'More than a dozen' witnesses have come forward in the Blago investigation

By Thomas Lifson

It is a process that warms the heart of every prosecutor with extensive wiretap evidence and a large potential pool of indictable miscreants. Those who squeal early get a better deal than the stand-up guys who hold their tongues, hoping the whole thing blows over. In Game Theory, a broad range of phenomena are labeled "The Prisoner's Dilemma", based on the situation of gaining advantage for oneself at the expense of overall welfare for a class of participants.

Natascha Korecki writes in the Chicago Sun-Times:

When it comes to coming clean, nothing is as motivating as a wiretap.

Last week's revelation that Gov. Blagojevich was secretly recorded in his campaign office and on his home phone has prompted more than a dozen potential witnesses in recent days to come forward. They've been calling investigators and defense lawyers to talk about deals or discussions they've had with Blagojevich.

One prominent criminal defense attorney, who asked not to be named, said he alone received calls from three potential clients claiming to be victims of pay-to-play schemes under the governor.

"This is something they've been carrying around that they finally want to talk about," the attorney said.

Right. Just public-spirited types motivated by the commonweal.

Whatever. I will settle for the basest of rear-preserving motivations if it blows the lid off the about-to-become-legendary corruption in Illinois politics. The nation needs and deserves a primer on the environment that nurtured the political career of Barack Obama in Springfield and Chicago.

So if more than a dozen witnesses provide corroborating evidence, then we don't have to rely on the word of one putatively insane governor, no matter who helped him get elected in the first place.