*** UPDATE 1 *** If you’re not reading the Sun-Times’ Blago Blog, you’re just not informed…
Rod Blagojevich, Tony Rezko, Chris Kelly and Lon Monk used code names for themselves “when talking about the four of us making money,” Monk said — “1, 2, 3, 4.”
Monk said in 2007 or 2008, when he and Blagojevich were alone in Blago’s office, they discussed an FBI investigation.
Blagojevich told Monk not to ever talk about the “1, 2, 3, 4″ reference.
Monk on the stand silently mimicked Blagojevich’s actions, putting up his fingers one at a time, then running a single finger across his throat.
Blagojevich is clearly upset, unsettled in his chair. He leaned forward and stared right at Monk. But at Monk’s gesture, Blagojevich sat back hard in his chair and appeared to mutter something.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Barack Obama killed two birds with one stone, according to Lon Monk’s testimony today…
Monk told the court that Blagojevich told him he had made a deal with then-Illinois Senate President Emil Jones not to call a vote on a proposed ethics bill that would have limited campaign contributions to the governor. Monk said that Blagojevich felt the bill wasn’t fair, as it only targeted the state’s executive branch, and was also concerned that its specific restrictions would greatly hinder Blagojevich’s fundraising.
Jones had the power to stymie the ethics bill by not calling it for a vote. In exchange for Jones’ cooperation, Monk testified, Blagojevich told Monk that he had promised to appoint Jones to Barack Obama’s U.S. Senate seat if Obama won the presidency. Monk said he was “surprised.”
However, Monk said that John Harris, Blagojevich’s chief of staff, told him that Obama had called Jones and urged him to call the bill. Ultimately Jones did, and the state Senate voted to override Blagojevich’s amendatory veto. The bill passed and became law on January 1, 2009.
[ *** End of Updates *** ]
* Judge Zagel is running a tight ship…
Prosecutor Reid Schar started the morning by complaining that Blagojevich was gesturing inappropriately to people in the courtroom. Schar said jurors were distracted by his gesturing.
He said Blagojevich made it “audibly clear in his displeasure continuously looking over, gesturing to people in the pews.”
Schar said it was “not proper decorum. It’s clearly distracting.”
Blagojevich, sitting down, frowned.
Zagel told him to stop. “By and large it’s for their own benefit,” he said.
* The defendant’s wife will have to leave for a bit…
Patti #Blagojevich is told she has to leave court during some Monk testimony. that’s b/c Patti will testify for defense later.
* Mark Brown sees a gaping hole in Lon Monk’s testimony…
Reluctant or not, Monk is an essential part of the government’s case — a co-conspirator who puts Blagojevich in the room when the alleged insider schemes to make money off state government were first hatched.
But the nagging problem I see is that there were only four people total in that room.
One of them — Christopher Kelly — is dead, a suicide victim who had no interest in being the one to corroborate Monk’s story. Another, Tony Rezko, is not expected to be a prosecution witness because he has a credibility gap that probably makes anything he’d have to say useless, his penchant for deception a matter of detailed public record.
Without Rezko, that seems to make it Monk’s word against Blago’s because, again as far as I know, there’s no paper trail to help prove the governor was in on the plotting. […]
The various ideas were supposed to produce hundreds of thousands of dollars for the four men to divide equally, but Monk and Blagojevich wouldn’t get their share until after Blagojevich left office.
Monk says Blagojevich attended these meetings on how to use his position to make money, paid attention to the discussion, and that it was understood that he would have to “take certain actions as governor to help the plans.” But he says no specific actions were ever discussed.
It’s not that I have a hard time believing this really happened. It’s just that I have a hard time seeing how the government proves it. At best, maybe it makes some of the other crimes of which Blagojevich is accused easier to understand.
* And Ted Cox chronicles the scene outside…
It’s not a media circus surrounding the Blagojevich corruption trial so much as it’s a carnival midway with freaks, geeks and barkers all trying to attract attention.
Go read the whole thing.
* Roundup…
* Former Blagojevich Aide To Resume Testimony
* Monk has his say in court at Blago trial
* Lon Monk Testifies of Plans to Turn State Power to Cash
* Longtime friend outlines Blagojevich’s role in hatching allegedly illicit deals
* Blagojevich Aide Talks About Emanuel, Bear Stearns
* Blagojevich trial: Former top aide Monk takes stand
* Former Blago Aide: What We Did Was Wrong
* Blagojevich conspiracy began in 2003, Monk testifies
* Betrayed by a Friend
* Former Staff Member Bob Arya Talks About the Blagojevich Trial
* A tattoo tribute to Blagojevich
* Sneed: Rod’s biographer: Book ‘em
* The Governor and the Columnist
* Constable: Finally under the spotlight he craves, Blago tries to slip into shadows
* Every day, a sideshow before the Blagojevich trial starts
* Kass: Democrats not only party in trough with Blago
* Former Wheaton couple follows Blagojevich
