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* AFSCME’s Henry Bayer told me in an early morning e-mail that he’d been doing some research on a 2003 lawsuit filed against the state’s Department of Corrections and came across this golden nugget…
Much of the litigation focused on plaintiffs’ attempts to depose the Governor. On February 27, 2007, the state defendants sought a protective order to block plaintiffs from deposing Governor Blagojevich on grounds that it would just “disrupt a busy public official who should not be taken away from his work.”
Sheesh. What a guy he was.
* From Zorn’s review of a new book about the former governor…
What passed for intelligence from the otherwise unaccomplished student was merely “an uncanny knack for memorization,” which he put on display in political debates as early as college, “declaiming verbatim (Teddy) Roosevelt’s famous ‘Man in the Arena’ speech,” for instance. […]
He famously hid out in his home to avoid coming to the office, though he peppered his aides with such frequent, annoying, needy requests that former deputy governor Bradley Tusk recalls in the book barking at him ““I have to run the government. Stop calling me.”
* From Natasha Korecki’s new book about the former governor…
FBI Director Robert Mueller wanted to hear some of the tech cuts himself. Walking past piles of papers heaped on the desk of Robert Grant, Chicago FBI special agent in charge, in his near West Side office, Mueller settled in. He asked his bodyguards to leave the room. With only Mueller, Grant and top FBI supervisor Pete Cullen left, the tapes rolled. Mueller, who has overseen numerous terrorism and corruption cases at the bureau, listened to the conversations for the first time.
He stopped and looked up. Who was dropping all those f-bombs? he asked.
That’s the governor, he was told.
Mueller shook his head.
“Only in Chicago.”
* And Sam Adam, Jr. is still whining about the tapes…
“The judge would not let him play his tapes… there had tapes in both trials that would have established his innocence. The judge wouldn’t let us play them,” he said.
* Other stuff…
* “Only in Chicago” - Book has new details on Blagojevich trial
* Blago’s Advice To Fellow Inmate’s Son: “Don’t Get Into Politics”: “Your dad is a good guy. He is manning up to the mistakes he’s made. He is well liked here and has many friends. Happy birthday, good luck in school and whatever you do — stay out of politics,” signed Rod Blagojevich.
posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Sep 14, 12 @ 11:16 am
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Natasha’s book is the first that I’ve read where I was so familiar with the subject matter from reading CapFax, other news stories and her blog. After all this time, it is still difficult for me to feel much sympathy for any of the governments star witnesses who decided to flip on their boss or any of the defendants (with the exception of Robert). My head is still spinning as I remember and recount some of Blago’s shennanigans.
I’m particularly struck by Blago’s quote above about the other guy “manning up” to the mistakes he’s made. The guy still can’t admit he actually did anything illegal.
Comment by tubbfan Friday, Sep 14, 12 @ 11:32 am
===“Your dad is a good guy. He is manning up to the mistakes he’s made. He is well liked here and has many friends. Happy birthday, good luck in school and whatever you do — stay out of politics,” signed Rod Blagojevich.===
Notes Rod did NOT send from Prison:
“Dear Manager Sveum, You have a good ball club, there is always next year, or … 10 years, 8 months till a halfway house, maybe. Signed Rod Blagojevich.”
“Dear Ms. Lewis, Don’t let Rahm get you down. He’s a ’softie’ if you just … nope, I tried, he ain’t a ’sofite’, just make your best deal and move on. Signed, Rod Blagojevich”
“Dear Kelsey Grammer, It’s easier to ‘play’ a Chicago ‘Boss’ than to BE a Chicago ‘Boss’. Look at me! Signed, Rod Blagojevich.”
“Dear Presley Estate, inc., Although you keep asking for royalties for every Elvis reference I made in the past, I am a bit tied up for a while. See me in about 11 years and we can ’square up’. Signed Rod Blagojevich.”
“Dear former Mayor Daley. Yep, you were right, the ‘Guys down the street’ should be feared. Signed Rod Blagojevich.”
“Dear Speaker Madigan, Your record is in tact, you are not on any of the tapes. Dumb as a Fox! Signed Rod Blagojevich.”
