Why the whistleblower pulled the plug on Illinois Governor Blagojevich

Washington, Jan.10 (ANI): A whistleblower has emerged, which could finally ensure Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's impeachement in connection with his alleged move to sell the vacant Senate seat of US President-elect Barack Obama to the highest bidder.

According to an ABC report, Hospital CEO Pamela Davis wore an FBI wire for eight months in late 2003, saying she took up the assignment because she had her suspicions about wrondoings by the governor.

"I had my suspicions that it would go all the way up to the level of the governor. Though, I did not have personal knowledge that he was involved."

Davis' connection to the investigation began in 2003 when she was president and CEO of Edward Hospital in Naperville, Illinois.

While working to win approval from the state health planning board to expand her facilities, Davis says she received warnings that she would only gain approval if she used a specific, politically connected contractor and investment firm.

"I got a phone call from one of the 'bad guys' who told me that I should not be presenting my project. And I said, 'well thanks for the information' and basically got off the phone very rapidly and really kind of just ignored his call," Davis told ABC in an interview.

"I was outraged that something as important to me as health care, something that was required, such an important service would have to fall under this type of terrible delay and expense and really just corruption," Davis added.

Ignoring the "pay to play" demands, Davis selected a different contractor, and her initial proposal was subsequently denied.

"Immediately, I felt that there was something very, very wrong. And it was right at that moment that I made the decision that I should call the FBI. I felt something was seriously amiss," she said.

Davis took her suspicions to the FBI, sparking a high-stakes operation led by U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald's office into the heart of Chicago's political corruption.

"Very rapidly it became very obvious to me that this corruption was fairly significant and deep and widespread," Davis said.

he agents asked the grandmother of six to wear a wire. Agents wired Davis, her office and home phones, and listened to her conversations from a van in the hospital parking deck. Davis worked undercover with the FBI for about eight months. Each of her conversations about the pay to play hospital negotiations uncovered more about the web of political corruption that consumed Chicago.

The probe into the health planning board would soon expand, exposing other allegedly corrupt political dealings in the state, and ultimately, over five years, catching references to the governor's alleged involvement in corrupt deals.

Davis hopes that her stint as an undercover FBI informant will help change the nature of Chicago politics, putting an end to the widespread machinery systems that have propagated corruption for so long. (ANI)