Dec 21, 2008 Article by Joseph Fosco | 2 comments

Chuck Goudie And Bob Cooley Target Gov. Blagojevich

How does Chuck Goudie keep his job at ABC? Does he have some dirt on his producer? I cannot figure it out. Goudie continues to produce crap and he continues to be paid for it. Why? (Please read my previous article about Goudie, Chuck Goudie Proves He Is An A** Hole.)

I was watching the 6:00 PM news on Wednesday, December 17, 2008, when I witnessed Goudie come on the air with a clip of Bob Cooley (the admitted double-crosser). Cooley is a deadbeat gambler who thought he would be physically harmed for cheating bookmakers out of their money back in the 1980s. He decided to team up with ‘Jimmy Wagner’ (a.k.a. James Wagner, the former FBI Agent). Wagner is now working with the Chicago Crime Commission. Cooley and Wagner, along with the help of many federal agents, put scores of politicos and associates in prison in a federal case dubbed ‘Operation Gambit’.

In this particular clip Cooley explains that Rod Blagojevich was a Mob Bookie several years ago. Cooley also claims that he predicted that Blagojevich would sell jobs. In fact, Cooley’s pal, Jimmy Wagner, appears to verify this story.

In 2004, Bob Cooley released a book called When Corruption Was King, a supposed tell all book about the ins and outs of Chicago, both politically and criminally, with particular emphasis on the Chicago Outfit. Rod Blagojevich was Governor of the State of Illinois for one year at the time the book came out. Last Wednesday when I heard Cooley explain Blagojevich’s role in the Chicago Outfit, my curiosity got the better of me. I stopped at the local library, pulled When Corruption Was King and searched the index to find the Blagojevich chapter.

To my surprise, the name Blagojevich does not appear in the index. I cannot say that it does not appear in the book because I refuse to read anything that a double-crosser would write, as I feel such people lack honesty. I said to myself, how could someone who wrote such a book, and recently claim to have firsthand knowledge that a sitting Governor is a criminal, not index him? Heck, Al Capone made Cooley’s index, someone Cooley had never met, but the sitting Governor, who was purportedly an Outfit Bookie, is not mentioned at all. Then I remembered that James Wagner verified that Cooley reported to him many years ago that Blagojevich was an associate of Organized Crime in Chicago. I looked in Cooley’s index for James Wagner to find a listing for Jimmy Wagner. I thought, “Jimmy Wagner must be a best friend from grade school. Who calls an FBI agent Jimmy?”

Jimmy appears on three pages in Cooley’s book (251-252, 259). A cursory review of all three pages left me with the understanding that Cooley and Wagner had watched each other’s backs for many years. Therefore, I get the impression that today Wagner is merely supporting his pal Cooley out of appreciation for their long-time relationship.

Ed Genson invited Cooley to Springfield to testify against Blagojevich and face cross-examination. My demand is much simpler. I just want ask the man one question. Mr. Cooley, after seeing many names of nobodies and small-timers in your silly little book (aside from big names of people that you never met, i.e., Al Capone), why would you not index a sitting Governor who you claim was connected to Mob corruption and an associate of yours? I know Goudie explained that you kept your name from being used against Blagojevich for a long time out of fear for your personal safety, but I don’t buy it. You were not afraid of your name coming out regarding ruthless killers, so why be afraid of a physically harmless politician?

I suspect that you are a big fat liar Mr. Cooley, one that a jury fell for – not to mention the idiots that wasted money on your rag called a book. Though I suppose no one should be shocked, as this would be fully consistent with the behavior of an admitted double-crosser.