* The US Attorney’s office filed a motion yesterday to force Rod Blagojevich’s former general counsel to testify at the upcoming trial. You can read the motion by clicking here. Bill Quinlan has refused to fully cooperate so far, citing concerns over attorney-client privilege…

Prosecutors said the discussions are relevant to the charges against Blagojevich and want the judge to decide if they are fair game for the trial. In a court filing Wednesday, the government cited a 2002 decision in which the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals found that the attorney-client privilege does not apply in conversations between a public official and a taxpayer-provided attorney, as Quinlan was at the time.

Prosecutors contend Blagojevich may already have waived the attorney-client privilege when he allowed the government’s trial team access to the undercover tapes last fall. Before that, a “filter team” in the U.S. attorney’s office had kept the recordings at arm’s length from the prosecution team that will put the former governor on trial beginning June 3.

A lawyer for Blagojevich, Sheldon Sorosky, maintained Wednesday that the former governor did not fully waive the privilege and said the defense will argue in court Friday that talks between Quinlan and Blagojevich should remain private.

Quinlan says he wants to cooperate, but can’t…

Quinlan’s attorney Jon King said the former counsel general is ready to cooperate with the government, but not until he gets a specific waiver of attorney-client privilege.

“Blagojevich’s counsel has told me repeatedly that there’s an applicable attorney-client issue here,” King said. He said Quinlan has no intention of hiding anything from the government but merely wants to make sure that he is in accord with fundamental legal ethics.

Quinlan was caught on federal wiretaps, including during a key conference call about the alleged selling of Barack Obama’s US Senate seat. A look back…

On Nov. 10, Blagojevich, his wife, Harris, the governor’s chief counsel William R. Quinlan and several Washington-based advisers conducted an extraordinary two-hour conference call.

Blagojevich conceded he probably wouldn’t get the HHS job or an ambassadorship because of so much negative publicity surrounding him.

Using several expletives, Blagojevich said he was reluctant to give Obama “his senator” without anything in return; he said he’d appoint a deputy governor before giving the job to Candidate 1. He also considered appointing himself to the job to avoid impeachment.

During the next 36 hours, the governor grew angry and suggested Obama’s camp was not interested in making a deal.

“They’re not willing to give me anything except appreciation. (Expletive) them,” Blagojevich told Harris in an intercepted call Nov. 11.

For years, Quinlan helped Blagojevich build a brick wall around his administration. They denied FOIA after FOIA under the slimmest of pretenses. Eventually, some of those denials were overturned, including a raft of requests for copies of federal subpoenas. There ain’t much sympathy for Quinlan around here.

* In somewhat related news, Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. said earlier this week he was “concerned” about what he wasn’t hearing from Gov. Pat Quinn and Democratic nominee for Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle…

“I don’t see them speaking to the needs of taxpayers and fairness for taxpayers at all.”

The congressman made his criticisms during his endorsement of Forrest Claypool’s independent bid for assessor. Yesterday, he walked the comments back…

In a statement emailed from his government office, the congressman writes that he recognizes his “comments may have come across as being critical of the platform and message” of the Quinn and Preckwinkle campaigns. “Simply put,” Jackson writes. “I misspoke.”

The statement says both Democrats “have laid out visions and platforms that will restore the tax-payer’s trust in government, will root out corruption, and get our county and state governments working once again.” Jackson adds that he’s “stood alongside” Quinn and Preckwinkle his “entire career.”

Forget about the walk-back for a moment. Take notice, instead, that Jackson is once again using his federal government e-mail service to send out a campaign statement. You’d think he’d have learned a lesson by now, but nope.