What Will Blago's Lawyers Do?: A Primer on the Upcoming Trial of Rod Blagojevich

by Paul Huebl

I’m no fan of Former Governor Rod Blagojevich because he’s part and parcel of the criminal enterprise that runs Chicago and now the Whitehouse. Blago is set to spin the Wheel Of Misfortune at Chicago's Federal District Court on June 3rd.

Still Blago is entitled to a fair trial with proper discovery and the right to subpoena witnesses for his defense. Blago will get anything but a fair trial and can count on being in prison at least until the U.S. Supreme Court has an opportunity to look at the 7th Circuit court of Appeals judges legal sabotage of Blago’s rights.

I’m absolutely convinced that Barack Obama is part and parcel to any attempts to sell his former senate seat. Blago has the goods on Obama and I don’t think he’s willing to fall on his sword without bringing down Obama and his presidency. I’d be absolutely shocked if Obama is not part of every criminal conspiracy that gave him an opportunity to do what Chicago Democrats all do.

Blago should have gotten immunity to bring down all the Chicago rats. Instead they have tried to craft a trial where release of facts of other’s criminal activity is forbidden.

The old criminal defense war horses, Sam Adam, Sr. and Ed Genson have been hogtied by the court in every way possible. Defending the hapless Blago under those conditions will be challenging to say the least.

I look for Genson and Adam to stir the Whitehouse excrement in a big way. If they don’t, their client is sure to do that during his show trial at the Dirkson Building.

The problem is the unlimited ability the Whitehouse and Chicago democratic party has to extort from and bribe anyone and everyone. Witnesses, judges, prosecutors, jurors and defense lawyers will all have the payday of their wildest dreams if they cooperate. There will be hell to pay if they don’t.


Read the rest here.

Marveling at the Former Governor of Illinois

I don't think many people realize it, but George Bush, the Son, took out the two most prominent Democratic governors, before he left office, New York's Eliot Spitzer and Rod Blagojevich in Illinois. That didn't happen by accident.

Eliot Spitzer appears to be so power hungry that I would hate to even be his pet dog, but "Blago" seems to be a nice guy, as far as politicians can be nice guys, and was taken out for no good reason other than, well, somebody told GW that he could do it and that he should.

But, Blago is clearly not in tune with the times. He came out of the Daley machine and was never really in touch with the people. As this amazing must see video shows, the man clearly does not know how to get on the internet.unless this was some kind of act for the cameras. How could he possibly know what's going on if he can't read on a daily basis, EPJ, Bob Murphy, Lila Rajiva and LRC?



(Thanks to Nick)

Blago, Rezko, Obama

Here is another piece to a very big puzzle.

The very curious land parcel purchase by Barack and Michelle Obama from convicted fundraiser Tony Rezko resulted in Rod Blagojevich's wife, Patty, collecting "a huge commission on that Obama real estate deal when she was not the broker selling the property," according to Paul Huebl.

Best Commentaries on the Blagojevich Arrest

From Bill Anderson:

Politicians like to see themselves as being the equal of successful business executives, but they generally strike me as people who don't have the ability to make it outside of government. They are mediocre people who might be cunning or ruthless, but in the business world, one must have real foresight into the market, and from what I can tell, most politicians don't have that ability.

They are more like the playground bullies who extort money and favors from other kids, but who generally are pathetic people.

From Steve Horwitz:

So the big news today is that the governor of Illinois has been caught doing explicitly what most politicians do with more subtlety every single day: selling off their power to the highest bidder. I can't help but note that yet another politician is indicted on corruption charges at the very same time we are handing over unprecedented power to the political class as we partially nationalize the banking system and, apparently, the Big Three auto companies.

There's much more in both commentaries. Anderson's is here and Horwtiz's is here.

How the Arrest Went Down

The Chicago Tribune with the details:

Just minutes before 6 a.m. Tuesday, a pair of black sedans and an SUV raced up Richmond Street toward the personal residence of Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Sunnyside Avenue on Chicago's Northwest Side.

About the same time, the phone inside Blagojevich's home began to ring. On the other end was Robert Grant, the FBI's special agent in charge in Chicago. Two agents were outside Blagojevich's front door with a warrant for his arrest, he announced to the governor.

