* The prosecutors have identified a motive for Rod Blagojevich’s frantic efforts to sell the US Senate seat. He was deeply in hock…
[Assistant U.S. Attorney Carrie Hamilton] said Blagojevich’s $170,000 per year salary was not enough to cover the debt Blagojevich and his wife were incurring.
Hamilton said the money from Rezko took care of some of it, but Blagojevich and his wife were approximately $200,000 in debt in fall 2008.
The prosecution said naming Obama’s Senate seat replacement was the key to solving Blagojevich’s financial troubles and what his next career move would be.
More…
[Hamilton] showed jurors a chart of the family’s debts in the fall of 2008 - $200,000 in “consumer debt and lines of credit against their home,” she said.
Rod Blagojevich didn’t know how to fix his money troubles, Hamilton said. He didn’t even know if he was going to run for governor again.
“He had no career plans for what he was going to do and no plans of what he was going to do with this financial situation,” she told the jury.
“For Governor Blagojevich, his golden ticket arrived on Nov. 4, 2008,” she said. That’s the day Barack Obama was elected president, giving Blagojevich sole rights to replace him in the Senate.
* Some other reports from the Sun-Times…
Rod Blagojevich furiously took notes as Hamilton spoke, but at times stopped dead and stared as she leveled accusation after accusation of the various shakedowns.
Hamilton spoke emphatically, sometimes pushing her fingers together, sometimes pointing in the air as she explained the case.
AUSA Hamilton opened her comments with the worst thing Blagojevich is accused of doing…
“On the North Side of Chicago is a hospital named Children’s Memorial Hospital.” […]
“In 2008, Children’s Memorial was trying to get a grant to treat sick kids,” she continued in a slow, clear voice. But before Blagojevich would allow that grant, she said, he demanded something in return.”
“But there was a catch,” Hamilton said. “Now that he had decided to help the hospital, he wanted to make sure the hospital was going to help him.”
“Blagojevich decided if the hospital president wasn’t going to help him, he wasn’t going to help the hospital.”
“This was just one in series of illegal shakedowns that started shortly after Gov. Rod Blagojevich became governor of Illinois in 2000 and continued until he was arrested in 2008.”
More…
“You’re going to hear about a shakedown that happened just before the election, this time involving a school,” she told the jury.
In a clear and almost cheerful voice, she is describing the accusations that Blagojevich held up a grant for the school in then-Congressman Rahm Emanuel’s in an attempt to get the congressman’s brother to hold a fundraiser for him.
“Rather than paying out the money as it should have been, defendant Blagojevich demanded that the money be paid out slowly, over time,” she said.
“One of the things you’re going to learn in this trial is that money is power,” she said.
More…
“It wasn’t that (Blagojevich) would go out and do it himself,” she says, “Instead the demand was made by a middleman for his benefit. The middlemen that were used were Lon Monk, Chris Harris and Tony Rezko.”
She is referring to that foursome as the “inner circle.”
She is also introducing the jury to the Friends of Blagojevich campaign fund.
“Part of the plan was to try to build up that campaign fund,” she said. “They knew the more money in that campaign fund, the more money Blagojevich could yield and the more they could personally benefit from decisions he was making.”
More…
In her overview of the charges against ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich, she is using a phrase consistently throughout — “What about me?”
In each of the alleged shakedowns, she says, Blagojevich was thinking about himself.
“In those instances when he was supposed to be asking, ‘What about the people of Illinois?’ he was asking ‘What about me?’” Hamilton said early in her statement.
…Adding… The best way to follow along with the action live is to monitor Natasha Korecki’s and Susan Berger’s Twitter pages. Also #Blagojevich tag on Twitter, but that’s pretty clogged with reTweets of Natasha’s stuff.
