The people Rod Blagojevich left behind

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Bradley Tusk with then-Gov. Rod Blagojeich in February 2005. | Sun-times file photo

In December 2011, before sentencing Rod Blagojevich to 14 years in prison, U.S. District Judge James Zagel scolded the former governor not only for disappointing the people of Illinois but also for destroying careers and lives along the way.

Blagojevich’s lawyers had argued his advisers failed their boss by not adequately steering the governor in moral and legal directions. Zagel didn’t buy it, saying, “He marched them and ruined a few of their careers and more than that in the process.”

On Aug. 9, Zagel will consider reducing Blagojevich’s long prison sentence. Otherwise, Blagojevich, 59, who has been held since March 2012 at a federal prison near Denver, isn’t eligible for release until 2024.

For some, signing on with Blagojevich proved disastrous, like campaign fund-raisers and advisers Chris Kelly and Tony Rezko, both convicted of crimes tied to Blagojevich scandals. Rezko only recently got out of prison. Kelly, his life in shambles, killed himself after pleading guilty to corruption and tax charges, downing rat poison at a lumberyard in Country Club Hills and leaving instructions to give prosecutors a message: “Tell them they won.”

A handful of other senior aides say they learned a great deal from their time with Blagojevich, though most of those who worked for Blagojevich rarely speak publicly about it even now, years later.

Sheila Nix, a deputy governor to Blagojevich who steered clear of his administration’s scandals, for several years after her departure in 2008 worked as U.S. executive director for U2 frontman Bono’s ONE Campaign, a group raising awareness of hunger and poverty. In 2013, she landed a role as chief of staff to Vice President Joe Biden’s wife, Dr. Jill Biden.

Then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich with Deputy Gov. Sheila Nix after a rally April 4, 2007, in Alton. | AP file photo

Then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich with Deputy Gov. Sheila Nix after a rally April 4, 2007, in Alton. | AP file photo

But on her White House biography Nix left off her Blagojevich job. That’s not uncommon among his former staffers. On their resumes, many say they worked for the “Governor of Illinois” but don’t say which governor.

Nix, who commutes from her home in Oak Park to and from Washington most Mondays and Fridays, declined an interview request.

Another former top aide who didn’t return messages seeking comment, Doug Scofield, testified at Blagojevich’s trials and continued working in politics as a statehouse lobbyist and a consultant to U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Illinois. But his rising star under Blagojevich had faded.

Scofield had been a top campaign aide when Blagojevich was first elected governor in 2002. But even though Scofield was appointed a deputy governor, Blagojevich marginalized him, preferring the counsel of others, including Kelly and chiefs of staff Lon Monk and John Harris.

Recordings of calls between Blagojevich and Scofield, played at trial, revealed a frustrated Scofield trying to walk a tightrope between enabling his former boss and pushing the governor toward a more sound, and legal, path.

John Wyma in July 2010 after testifying at Rod Blagojevich’s trial. | Sun-Times file photo

John Wyma in July 2010 after testifying at Rod Blagojevich’s trial. | Sun-Times file photo

Probably no one was closer to Blagojevich when he entered the governor’s office than John Wyma, his chief of staff when he was a congressman and then a campaign adviser. Wyma wasn’t appointed to Blagojevich’s cabinet, choosing to become a lobbyist. It was a lucrative career move, as Wyma attracted high-profile, high-paying clients seeking access to Blagojevich.

Wyma, who wasn’t charged, played a central role in the FBI’s investigation of Blagojevich, providing information allowing agents to gain legal authority to wiretap phones in Blagojevich’s campaign headquarters and home.

Later, Wyma continued as a Washington lobbyist and recently got a master’s degree in global business administration from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. Earlier this year, he traveled to India and elsewhere in Asia to help startup companies facing regulatory hurdles.

The association with Blagojevich “chased me around for a while, but I managed to transition past it,” Wyma said. “It was a difficult situation that we were all forced to confront.

“I will never forget first meeting Rod,” Wyma said. “He was charismatic, smart, a literally limitless man. He had everything. His political success was not an accident. The guy had talent.

