October 23, 2008 (LPAC)--The Chicago Tribune reports that new federal grand jury subpoenas have been issued in the Operation Board Games public-corruption investigation, which has so far resulted in guilty pleas by a number of Illinois political figures, and a guilty verdict by the jury in the Tony Rezko trial.

The new subpoenas indicate that the heart of the investigation is the corruption which was publicly revealed in the Rezko trial, and that Rezko's current discussion with the feds is beginning to bear fruit in the investigation. All of this is a potential threat to presidential candidate Barack Obama, who the famous New Yorker article revealed was a key player in Blagojevich's 2002 gubernatorial campaign, and for whom (along with Blagojevich) Tony Rezko was a key political fund raiser.

One subpoena has gone to Provena Health concerning their lobbyist before the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board. That board, which decides on the building or expansion of hospitals in the state, was one of the two state administrative boards which Rezko was accused of corrupting, by manipulating decisions for applicants (in the case of the IHFPB, to build hospitals) who paid kickbacks, often in the form of political contributions. Provena in late 2003 had an application to open an open-heart surgery program at one of its hospitals, shortly after hiring John Wyma as a lobbyist. Wyma is a friend of Gov. Rod Blagojevich, was his chief of staff when Blagojevich was a Congressman, and was active in Blagojevich's campaigns. Provena got a favorable ruling from the IHFPB in April 2004, and in May, its for-profit affiliate, Provena Ventures, donated $25,000 to Blago's re-election campaign fund.

Another subpoena concerns Illinois Republican Party power-broker William Cellini, whose name came up with some frequency in the Rezko trial, as assisting in various corruption schemes. The subpoena went to the Illinois Road and Transportation Builders Association, for records about Cellini's involvement in a 2002 Blagojevich fundraiser.

Gov. Blagojevich is widely believed to be the central target of this phase of Board Games, but leaks on the substance of the investigation have 'til now focused on Rezko's role in building a family room at the Governor's house, and the hugely successful real estate business of Patti Blagojevich, the Governor's wife.