*** UPDATE 1 *** From Chasse Rehwinkel’s Twitter page, we have the beginning of Sam Adam Jr’s statement…
‘rod was broke!’ ‘he didnt take a dime’ […]
Adams tells the jury to ‘follow the money’ because blago didnt recieve a dime. […]
Rezko the ‘bernie madoff of chicago’
Adam paints blago as just another victim of rezko trying to scam people in order to save his failing papa johns returants
Adam states ‘this trial is rod’s fault’ because ‘he trusted the wrong person’
And this…
Lon monk becomes blago’s chief of staff, according to adam, because blago didnt know anyone in politics and he trusted monk
Yeah, right.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Sun-Times…
“He’s broke! He’s broke!” Adam yelled. “And do you know why he’s broke, ladies and gentlemen? It’s not hard. He didn’t take a dime!”
Adam is animated, to say the least. He is whispering and yelling, putting his hands over his stomach, putting them into and out his pockets, pointing at the jurors, Rod, the prosecutors. He’s covering much ground, walking up to the witness stand, back to the defense table.
“This is the federal government,” he said. “The same people chasing Bin Laden are chasing him!”
Rod is not writing anymore. He is sitting with his hands folded.
*** UPDATE 3 *** Adam is reined in…
Hamilton objects to adam’s statements twice. Both objections sustained.
*** UPDATE 4 *** Sun-Times…
Sam Adam Jr. is painting a lot of people as villains in the Blagojevich saga — Tony Rezko, Alonzo “Lon” Monk and now Stuart Levine.
But in the process, he’s managed to work in references to peacocks and a “specialized gynecologist.”
Perhaps that’s the “26th and Cal” style he’s so known for.
Now Adam is saying that Rod Blagojevich turned federal investigators on`to Rezko, leading to the former fundraiser’s conviction on corruption charges.
Blago would never do such a thing if he were in cahoots with the man, Adam said.
Adam is now finished. The trial resumes tomorrow morning at 9:30.
*** UPDATE 5 *** Another judicial rebuke…
Zagel tells Adam if he yells at a witness like he did in his opening there will be consequences
*** UPDATE 6 *** Sam Adam Jr., Unplugged…
On Blagojevich’s first gubernatorial victory:
“In a state that is basically Irish, a Serbian won.”
On Blagojevich taking the stand:
“He’s not going to let some chubby four-eyed lawyer talk for him.”
On Blagojevich’s psychology:
“He is probably one of the most insecure men you are going to see.”
On the U.S. Attorney’s office case against Blagojevich:
“The same people chasing Bin Laden are chasing him.”
* Resources for following the trial are now in a pull-down menu on the right side of the page, so today will be the last day I post them here…
Capitol Fax coverage
Who’s Who
Google News
#Blagojevich on Twitter
Sun-Times live-blog
Sun-Times Tweets
Chasse Rehwinkel Tweets
Susan Berger Tweets
Tribune live-blog
CNC live-blog
AP Tweets
Rod Blagojevich’s Tweets
Patti Blagojevich’s Tweets
RodBlagojevich.com
- 47th Ward - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 3:09 pm:
From the Fox News story (first link above):
===When the time to pay a grant to a school in Emanuel’s district, Blagojevich had his lieutenant governor tell Emanuel that his Hollywood brother, Ari, should hold a fundraiser for Blagojevich.===
For Quinn’s sake, I hope that’s a typo.
- And I Approved This Message - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 3:10 pm:
I think the middlemen were Lon Monk, Chris KELLY and Tony Rezko. Unless the Bear’s recently resigned safety was moonlighting in Rod’s inner circle.
- Six Degrees of Separation - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 3:11 pm:
Wow. Attorney Hamilton paints a pretty detailed picture, draws out a motive, and ties a lot of details together. Let’s see how Blago and his representatives spin this one, if the rest of USA’s case is this compelling. Suddenly, the cheerful, defiant, “working for the people” ex-gov has lost some of his WLS sheen.
- PeoriaBob - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 3:12 pm:
Great move to chart the Blago family financial situation, to give a reasonable motive for his $ desperation.