"Well, I woke him up," Grant recalled later Tuesday at a news conference to announce charges of fraud and bribery against Blagojevich. "The first thing [Blagojevich said] was, 'Was this a joke?' "

Grant asked the governor to quietly open the door "without the media finding out about it, without waking the children," he said. "He was very cooperative, and that's it."

Inside the Blago Tapes: Who Is Senate Candidate 5?

Gov. Blagojevich's own words make it clear that he did not believe that Barack Obama wanted a person called "Senate Candidate 5" to be appointed to the Senate. So who is Senate Candidate 5 that Balgo thinks Obama wouldn't want as his senate successor? Marc Ambinder speculates it is Jesse Jackson Jr.

From the context of the taped phone conversations, it's probably either Jesse Jackson. Jr. or Emil Jones, Jr.

Ambinder then notes that Blago in one conversation says that he is going to meet with Senate Candidate 5. Ambinder then writes, "The only candidate with whom Blagojevich met within that period was Jesse Jackson, Jr."

Really Inside Chicago Politics

The arrest of Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich brings to mind a party I attended in Chicago a few years back.

It was a yuppie type party and one of the party goers struck me more like a 30-something young tough, rather than a yuppie. At some point we are next to each other and start talking. For whatever reason, people tend to confess things to me that I don't think they do with many others.

He was clearly edgy about being at the party, and points to another guy and says, "See him." I nod. "He's my cousin. He is the reason I am here. When I was a kid, I robbed a bank. I figured no one would think I would rob it again the next day, so I did. I robbed it the third day, also. The fourth day the police were waiting for me. My cousin is running for office [I think he said for alderman, but I forget]. He is short on cash for his campaign and he wants me to rob a bank for him. He tells me he will give me the money back and more when he is elected."

"Are you going to do it?", I ask.

"No," he said, "this is the first time in years that he has called me. I don't rob banks anymore, let him rob his own bank."

Illinois Governor Arrested on Federal Charges of Being a Crooked Politician

What Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich (D) did is what I believe most politiics in the United States is about. Yet it is rarely caught on tape, and it is even more rare that it is made this public.

Blagojevich wanted to sell the naming of the succesor to Barack Obama's senate seat. What he says over an open phone line is astonishing. Still, Blagojevich is ruffling somebody's feathers in power for this bust to go down.

In a conversation with his Chief of Staff John Harris (also arrested) on November 11, the charges state, Blagojevich said he knew that the President-elect wanted Senate Candidate 1 for the open seat but "they're not willing to give me anything except appreciation. [Expletive] them."

"I've got this thing and it's [expletive] golden, and, uh, uh, I'm just not giving it up for [expletive] nothing. I'm not gonna do it."

At another point the FBI affidavit says Blagojevich had been told by an adviser "the President-elect can get Rod Bblagojevich's's wife on paid corporate boards in exchange for naming the President-elect's pick to the Senate."

At various times, in exchange for the Senate appointment, Blagojevich discussed obtaining:

A substantial salary for himself at a either a non-profit foundation or an organization affiliated with labor unions;

Placing his wife on paid corporate boards where he speculated she might garner as much as $150,000 a year;

Promises of campaign funds – including cash up front; and

A cabinet post or ambassadorship for himself.

Also, according to the affidavit, intercepted phone calls revealed that the Tribune Company, which owns the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Cubs, has explored the possibility of obtaining assistance from the Illinois Finance Authority (IFA) relating to the Tribune Company's efforts to sell the Cubs and the financing or sale of Wrigley Field. In a November 6 phone call, Harris explained to Blagojevich that the deal the Tribune Company was trying to get through the IFA was basically a tax mitigation scheme in which the IFA would own title to Wrigley Field and the Tribune would not have to pay capital gains tax, which Harris estimated would save the company approximately $100 million.

Intercepted calls allegedly show that Blagojevich directed Harris to inform Tribune Owner and an associate, identified as Tribune Financial Advisor, that state financial assistance would be withheld unless members of the Chicago Tribune's editorial board were fired, primarily because Blagojevich viewed them as driving discussion of his possible impeachment. In a November 4 phone call, Blagojevich allegedly told Harris that he should say to Tribune Financial Advisor, Cubs Chairman and Tribune Owner, "our recommendation is fire all those [expletive] people, get 'em the [expletive] out of there and get us some editorial support."