* 1:13 pm - The trial is set to reconvene at around 1:15 pm. They were late reconvening yesterday, but Chief Justice Fitzgerald promised a more prompt timeline today.

* 1:16 pm - They’re now reconvening.

* If you want to follow the governor’s new public relations team as it squires our fearless leader around New York, they have their own Twitter page.

As we left fox, staffers want photos with the governor.

Oy.

* 1:55 pm - Sun-Times…

Either Gov. Blagojevich is misstating the rules governing his Senate impeachment trial or doesn’t understand them and should come to Springfield to mount a serious defense, Senate President John Cullerton said today.

“I don’t know of any impeachment trial in history where the one who was accused didn’t show up to defend himself. I once again urge him to do so,” the Democrat from Chicago’s North Side told reporters after the Senate broke for lunch today. […]

“If the governor is saying that he can’t come here and testify, that’s not true. If he’s saying he can’t voluntarily bring witnesses, that’s not true. If he’s saying he can’t subpoena certain witnesses, that is true because of the request of the U.S. attorney,” Cullerton said. “But he could bring in other evidence if he wanted to, public records those witnesses have made in the past.

* 1:37 pm - The tape on the horseracing bill is coming up very soon.

* 1:42 pm - Here it comes. Transcripts are being passed out as tape is played.

*** TRANSCRIPTS AND RECORDINGS OF THOSE CONVERSATIONS ARE POSTED AT THIS LINK ***

* 1:51 pm - Transcript 4, which isn’t posted as I type this, appears to be the most important one.

* Transcript 4 is now online

* 1:52 pm - Recessed until 2:45 pm.

The idea behind all of this was to squeeze a large contribution out of a horseracing industry official in exchange for signing a bill that benefitted the industry.

From Tape 1…

Rob Blagojevich (governor’s brother and fundraising chairman): He’s gonna give you… ya know, he didn’t get it. But he said, ya know, I’m good for it. I gotta just decide what, what uh, accounts to get it out of. And Lon’s going to talk to you about some senitivities legislatively tonight when he sees you. With regard to the timing of this.

RRB: Right - before the end of the year though, right? (The end of the year is the end of the campaign finace period.)

* Tape 2 has a tapped phone conversation between Lon Monk and Johnnie Johnston, the racetrack official targeted for the strong arm. It’s dated December 3rd, more than three weeks after the above conversation where Rob Blagojevich told the governor that the contribution was imminent. Monk simply tells Johnston that he’s going to meet him at the track in 45 minutes.

* Tape 3 was recorded a couple of hours after the above phone conversation.

It’s between Lon Monk and Gov. Blagojevich. Monk tells Blagojevich that he talked to the track official about the “commitment.” Monk tells the governor that the official says he has to leave town for two weeks and knows he wants the contribution in hand at the end of those two weeks.

Monk claims he told the official that there’s “some skittishness” about the timeliness of the bill signing and the “commitment” (the contribution). Johnston, Monk says, asked if he wanted the “commitment” broken up so that some was given in the “next quarter.” Monk says he told Johnston no. “My point is that this has all gotta be in now.” Johnston, Monk claims to Blagojevich, hopes to have it next week.

Monk tells Blagojevich that the reason the meeting took so long was that “Billy” came in and started talking about various things “and I didn’t want to have that conversation in front of Billy,” Monk explains, basically admitting that this was not a conversation that could be shared with anyone else. “Good job,” the governor says.

* Tape 4 was recorded the following morning. This is also a conversation between Monk and Gov. Blagojevich. Monk suggests that the governor call Johnston himself. The governor says “Okay.”

“It’s better if you do it just from a pressure point of view,” Monk tells the governor.

“Yeah, good,” Blagojevich says, who then suggests that he’ll suggest holding an event downstate and start picking some dates for the bill signing, which he says the chances are good that it’ll happen the following week.

* Most of this stuff is already in the original complaint, but then there’s this strange exchange that has never before been released. Blagojevich talks about Johnston’s skittishness regarding the contribution…

BLAGOJEVICH: I feel like there’s somebody else who’s holding him (Johnston) back.

MONK: No.

BLAGOJEVICH: I believe it’s Chris. [Chris Kelly, perhaps?]

MONK: No, no.

BLAGOJEVICH: Well that took, you know a whole year. You know what I mean? Hey Lon…

MONK: No, I don’t think he’s been talking to Chris… I don’t think he’s been talking to Chris.

BLAGOJEVICH: Okay.

Strange, that.

* 2:39 pm - Sun-Times…

If the person being referred to on the tape is Kelly — who was mentioned repeatedly during last year’s corruption trial of Tony Rezko — it raises the possibility of dissension in the ranks of Blagojevich’s fund-raising operation. Blagojevich has maintained that Kelly is one of his closest friends.

It’s also possible that the governor thought that Kelly had gone to the other side (meaning the G).

* 2:56 pm - They’re back. Replaying the tapes.

* 3:03 pm - Lots of questions, the Chief Justice says, and reminds members that the witness is under restrictions about what sort of questions he can answer.

Sen. Demuzio: What info or persons led you to ask for a wiretap? Why were the taps ordered in October? Answer from US Attorney’s office: Legal restrictions prevent response, as well as the rules of engagement on what info the FBI agent can offer.

Sen. Watson: Are there any current investigations of Gov. Blagojevich? Answer: Can’t answer.

Looks like we’re going to see lots of these sorts of questions that are outside the scope of allowable testimony and the same response.

Sen. Gary Dahl: Are there members of this tribunal on the wiretaps? My favorite question so far. But there was no answer. lol

* 3:14 pm - Fox Chicago…

In New York, the Governor continued his media blitz and said those snippets of his voice were taken out of context.

* 3:17 pm - Now we’re getting into more political games. Knowing full well that the FBI wouldn’t answer the question, the Senate GOP asked if US Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid is on the tapes.

While this drones on as Senators ask questions that they should have known are outside the scope of the FBI agent’s authorized testimony, let’s check in with the Twitter page run by the governor’s public relations agency, shall we?

Gov to the people of Illinois: ‘I did not let you down’

Gov sees his own name on crawl over Today show set… Comments on it.

I gotta wonder if that fancy schmancy Twittering comes with the standard flak package or if it’s an add-on “premium service” type thingy.

* 3:50 pm - Another Twitter update…

Gov: ‘If they don’t change the rules I’m going to need to find another line of work’

* 3:58 pm - Rep. Chapin Rose, a member of the House impeachment committee, is now summarizing the part of the case dealing with Ali Ata and Joe Cari.

* 4:11 pm - Looks like DL Hughley is gonna give the guv a pass on his show…

Hughley just returned from a trip to Chicago. Hughley says he found many supporters in the city.

Hughley on the tapes: ‘None of them sounded criminal. They sounded political’

* 4:28 pm - Rep. Rose finishes testimony. Parties to caucus for half an hour.

* 5:01 pm - Sen. Cullerton says that the Senate Republicans want to wait until tomorrow to pose questions to Rep. Rose, but wants the proceedings to begin a half hour early.

Trial recessed until 9:30 am tomorrow.