My Weird Week on Blago’s Bad Side

At my first newspaper job in Iowa, an angry labor leader said he wanted to castrate me because of something I'd written. During 18 years as a correspondent for NEWSWEEK, the only threat of dismissal that reached my ears came from a New York editor who thought I insufficiently admired two of her precious writers. So you can imagine the surprise when I learned that the governor of Illinois allegedly was threatening to withhold $100 million or more in state financing help from the Chicago Tribune's parent company unless the paper fired me.

A criminal complaint from the U.S. Justice Department quotes surreptitious FBI taping of Gov. Rod Blagojevich discussing the Tribune's editorial board. "Our recommendation is fire all those [expletive] people, get 'em the [expletive] out of there and get us some editorial support," he allegedly says on Nov. 4. A Nov. 21 recording allegedly has the governor asking his chief of staff, John Harris, whether "McCormick is going to get bounced at the Tribune." Harris responds that I am "the most biased and unfair" of the editorial writers; Blagojevich chimes in that I'm a "bad guy." More conversations ensue. But when the Tribune hasn't buckled by Dec. 5, the governor asks, "What's the deal? So, do McCormick stays [sic] at the Tribune, huh?" If my Northwestern University journalism professors ever lectured on how to respond to this sort of thing, I slept in that day.

Among last week's surreal moments: U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, the prosecutor who extracted testimony from Washington journalists in the Scooter Libby case, told Chicago reporters that he had lain awake at night worrying that the governor might get me fired. The alleged quid pro quo from Blagojevich if the Tribune caved: Illinois Finance Authority help with renovations at Wrigley Field, the iconic Cubs ballpark that our parent, the Tribune Co., is trying to sell along with the team. The FBI has the governor allegedly asking Harris what the proposed finance deal would be worth to Tribune. "To them?" Harris replies. "About $100 million ... maybe 150."

Fitzgerald said he moved to arrest Blagojevich to halt "a public corruption crime spree," including efforts to sell Obama's Senate seat. (State law entitles the governor to appoint Obama's replacement to serve the next two years.) But the notion that a public official so fears the words of those who buy ink by the barrel is oddly heartening.

My family and I are left to wonder what, exactly, would have motivated the obsession that the Justice complaint suggests. I've never had a personal tiff with my fellow Northwestern alum Blagojevich; he was always cordial when he came to Tribune Tower for editorial-board meetings. But as his failures of leadership multiplied and FBI agents descended on his administration to investigate corruption on his watch, I did write many editorials strongly critical of him. In some of them, our editorial board—remember, we aren't individual voices—urged state lawmakers to let voters decide whether to add a recall amendment to the Illinois Constitution. Our exhibit A in making that case was Blagojevich, "the governor who cannot govern."

The Justice Department says that by Nov. 3 of this year, Blagojevich was concerned about possibly being impeached next spring—and about the Tribune "driving" the discussion. In fact, we had urged legislators only to investigate that possibility. Not until last week, with Blagojevich refusing to resign despite the devastating federal disclosures, did we finally editorialize in favor of impeachment: "This should be fair and deliberate. It should not be slow."

There's so much I want to know about this. Friends who've seen my name in news stories have sent e-mails of support, but the attention feels ill directed. Every day, Chicago Tribune journalists risk being killed in war zones overseas—or on the violence-drenched streets of this city. By that measure, life on the enemies list isn't so bad.

McCormick is deputy editorial-page editor of the Chicago Tribune and a former Chicago bureau chief of NEWSWEEK.

© 2008