“Dear Rich Miller, What?! Did my subscription lapse? Can you defer the bill for a bit and start faxing to me in Colorado? Remember, no one does a bus tour like me! Signed Rod Blagojevich.”
“Dear Pat Quinn, Told you being LG would work out for you in the long run! Mayor Daley has good advice, so listen. Signed Rod Blagojevich.”
“Dear George Ryan, We should have both have put a ‘4th Envelope’ in the drawer that said, ‘Pat Fitzgerald is for REAL.’ Signed Rod Blagojevich.”
“Dear Donald Trump, And you thought I would never be service to the government again, didn’t you? Signed Rod Blagojevich.”
…
Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Sep 14, 12 @ 11:33 am
There’s a hilarious bit in the “Golden” review of Milan Petrovic slugging it out in traffic for four hours to retrieve Blago’s hairbrush.
It says Petrovic was irritated by the task. In asking, Blago obviously knew how important he was to Petrovic’s income. And by completing such a humiliating task, Petrovic obviously knew where his bread was buttered, too.
Comment by wordslinger Friday, Sep 14, 12 @ 11:40 am
If only there had been some warning signs on Blago…
If only someone, somewhere had said something…
Comment by Pinker Friday, Sep 14, 12 @ 11:49 am
If a trial is a search for truth, why wouldn’t the judge let the tapes be played?
Comment by Quiet Sage Friday, Sep 14, 12 @ 11:55 am
–If a trial is a search for truth, why wouldn’t the judge let the tapes be played?–
Because when the defense attempted to introduce them they were ruled irrelevant to the criminal charges and therefore not evidence.
Neither prosecutors nor defense attorneys are allowed to throw the spaghetti against the fridge to see what sticks. Exclusions happen all the time in every criminal trial everywhere. The rulings are subject to appeal.
“Search for Truth” sounds like a “Lord of the Rings” movie.
Comment by wordslinger Friday, Sep 14, 12 @ 12:06 pm
It’s a strange sort of gag order in place that lets people write books about the trial, but for some reason completely prevents the defense from actually telling us specifically HOW the tapes prove the ex-governor innocent. The head of the FBI can talk about his reaction to hearing the tapes, but we can’t get anyone to say tape #36 has a lawyer explaining that mail fraud does not apply to Illinois officials because the flag has fringe on it or something. At this point, the defense frankly does not want the “exonerating” information to be released or it would have been released.
Comment by windshouter Friday, Sep 14, 12 @ 12:15 pm
Does the Zorn opus mention when the Tribbies went to the USA to report the Blagoof shakedown/Tribbie bribe episode?
Comment by CircularFiringSquad Friday, Sep 14, 12 @ 12:59 pm
===“Search for Truth” sounds like a “Lord of the Rings” movie.===
Is the Hairbrush Rod’s “Precious”?
Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Sep 14, 12 @ 1:25 pm
Wordslinger–How can listening to the tapes, which were the very basis for conviction, not be appropriate? Let the jurors decide what is relevant in the tapes–all of them–not some lawyers and a judge trained in procedural gymnastics. Listening to all the tapes would not be “throwing the spaghetti against the fridge.” More like examining all the spaghetti when someone alleged it was undercooked. You can better decide the issue when you look at the totality of the picture.
Comment by Quiet Sage Friday, Sep 14, 12 @ 2:11 pm
===Let the jurors decide what is relevant in the tapes–all of them–not some lawyers and a judge trained in procedural gymnastics. ===
1) That’s not how the court system has ever operated in this country. Judges decide. End of story.
2) If the tapes were truly important, the lawyers would’ve talked about specifically what was on them by now.
Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Sep 14, 12 @ 2:15 pm
===Let the jurors decide what is relevant in the tapes–all of them–not some lawyers and a judge trained in procedural gymnastics. ===
Cdr. Galloway? Were you sick the day they tought law in law school?
It’s the way it is, if they were relelvent, they would have been heard. The appeal will probably bring that up. Until then, it is what it is… which is the way the law works.
Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Sep 14, 12 @ 2:47 pm
===What passed for intelligence from the otherwise unaccomplished student was merely “an uncanny knack for memorization,”===
That explains so much about this man.
Comment by Lincoln Parker Friday, Sep 14, 12 @ 3:31 pm