- 47th Ward - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 3:13 pm:
I was thinking the reference was to John Harris…
- Six Degrees of Separation - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 3:17 pm:
47th, I hope so, too. Quinn needs to stay 2 counties away from any of the action at this trial, or he is dead meat lite.
- Ghost - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 3:21 pm:
The Defense opening will be interesting, including thenumber of objections it draws….
it would be nice to get some tweets about blagos facial expressions and where the jury is looking, expressions etc.
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 3:26 pm:
Where was the money going? They made good cash. The perks of office were excellent.
With their income, how do you run up 200K in consumer debt and home equity lines? I know a few ways you can do it, and they’re all illegal.
- siriusly - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 3:27 pm:
This is the day we have been waiting for. Time for the prosecution to talk. Enough talking for you Rod. Today they begin to display the facts for all the world. The truth shall set US free (not you Rod).
The man was begging to be caught. His shakedowns were so amateurish and desperate, especially the Rahm one. Pathetic.
- Secret Square - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 3:28 pm:
47th, I think I’ve seen that typo before, it probably should have said “deputy governor” (which, I believe, is a title Harris had).
- Responsa - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 3:30 pm:
Does anyone know if there are any cameras at all in the courtroom that could provide footage for a documentary, etc. at a later date even though obviously no transmission can be done during the course of the trial?
- 47th Ward - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 3:34 pm:
Thanks Secret. It’s got to be tough transcribing everything on those tiny keyboards. I assumed it was “deputy” and not “Lt.” gov.
- GetOverIt - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 3:35 pm:
$200k in home equity lines is common. Many use equity to refinance old debt, e.g. car purchases, etc. - and it’s perfectly legal. Stay tuned…
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 3:39 pm:
===$200k in home equity lines is common===
Not when you make $170K a year and have a 700K+ mortgage.
- George - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 3:39 pm:
I am a little confused - Are we sure the $200k doesn’t include the balance on their mortgage?
Also - he had a condo in DC that was worth more than that. So he could have sold that…
That “motive” part is just seeming like a stretch.
I mean - the man wanted fame and power. I don’t know if you need to say he was “deeply in debt” and desperate to find a motive…
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 3:39 pm:
It was 200K in consumer debt and home equity lines, not just home equity. So, obviously, they weren’t using the equity to pay off consumer debt.
- George - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 3:41 pm:
Also, Rich, this guy is doing a heck of a job:
http://twitter.com/chasserehwinkel
- anon - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 3:42 pm:
The Sun Times blog coverage is incredible. The Trib is horrible — they havent even updated it to reflect that Ettinger gave opening remarks for Robert and that Adam Jr. has started for Rod.
- GetOverIt - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 3:42 pm:
==Not when you make $170K a year and have a 700K+ mortgage.==
It’s called leverge. How else can you explain the $700k mortgage. Blago is the poster child for the financial meltdown in the country. He and Alexi are best friends…to much leverage.
- Six Degrees of Separation - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 3:43 pm:
“The same people chasing Bin Laden are chasing him!” - Sam Adam Jr., referring to the feds.
Perhaps with a different result - SDoS
- GetOverIt - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 3:45 pm:
A mortgage and the value of a home are seperate, and these day, distinct. In the early part of the decade I’m sure Blago’s home was appraised for much more than he paid for it. Then again, while he was governor I’m sure he thought the State was making billions…
- GetOverIt - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 3:46 pm:
Disregard anything I say…grammar grade for today F-.
- anon - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 3:46 pm:
Hey Get Over It, this is a thread about Rod. Keep your BS about Rod and Alexi being best friends to yourself. Rod and Alexi never got along. Rod had no respect for Alexi, and Alexi pounced on that as an opportunity to take shots at Rod at every opportunity. I’m glad that Rod wasnt nice to Alexi. If he were, Alexi might have to defend the friendship. Fortunately, it NEVER happened!
