Feds - Ryan knew about destruction of documents

CHICAGO -- Gov. George Ryan knew his aides destroyed documents from his campaign in 1998 out of fear that investigators would raid his offices, federal prosecutors alleged Wednesday.

Ryan, who was then secretary of state, was present when top aide Scott Fawell gave orders to destroy all campaign documents in the Chicago secretary of state's office, according to court papers outlining evidence prosecutors may present at the impending racketeering trial of Fawell and Ryan's campaign committee.

The filing by the U.S. attorney's office marks the first time in a four-year investigation of corruption in Ryan's secretary of state office that prosecutors have alleged Ryan himself knew about possible wrongdoing.

Ryan has not been charged with any criminal wrongdoing.

"There are two sides to every story, two sides to allegations leveled by individuals claiming to recollect conversations and actions from several years ago," Ryan said in a statement.

He said he will not comment on the ongoing investigation, but added: "My conscience is clear and in every public office I have held, I have respected the public trust."

The filing alleges that Fawell, after giving instructions to destroy the documents, turned to Ryan and told him what he had done. Ryan then left the offices, prosecutors said.

Nighttime shredding

Later that night, documents were collected throughout the secretary of state's office at the James R. Thompson Center in Chicago and shredded, according to the filing.

A few days after the documents were shredded, an aide told Ryan that the fifth floor of the Thompson Center had been cleaned up, prosecutors said in the filing. "Ryan made no response but also gave no indication that he did not understand what (the aide) was talking about," prosecutors said.

Prosecutors also alleged in the filing that Ryan knew as early as 1992 that one of his secretary of state workers, Brad Roseberry, was working on state time for the state legislative campaign of Bruce Clark, Ryan's niece's husband.

Ryan was present at a meeting at which it was suggested that Roseberry be taken off the state payroll for the remainder of the campaign, the court papers said. They said Fawell refused to do so.

The prosecutors' filing also accused a number of previously unnamed Ryan aides of campaigning on state time. They include state Sen. Dave Sullivan, R-Park Ridge, and Nat Shapo, the director of the Illinois Department of Insurance. Neither man has been charged with any criminal wrongdoing.

Phone messages left at the government offices of Sullivan and Shapo after business hours were not immediately returned. Telephone calls made to their homes also were not immediately returned.

The campaign corruption case is part of the federal Operation Safe Road investigation, which initially focused on the sale of driver's licenses for bribes when Ryan was secretary of state. Fifty-seven individuals, including some state employees, have been charged and 50 convicted.

Fawell, who has pleaded not guilty to racketeering, is accused of using state employees and state money for campaign work, starting in 1994 and going through Ryan's successful race for the governor's office in 1998.

Prosecutors alleged that in 1998 Fawell was concerned about the need to conserve Ryan's campaign fund to have enough money for television ads.

The documents allege that Sullivan, who was executive assistant for intergovernmental affairs in the secretary of state's office under Ryan, was concerned that doing campaign work while being paid by the state might be improper but was rebuffed by top aides.

Sullivan, who was appointed to the state Senate the same year at Ryan's urging, was spending 80 percent of his time on campaign work while being paid 100 percent out of state funds, prosecutors said.

The documents said Shapo entered into a contract with the secretary of state's office in June 1997 to work on drunken driving policy.

By the end of the year, though, Shapo, who was also a full-time law student, stopped receiving secretary of state assignments, prosecutors said. Instead, he was acting as opposition research director of Ryan's campaign.

Shapo repeatedly asked to be reassigned to the campaign payroll. When he was turned down, he terminated his state contract to avoid any further fraud, prosecutors said. He later agreed to a reduced salary from the campaign committee, prosecutors said.