"Public Official A" is a high-ranking public official alleged to be involved in political corruption

Political corruption

Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...

 during United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Attorney

United States Attorney

United States Attorneys represent the United States federal government in United States district court and United States court of appeals. There are 93 U.S. Attorneys stationed throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands...

 Patrick Fitzgerald

Patrick Fitzgerald

Patrick J. Fitzgerald is the current United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois and a member of the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Special Counsel...

's investigation of corruption in the State of Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

. The identity of Public Official A has not been officially released and the official has not been indicted, but a judge has confirmed that the person is former Illinois Governor

Governor of Illinois

The Governor of Illinois is the chief executive of the State of Illinois and the various agencies and departments over which the officer has jurisdiction, as prescribed in the state constitution. It is a directly elected position, votes being cast by popular suffrage of residents of the state....

 Rod Blagojevich

Rod Blagojevich

Rod R. Blagojevich is an American politician who served as the 40th Governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009. A Democrat, Blagojevich was a State Representative before being elected to the United States House of Representatives representing parts of Chicago...

.

Speculation on the identity of Public Official A

In 2005, "Public Official A" was alleged to have selected consultants for private equity funds that appeared before the Illinois State Pension Funds via two close associates. Those associates - Stuart Levine and Tony Rezko

Tony Rezko

Antoin "Tony" Rezko is a Assyrian -American businessman, political fundraiser, restaurateur, and real estate developer in Chicago, Illinois, convicted on several counts of fraud and bribery in 2008. Rezko has been involved in fundraising for local Illinois Democratic and Republican politicians...

 - were indicted

Indictment

An indictment , in the common-law legal system, is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that maintain the concept of felonies, the serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that lack the concept of felonies often use that of an indictable offence—an...

 by Attorney Fitzgerald. This led to considerable public speculation in 2006 that Blagojevich was “Public Official A” and that he would therefore be a key subject of an ongoing criminal investigation.

A ruling on February 26, 2008, confirmed the suspicion that Blagojevich was “Public Official A” when a federal judge referenced Blagojevich's campaign as the beneficiary of the activity for which previous legal documents had used the non-specific term. According to the Associated Press

Associated Press

The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...

, "News organizations including The Associated Press have long reported Blagojevich was Public Official A." After the ruling, Blagojevich continued to deny he was "Public Official A".

An NBC5.com news article confirms that Public Official A is indeed Governor Blagojevich. http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/The-Saga-of-Public-Official-A.html