himself not a democratic, but "a progressive conservative.")

Monk remembered Blago the law student as an avid recreational reader (especially books on Teddy Roosevelt). Blago skipped class one morning, explaining to Monk that he was "engrossed with reading George Trevelyan's History of England (1926). Blago spent "a lot of time by himself," Monk explained, "running, reading, weight lifting."

Rod didn't have a "passion" for law, says Monk. He would not volunteer in class, but when called on "he was usually able to wing it pretty well. ... Coupled with an engaging personality, he got by." For most people, Monk says, law school was "all consuming." Not for Rod: "Law school was not going to control Rod's life; he was going to control law school."

Once Monk went to work for Gov. Blago in Chicago, he found himself to be the only running partner the governor would accept. They ran many mornings from Blago's house at 2934 W. Sunnyside to Wrigley field and back--about seven miles. Monk says they ran fast--clocking eight to eight-and-one-half-minute miles.

Monk also told me back then that the relationship between Blago and Mike Madigan, speaker of the Illinois House, is "very good right now. ... I think he enjoys Rod's company"--this at a time when Madigan had recently dropped the bomb about unnamed "indiscretions" in Rod's past.

During our interview in Monk's Thompson Center office, he mentioned that he communicates mostly by cell phone, that he doesn't use email or a Blackberry.

Hearing or reading the transcripts of those cell phone conversations should be fascinating. One thing I think they will show is that Rod Blagojevich and Lon Monk were close before he left Blago's employ-- and after.

 

 

Comments

[MartiWilkinson]

As someone who lives in Illinois I don't see Burris being re-elected to the Senate when his term is up. If anything I wouldn't be surprised if Blago intended for there to be a lot of fuss over this. After all Burris's appointment managed to divert our attention away from Jesse Jackson Jr. One of them things that makes ya go hmmmmm.

[Carol Felsenthal - Huffpost Blogger]

This morning's Sun-Times had a fascinating guide to who's who in the criminal complaint against Blago.

"The criminal complaint against the governor cites more than three dozen people....­Here's who's who among most of the names behind the letters and numerals prosecutors use to label those players in the Blagojevich case, according to knowledgeable sources."

Here's what it says about Lon Monk:

"Lobbyist 1 [Monk] assured Rod Blagojevich that Contributor 1 [John Johnston] would be good for the donation because Lobbyist 1 'got in his face.' "

[Jeff Norman - Huffpost Blogger]

In attempting to refute commenter chitown’s sensible suggestion that she drop her silly obsession with Roland Burris, Carol Felsenthal insists “it's important to report on Burris's activities before Blago made the appointmen­t...” But the majority of Carol’s useless post isn’t even about Burris; it’s about Rod Blagojevich’s relationship with Alonzo Monk. About Burris she tells us only that he had a routine phone conversation with Monk. “Report” is too highfalutin a word for that slice of nothingness. However Burris conducts himself as a senator will determine his political future, not the minutiae swimming in Carol’s head. I’m with chitown.

[Carol Felsenthal - Huffpost Blogger]

In 2003 while writing a profile of Blago for Chicago magazine, I interviewed many of the players in the current Blagojevich drama. I think it's interesting and valuable to go back and look at the transcripts of the interviews to delve more deeply into these relationships--many of which will come up during the upcoming trial in the Senate and, assuming there is an indictment, in a criminal trial to come.

[rjmiller]

Great. So you've now documented that Monk and Blago have been friends for a very long time, and that practically everyone involved in Illinois politics knew that. Unfortunately, based on the title and the beginning of this article, it was supposed to be slamming Burris, and in that aim you have failed miserably. You've also failed to implicate Monk, so your attempted guilt-by-a­ssociation attack doesn't even hold up.

Seriously, was there some point to this article that I don't understand?

[RapidRay]

True Chitown, it's not about about Burris but the blog is much more about the Byzantine machinations of just another day at the office in our mildly democratic society.
After Burris did his best James Meredith, standing in front of the school (Senate) door and not being allowed in, it was all over.

[Strywever]

Clearly, Burris called Monk because he knew Monk had Blago's ear -- why else would he have called? Which means he lied when he said he had no contact with Blago's representatives. If he didn't think Monk was a representative, why the call?

That said, the nation has more pressing issues to deal with, so seating this guy was probably the right thing to do in the big picture.

[liberalsrheros]

do you represent all your past employers and friends?

[chitown]

Give it up, Carol. Harry Reid has. Burris is the junior Senator from Illinois.

[Carol Felsenthal - Huffpost Blogger]

No, thanks, I don't plan to give it up.

I expect, like you, that Burris some time this week will be able to have his latest job (U.S. Senator from Illinois) carved on his mausoleum, but he'll have to run in an actual election in 2010, so i think it's important to report on Burris's activities before Blago made the appointment . I think voters in Nevada and in Illinois ought to keep this in mind when Harry Reid and Dick Durbin are up for reelection. Just because Burris will be the junior senator from Illinois doesn't mean we want him there one day more than the law requires.

[suuzie]

Yes, Burris is the janitor from Illinois, at least I hope that is the way he is treated. He is such an embarassment to people of color and to the people of Illinois.