*** UPDATE *** Judge Zagel said he is “unpersuaded” on three defense attempts to drop charges…
On Thursday morning, the defense took issue with three specific charges: The government’s allegation that Blagojevich conspired to land a job at the non-profit organization, Change to Win, in exchange for the U.S. Senate seat; the charge the ex-governor made false statements to the FBI; and the charge that Patti Blagojevich was paid real estate fees by Tony Rezko for doing no work.
Per the false statements charge, the defense argued that Blagojevich telling an FBI agent that he maintained a “firewall” between government and politics was “ambiguous.”
“I don’t think there is anything particularly ambiguous about ‘firewall,’” Zagel said. “In fact, I think there is nothing ambiguous about ‘firewall.’”
On Patti Blagojevich’s fees, Zagel said: “There is circumstantial evidence that the fees were disproportionate to any work that was done, and I am not sure there is any evidence of any work that is done.”
Zagel summarily dismissed the defense’s argument on the Change to Win allegation, simply saying he was “unpersuaded.”
Zagel also said today that closing arguments could finish Monday and the jury may get the case on Tuesday, .
[ *** End of Update *** ]
* I always pay close attention whenever Michael Sneed writes about the feds. She has the best sources in the businesses over there…
Is former first lady Patti Blagojevich still in the line of fire? Is there fear her real estate dealings with Tony Rezko fall within the realm of indictability?
Stay tuned.
Judge Zagel sure appears to think that Mrs. Blagojevich’s actions could be construed as crimes. From late yesterday afternoon…
Prosecutors showed that Patti banked $12,000 a month from the Rezmar development company, and also accepted tens of thousands in other checks and home improvements.
The defense is now trying to get the Patti accusations knocked from the indictment, saying there was plenty of evidence that she did legitimate work for Tony Rezko and earned those commissions.
“The government has not come close to proving that those real estate fees were anything close to a bribe,” defense attorney Shelly Sorosky said.
Judge Zagel cut in and offered a historical comparison.
“Do you by any chance know who the Everleigh sisters were?” They were madames in a high-class Chicago brothel around the turn of the 20th century.
The Everleigh sisters gave cash to various police officials in order to protect themselves and their business, Zagel explains.
“I think that that would constitute bribery, even though you might not be able to point to a single specific action or inaction taken by those police officers,” Zagel explains. “It might be bribery over a dozen years. Here, hypothetically, six years. … It’s still a bribe, even though it’s very difficult to point to what the quo was for the quid.”
“I think you’re construing it too narrowly,” the judge tells the defense.
* Meanwhile, Mark Brown credibly writes that yesterday’s guilty verdict in the retrial of former Streets and Sanitation Commissioner Al Sanchez is ominous for Rod Blagojevich…
Sure, the Blagojevich allegations are completely different, and the Blago media coverage was at a whole other level of intensity, but what Sanchez learned the hard way is that the public doesn’t like politics as it is practiced in Illinois.
And when 12 members of that public finds their way onto a jury for a government corruption case in the Northern District of Illinois, they tend to let the defendant know it.
The Sanchez jurors didn’t like it when they learned how he had used City Hall’s sham hiring system to bypass cloutless applicants in favor of his foot soldiers in the Hispanic Democratic Organization.
And the jury in Blagojevich’s trial most certainly did not like what they heard of our former governor’s conniving on secret government wiretaps.
Even more basically, it’s hard to believe that any of those jurors didn’t develop a strong personal dislike for Blagojevich after listening to his uncensored scheming.
Agreed.
* The Tribune quotes sources who say Blagojevich stumbled badly in practice cross examination sessions…
The ex-governor’s practice runs — with prominent criminal-defense lawyers acting as cross-examiners — were troubling, sources with knowledge of the sessions told the Tribune.
The sources said the former governor had difficulty wrapping words around the concepts he wanted to use to defend himself.
Fine lines from Kadner…
In the end, he couldn’t work up the courage to be a character witness on his behalf.
And the truth is that no one would have believed him anyway.
* The Tribune also previewed how the feds plan to wrap things up…
Blagojevich allegedly schemed to get campaign contributions in exchange for actions such as boosting the state reimbursement rate for Children’s Memorial Hospital and signing a bill to aid Illinois horseracing tracks. The phone calls played in court back that up, [Assistant U.S. Attorney Reid Schar] said, perhaps giving a bit of a preview of the government’s closing argument on Monday.
In scenarios such as the attempted swapping of the Senate seat for an Obama Cabinet post or a high-paying job as leader of an issue-advocacy organization, Blagojevich was a central player, Schar said.
“He actually made the extortionate phone calls and requests himself,” Schar told Zagel. “This wasn’t just talk. It was implementation of his plan.”
Perhaps stealing a page from the defense team’s upcoming closing argument, Zagel described the former governor as “desperate” and “out of touch with reality” in the months leading up to his arrest.
More…
Prosecutors told the judge that the government’s evidence was strong enough to let a jury decide the brothers’ guilt. In addition to wiretaps, prosecutors also had testimony from the people who participated in the schemes with them, Assistant U.S. Attorney Reid Schar said.
“Where there were conspiracies we have conspirators,” Schar said.
Prosecutors also argued that the secretly recorded phone calls in the case proved Blagojevich engaged in illegal pay-to-play politics. The judge, however, acknowledged that few of Blagojevich’s plans and directives were carried out.
“There was an extraordinarily large amount of talk in this case,” Zagel said. “But not a lot actually got done.”
The judge, however, said a conspiracy is a crime that can be accomplished only with a significant amount of communication.
“A conspiracy is a crime of words,” said Zagel, noting it doesn’t need to be carried out in order to be illegal. “You can have a conspiracy entered into with fools and bumblers and it’s still a conspiracy.”
More…
“It’d be one thing if people were sitting around talking about things and it never got past the talking stage,” Schar says. “(Rod Blagojevich) had Mr. Greenlee researching ambassadorships … He had Mr. Greenlee researching foundations … He’s the one who had the meeting with Mr. Balonoff on Nov. 6.”
“This wasn’t just talk, that was implementation of his plans,” Schar says.
* Roundup…
* Rod Blagojevich on why he did not testify. Video
* After Talk of Testifying, Blagojevich Bypasses It
* Brother: ‘Relief’ that testimony is over
* Constable: The part of the wild and wacky Blago will be played by silence
* Windbag’ Blago likely smart not to talk
* Southtown Star: Blagojevich rests - for now
* QC Times: Bye-bye, Blago: Ex-gov remains speechless at trial’s close
* SJ-R: Another broken promise from Blagojevich
* Not testifying common for Ill. politicians
* Blagojevich: Government ‘proved my innocence’
* Ex- gov. Blagojevich: ‘I talk too much’
* Blago’s surprise move not to testify carries risks
* Blagojevich punts defense, attorneys claim acquittal to come
* Rod Blagojevich: “Maybe the biggest lesson I’ve learned is that I talk too much”
* Judge: Wiretaps reveal talk, but not much ‘got done’
* Brown: Message for Rod Blagojevich: Sanchez verdict shows how jury sees corruption
* Blagojevich trial: Defense lawyers argue to have conspiracy charges tossed
* Wall Street Journal reporter handcuffed at federal court
* WSJ reporter arrested in court after Blago trial
* Wall Street Journal to Fight Charges Against Arrested Reporter