- George - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 3:47 pm:
The same people chasing Bin Laden are chasing him!” - Sam Adam Jr., referring to the feds.
Am I the only one who thinks that was probably not the best way to put it?
More like - instead of chasing bin laden, they are chasing him?
- GetOverIt - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 3:51 pm:
==Hey Get Over It, this is a thread about Rod. Keep your BS about Rod and Alexi being best friends to yourself. ==
To clarify, I was just making a point. Interesting how both of them don’t know much about managing finances. I did not literally mean they were friends…
- Ghost - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 3:57 pm:
=== rod was broke!’ ‘he didnt take a dime’ ===
Monk: the plan was for Rod to get his share when he left office
these things are not inconsitent. Then add that everyone got busted before Rod leaves office and can collect his share, and you get a guy desperate to cash in on his golden nugget.
- 47th Ward - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 4:00 pm:
===Lon monk becomes blago’s chief of staff, according to adam, because blago didnt know anyone in politics and he trusted monk===
He didn’t know his own father-in-law?
- Phineas J. Whoopee - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 4:01 pm:
I’m thinking comparing your client to Osama Bin Laden may not be the best tactic. Maybe Rod should make the opening. Atleast he dials up Ghandi and Mandela.
- Phineas J. Whoopee - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 4:03 pm:
47th, he has the whole Coalition for Better Governemnt to choose from but apparently those guys were too honest.
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 4:04 pm:
Channel 7 reports that Adam told the jury Blago will take the stand in his defense.
- 47th Ward - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 4:06 pm:
I saw that earlier Word, but Adam also told the jury Rod didn’t know anyone in politics. So who knows. I’m still betting against Rod taking the stand.
- Ghost - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 4:08 pm:
=== * Resources for following the trial are now in a pull-down menu on the right side of the page, so today will be the last day I post them here…==== and the link to the capital fax coverage brings you here to this post indicating no more coverage here…but go to the link for coverage which brings you back here….
catch 22?
- Chicago Cynic - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 4:09 pm:
So let me get this straight, their basic defense is, “my client is an idiot?”
- Phineas J. Whoopee - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 4:15 pm:
BTW, I’m not sure why the government has to try to establish a motive like Rod was broke and that is why he needed to shake people down. Blago was able to raise millions and millions and millions. $200,000 g is a drop in the bucket to Blago enterprises. They should have left it to the fact that he is a greedy crook and be done with it.
- Michelle Flaherty - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 4:17 pm:
Wasn’t the “If he was crooked, how could he be broke” defense, what George Ryan used?
- Downstater - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 4:17 pm:
I seem to recall that George Ryan’s legal team attempted to use the Ryans’ limited means as proof that George gained nothing from his activities.
So Adams’ defense is not unique. But juries can find a criminal guilty, even if he’s stupid.
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 4:22 pm:
Prisons are filled with stupid people. It’s practically a prerequisite.
- George - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 4:22 pm:
This was funny …. made my heart almost skip a beat with excitement, then laughter.
- Ghost - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 4:23 pm:
Phineas a trial is a story, and motive is the plot upon which the tale is told.
without it the evidence can appear disjointed and unimportant.
In short, people want there why to understand the what.
- 47th Ward - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 4:24 pm:
Quinlan goes under the bus…but I’m guessing the objections to mentioning Quinlan stem from the liklihood that he won’t be testifying at all. You can’t raise anything in the opening statement that won’t be introduced as evidence later, so you can’t mention someone who won’t be called to testify.
- Secret Square - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 4:24 pm:
“I’m not sure why the government has to try to establish a motive like Rod was broke and that is why he needed to shake people down”
It would explain his urgent desire to get himself and/or Patti a job that paid more than being governor (e.g. a Cabinet appointment), which factors into the charge that he attempted to sell the Senate seat. It might not be as relevant to the other charges, though.
- One of the 35 - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 4:24 pm:
Just as with George Ryan, the “I did not personally profit from my illegal activities” defense, will not fly.