“There were a lot of bright people behind him and supporting him, and we had a lot of opportunity to do good. I can only feel sadness for Rod and his family for how things went so wrong.”

William Quinlan — who was Blagojevich’s general counsel — said his Chicago- and Phoenix-based law practice is doing well, but the Blagojevich experience scarred him.

“My desire to work in public service or run for public office — that desire is gone,” Quinlan said. “There are a lot of people like me who would have stayed in public service, but now there is no desire.”

Cheryle Jackson.

Cheryle Jackson.

That wasn’t the case for Cheryle Jackson, deputy governor for communications for Blagojevich his first 2½ years in office. She went on to the Chicago Urban League, where she was the group’s first woman president and chief executive officer, before unsuccessfully seeking the Democratic nomination to the U.S. Senate in 2010. Jackson is now a vice president for AAR Corp., which provides support to commercial aviation and government. Jackson says, even though she left Blagojevich early in his first term, before scandal engulfed his administration, she learned about managing stress working in high-level government, which helped her persevere through stresses in her personal life, like dealing with cancer and divorce.

“It was a tough job for sure,” Jackson says. “But you leave it learning how to come through with grit and grace and empathy for people.

“I’m tougher and more resilient because of that job.”

As the scandal surrounding Blagojevich mushroomed in his second term, no aide was more accessible than Abby Ottenhoff, who, as his chief spokeswoman, faced daily questioning from reporters. Ottenhoff left in July 2008 after a decade in state government, taking a job with a boutique marketing firm in New York. Working there for six years, her duties include helping companies with social marketing, for instance helping NBC News build a campaign aimed at bolstering students’ educational performance.

“It was nice to sit side by side with reporters, rather than across the table,” she said.

She got married, recently gave birth to her first child and moved with her family to San Francisco, where she’s doing part-time consulting. She said her five years in the Blagojevich administration taught her many lessons.

“I learned how damaging it can be when the focus shifts away from the real job, when it becomes about personal goals or addiction,” Ottenhoff said.

Another lesson, she said: “Do the job as long as it is worthwhile and fulfilling. But if it comes to a point where it isn’t doing those things . . . step away and do something else.”

Ottenhoff said the deterioration in the relationships among the state’s leaders — particularly Blagojevich and House Speaker Mike Madigan — wore on her.

“The governor too often preferred a fight over hard work and coming to a resolution,” she said. “His approach was so controversial that eventually nothing got done.”

Former Deputy Gov. Bradley Tusk leaves the Dirksen Federal Building after testifying about his former boss, Rod Blagojevich, in June 2010. | Rich Hein / Sun-Times

Former Deputy Gov. Bradley Tusk leaves the Dirksen Federal Building after testifying about his former boss, Rod Blagojevich, in June 2010. | Rich Hein / Sun-Times

Bradley Tusk was a 29-year-old wunderkind when the governor made him deputy governor in 2002, having him oversee policy during his first term. After leaving Illinois in 2006, Tusk was an investment banker with Lehman Brothers for two years before becoming campaign manager for New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s successful 2009 re-election bid.

Then, he founded Tusk Ventures, a consulting firm that helps startups. His firm’s biggest client has been Uber, which propelled the company into a multimillion-dollar business.

Tusk said he learned from his time in Illinois how to broker deals among people with wildly divergent aims and to manage personalities.

He said he’s reached out to “smart people” from his Blagojevich tenure including Ottenhoff, Wyma and former deputy governor Bob Greenlee to assist his firm.

“It was a weird experience, for sure, but there was a lot of good stuff in Illinois,” Tusk said. “The best part of that job was the freedom to think of interesting ideas and then do them. We passed a lot of important legislation and ran things pretty efficiently. The worst part, obviously, was dealing with Rod’s craziness.”

Tusk said he’s made enough money to last his family a lifetime. His next mission is developing a foundation to push for humanitarian causes.

“From Illinois, I learned that there are people motivated primarily by the need to hold public office, to fill some deep-seated need that arises from an insecurity or for personal validation,” Tusk said. “But I also learned that there are smart, talented people who, believe it or not, are really in government for the public good.”

David Mendell is an investigator for the Better Government Association.

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