By AP/KWMU
Springfield, Ill – An aide to Governor Rod Blagojevich's personnel director wrote in an April 2003 e-mail that "all hires and fires must move through this office."
The e-mail was obtained by The Associated Press. It was written by a staffer in the office of Joe Cini, who handles Blagojevich's hiring.
The staffer told a manager at the Public Health Department that Cini needed to be briefed on everyone to be hired. The e-mail said "If Joe doesn't sign off on it, it doesn't happen."
Blagojevich aides have claimed that the governor approves positions to be filled but doesn't know who is filling them.
But hiring documents from early 2003 obtained by the Associated Press list 1,800 positions, most including names, that indicate the governor's office approved each.