- Aldyth - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 4:30 pm:
The same guys who are after Bin Laden? I don’t recall hearing about Predator drones flying over Chicago.
- Ghost - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 4:33 pm:
Rehwinkle = ‘rod and patty paid taxes on every dime’ and ‘hide nothing’
A jibe at Brady and Plummer
- Sacks Romana - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 4:37 pm:
Korecki’s descriptions are fantastic. Just reading them (and the quotes) it’s very easy to get an idea of the demeanor and tone. I think the jury is going to get very tired of the defenses theatrics. Blago and Adams are no Clay Davis.
Is there overlap between “The Wire” fans and The Capitol Fax? The trial of Clay Davis runs through my head basically everytime I read something about Blago. “The Wire” should really be mandatory viewing for everyone on the blog, if only to get to Season Five’s trial scenes with Davis.
- 47th Ward - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 4:41 pm:
I wish I was in the courtroom so I could see how long Adam’s nose has grown. He’s laying the fertilizer on pretty thick so far.
I guess it’s the George Costanza rule: it’s not really a lie if you believe it.
- And I Approved This Message - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 5:06 pm:
No offense to Natasha but most of the posts on the S-T blog today have been by Sarah Ostman. Just want to give her her due.
- El Conquistador - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 5:23 pm:
==“This is the federal government,” he said. “The same people chasing Bin Laden are chasing him!”==
Are we venturing close to the Chewbacca defense here?
- Downstater - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 5:46 pm:
BOTH SIDES NOW AGREE!
Blago was as good with his own finances as he was with the state’s!
- Anonymous - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 5:52 pm:
El Conquistador: What do you mean “close?”
- Quizzical - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 6:07 pm:
Sacks Romana:
There is a lot of overlap among CF and Wire fans. I thought of the Clay Davis trial when Rod was first arrested and gave his press conferences. Remember that the feds passed on Davis’s case, so I hope the tighter rules in Fed. verses State Court will be a difference.
- Gregor - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 6:15 pm:
That is one unfortunate choice of courtroom sketch artist. (grins from ear to ear).
- Area 2 - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 6:19 pm:
NuclearChicago.com will be publishing interesting perspectives related to Blagoyevich and Burge Federal trials.
- hisgirlfriday - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 6:20 pm:
Wow. That opening from Adams sounds AWFUL. So disrespectful and theatrical… is that really going to go over well with the jurors who so many of them seem to be serious people who know a thing or two about how govt. works? I mean two of them are ex-state employees for Pete’s sake, and so many others have govt. ties either as themselves or close family members being veterans or teachers or police.
The write-up for RoB Blagojevich’s defense opening statement sounded really good in print at least, but I guess his attorney probably has more to work with.
- Chicago Cynic - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 6:30 pm:
To sum up:
Prosecution: Only thing Rod cared about was Rod.
Rob B Defense: Don’t blame me for my scumbag brother.
Rod Defense: Rod is a dopey dupe too dumb to know that all his friends were scumbags.
Did I miss anything?
- Macbeth - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 6:57 pm:
I served on a jury several years ago, and the defense lawyer did a similar kind of loud-talking, thumbs-in-pockets, golly-gee-whiz type of argument. It was — to the say least — off-putting. It made me feel like an idiot — like this weirdo lawyer was talking down to me — and when we all got back to the jury room to deliberate, we all agreed.
It was the weirdest thing, too — because some of us said that if the lawyer hadn’t been so over the top and histrionic, the defense might have been a bit more compelling.
But it took us an hour or so to unanimously vote guilty. There were other issues, too, of course — photographs, timelines, witnesses — but we seemed to talk most about (a) how weird it was to be in a place like this and (b) how much weirder it was to have a buffoon screaming at us like something out of a movie.
Juries aren’t dumb. They don’t like this stuff.
