*** UPDATE 1 - 11:19 am*** The jury has another question. Guesses?

More…

Judge James Zagel has called in the attorneys from both sides for a hearing on the question. Robert Blagojevich’s attorney Michael Ettinger said neither of the defendants will come to the courthouse for this hearing.

“Not yet,” Ettinger said.

*** UPDATE 2 - 11:45 am*** From Susan Berger’s Twitter page…

Jury wants Bradley Tusk transcript in its entirety… [Blagojevich attorney Sheldon Sorosky] objects to request. Judge will give transcript to jury… Judge will inform jury that cerain portions will be blacked out - those reflect outside presence of jury… Judge calls request “less than earth-shattering”

Among other things, Tusk testified about a $2 million grant that then-Congressman Rahm Emanuel wanted for a local school, but that Blagojevich wanted to hold up until Emanuel’s brother hosted a fundraiser…

Asked by the prosecution about the $2 million grant for the Chicago Academy, Tusk delivered what amounts to the biggest smoking gun yet in witness testimony. He told the jury that in the late summer of 2006, after receiving pressure from Emanuel, Tusk spoke with Blagojevich on the phone to urge him to authorize the grant money for the school. He said he told Blagojevich that Emanuel was “very upset” that the money had yet to be disbursed. In response, Tusk testified, Blagojevich told him that before he would release the grant money, he wanted Emanuel’s brother Ari, a wealthy Hollywood agent, to host a fundraiser for him.

“I got off the phone as quickly as I could,” Tusk testified, saying that he felt the directive was both “illegal and unethical.” Ultimately, he said he never conveyed the message to Emanuel, but instead contacted Blagojevich ally John Wyma and the governor’s legal counsel and ethics chief, Bill Quinlan. He said he told Quinlan, “You need to get your client under control.”

*** UPDATE 3 - 1:18 pm*** From Chicago News Coop…

That the jury requested Tusk’s testimony after last week’s note could be a better sign for the prosecution than the defense. Tusk’s testimony about a state grant to the Chicago Academy corresponds to one of the predicate charges in the racketeering count against Blagojevich, as well as Count 14 of the attempted extortion charge against the former governor.

More links to coverage of Tusk’s testimony are here.

[ *** End Of Updates *** ]

* Somehow, I find this difficult to believe…

Republicans have tried to link Blagojevich to Democrats running for office this year, including Governor Pat Quinn and state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias (though both candidates stress they had little to no relationship with the ex-governor). Despite that message during the trial, [Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady] insists he doesn’t plan to make a big deal about the trial’s outcome.

BRADY: You know, we could make a lot of political hay out of it. I don’t think we will, because [I’ll] just [be] relieved it’s over.

Brady adds, though, that a hung jury or not-guilty verdicts would keep the story alive.

We’ll see. Just a few weeks ago Chairman Brady was using Blagojevich’s decision not to testify as ammo against Gov. Pat Quinn and Speaker Madigan…

“Our system of justice gives Rod Blagojevich the right to remain silent. But his refusal to answer questions under oath also reveals more of the duplicity by which he campaigned and tried to govern. We shouldn’t be surprised. Rod ran as a reformer, with the full support of Pat Quinn and Mike Madigan. But it was all a sham.

Etc., etc.

* Presented without evidence…

Here’s a message to every Illinois political insider who’s prepared to throw up if the Rod Blagojevich trial results in a hung jury: you may hate Blagojevich, but ordinary people don’t.

From a Rasmussen Reports poll conducted July 26, 2010…

* Do you have a very favorable, somewhat favorable, somewhat unfavorable, or very unfavorable impression of Rod Blagojevich?

3% Very favorable
6% Somewhat favorable
18% Somewhat unfavorable
70% Very unfavorable
2% Not sure

The vast majority of “ordinary people” hate the guy. Period. And that’s why I find it so hard to believe that the Illinois Republican Party won’t try to “make hay” out of the verdict, whatever it may be.

* Carol Marin looks at the stark differences between the late Dan Rostenkowski and the man who replaced him in Congress two years later…

As the now-legendary Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee from 1981 to 1994, Rostenkowski was immersed in the detail and discipline of legislation. He wasn’t a scholar, but he had a graduate degree in tax codes. Plus a respect for process and the political opposition. He and President Ronald Reagan presented a powerful picture of how bipartisanship can make something big happen.

I don’t mean to romanticize the man or his methods. He could be cutthroat about power and preferred closed-door deals to the sunshine promoted by goo-goos.

Then again, Rod Blagojevich just pretended to be a goo-goo as he stepped from Congress to the governor’s office. But behind his closed door sat sleazy wheeler-dealers like Chris Kelly and Tony Rezko hatching scams they and Blagojevich couldn’t manage to pull off for big payoffs they couldn’t make materialize. Did they not know that even corruption sometimes requires some skill?

In the meantime, Blagojevich managed to alienate almost the entire Democratic Party — of which he was allegedly a member — as well as Republicans across the aisle. The result across his six years in office was gridlock on budgets and the gaping maw of a growing deficit.

The Chairman could work the halls of Congress but the Governor couldn’t work with anyone.

One was gruff but effective. The other glib but almost goofy. Rod wanted you to like him but Rosty didn’t seem to give a damn.

Abdon Pallasch looks at another angle to this. Rostenkowski called Michael Patrick Flanagan after losing the general election in 1994, then met with him and gave him some advice. After Blagojevich won in 1996? Not a word was heard…

Contrast that with the guy who beat Flanagan after one term — Rod Blagojevich. Blagojevich never called after winning, Flanagan said.

Flanagan asked Rostenkowski if Blagojevich ever called him, either.

“Not only did he not call me, but I called him and offered to give him some advice — he didn’t have time,” Flanagan recalled Rostenkowski saying of Blagojevich. “He never asked my advice on anything, either. I don’t think he’s much of an advice-taker. That’s part of his problem.”

* Roundup…

* Brown: Hung Blagojevich jury a loss for feds — but not for long

* Blagojevich Jurors Return to Discuss Wire Fraud Charges

* Blago jury deliberations entering 13th day

* Blagojevich trial: Questions loom as jury takes long weekend

* Blago Sides Likely Second-Guessing Selves: Greenberg

* Southtown Star: Let’s hear it for the jurors in Blago trial

* Zorn: The nauseating prospect of Blagojapalooza

* Blago trial not a tech breakthrough

* Time for a bleepin’ Blagojevich trial quiz