- And I Approved This Message - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 7:08 pm:
CC I think you’ve got it, at least in part. When faced with a client who has no chance of getting off on the the facts, decided, with questionable PR help, to create a persona that would lead people to believe he’s a head case.
Goofy, Elvis loving, jogging, kid friendly, Senior protecting, “I did it for people” head case. As people have said “Throw the spaghetti up and see what sticks with that one juror.
The recaps of both sides opening arguments look like Advantage Prosecution but there are month to go.
As Abraham Lincoln (or Mark Twain, depending on who you believe) said “It is better to remain silent and thought a fool,than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt.
- Gregor - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 7:23 pm:
No doubt at all.
- Northside Bunker - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 7:37 pm:
When Rod goes down Patti will soon follow.
Where’s papa Mel? Thought this was family that supported each other.
- Hawkeye - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 7:45 pm:
The most shocking thing about this whole thread is finding out that you-know-who has a Twitter. This guy can’t type his own last name. So who do you think is “Tweeting” on his behalf??
- 47th Ward - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 7:56 pm:
===who do you think is “Tweeting” on his behalf??===
An intern in Glenn Selig’s office?
- anon - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 8:54 pm:
Dear posters, your pure hatred of blago causes you to ignore some realities. I would like to remind you that Sam Adam Jr. Wins cases. Now tell me that this is different because its a federal courtroom…I’m waiting. Also, I love that so many of you want to tell this successful lawyer what juries do and don’t like.
Please give me a break.
- paddyrollingstone - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 9:07 pm:
Anon 854, you’re right of course, it ain’t over till its over, but one question - what is the last federal cast that Sam Adam, jr. won? How about Shelly Sorofsky? How about Sam Adam, Sr.? How about Mike Ettinger? These are fine lawyers, no doubt, but the fact that they have never won a criminal case in federal court should tell you something.
- Been There - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 10:55 pm:
===Juries aren’t dumb. They don’t like this stuff===
Only if the defendant has nothing else to offer. Otherwise go for it.
- Chicago Cynic - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 10:59 pm:
anon854, or should we say Sam Adams’ intern, don’t suppose you’d care to make a VERY large wager on that one do you? Heck, I’ll even give you odds.
Rod is going down. This strategy is desperate in the extreme and these goofs will be shown to be precisely that, thereby preserving their perfect Federal record. There is a difference. This is pathetic.
- Anon - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 11:02 pm:
854 - where was the Arenda Troutman victory party? I recall his vociferous defense of her seemed a lot like a campaign rally
- Quizzical - Tuesday, Jun 8, 10 @ 11:56 pm:
Some lawyers perform for their clients. I have no doubt that this is what Rod wants Adam to do, whether it’s right for him or not — and I suspect, hope and pray it’s not. The jury will be treated to as much schtick as Zagel will allow.
The jury will appreciate the pure entertainment value. But the facts should prevail; most significantly, Blago’s own idiotic taped words and, two former chiefs of staff will beginning their testimony by admitting that they have already pled guilty to felonies committed in conspiracy with their former boss.
- Dawg Fan - Wednesday, Jun 9, 10 @ 12:03 am:
Actually, I wouldn’t mind seeing Patti B. go down. Just sayin’
- siriusly - Wednesday, Jun 9, 10 @ 2:40 am:
200g just in credit card debt or was that mortgage too . . .just sayin’
Perhaps if finances were so tight, they should have sold that mini-mansion and moved into real Governor’s mansion - for free!
- Windy City Mama - Wednesday, Jun 9, 10 @ 8:21 am:
I love their defense. Don’t blame me I’m an idiot. Rod is sitting there shaking his head yes I am an idiot.
- Jim - Wednesday, Jun 9, 10 @ 9:18 am:
The problem the prosecution will have is that they didn’t let the Senate seat, hospital, or paving on the tollway bribes happen. THen they would’ve had the money transfer that may be needed. I think they should’ve gave Blago more rope but I guess they were afraid of the consequences if the Senate seat was sold.