CHICAGO — A lawyer for former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich clashed with the judge in the former Illinois governor’s corruption trial over what he could say in his closing arguments, pledging Monday that he was ready to go to jail for contempt.
Judge James B. Zagel sent the jury home for the day after Blagojevich’s attorney Sam Adam Jr. complained the judge was gutting his closing arguments by not allowing the defense to mention witnesses prosecutors did not call.
Prosecutors had mentioned some of those witnesses, including convicted fundraiser Antoin “Tony” Rezko, in their closing argument, and Adam argued the defense should be able to do the same even though the judge previously warned him not to do so.
Adam also said he would be willing to go to jail for contempt if the judge didn’t change his mind.
Zagel said he was giving Adam the night to rework his closing arguments, given his “profound misunderstanding of legal rules.” He said another defense attorney could be designated to give the closing today if Adam couldn’t follow the rules.
Blagojevich and his brother, Robert Blagojevich, have pleaded innocent in an alleged scheme to sell the Senate seat Barack Obama gave up when he was elected president, and plotting to illegally pressure people for campaign contributions.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Niewoehner wrapped up the prosecution’s closing arguments in the trial Monday after focusing on shooting down the defense, saying Blagojevich didn’t need to make money or get a highprofile job for his allegedschemes to be illegal.
Niewoehner told jurors that they shouldn’t be concerned whether Rod Blagojevich actually managed to trade the appointment to Obama’s old Senate seat for an ambassadorship or a Cabinet post or any money - only that he made the effort.
“You don’t have to be a successful criminal to be a criminal,” he said.
Nor, he said, should jurors be concerned that they did not hear Blagojevich outright tell those he is accused of shaking down for money what he was doing.
For example, of allegations that Blagojevich was trying to elicit campaign donations from businessman Raghuveer Nayak in exchange for appointing Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. to the Senate seat, he saidif the governor never specifically said the appointment was tied to the contributions, he didn’t need to.
“You do not have to say to Raghu Nayak, I will give you the U.S. Senate seat if you give me a million dollars.’ It’s the message that’s important, not the specific words,” Niewoehner said.
He said that message got through to Nayak, as it did tothe Children’s Hospital executive that if he didn’t come up with a $25,000 campaign contribution, it would cost the hospital millions in state funding.
“When you agree with someone else to commit a crime, you committed one,” said Niewoehner, in a direct attack on the defense argument that all the governor did was talk. “Talking is the crime.”
If convicted, Blagojevich, 53, could face up to $6 million in fines and a sentence of 415 years in prison, though he is sure to get much less time under federal guidelines.
Earlier Monday, prosecutors dropped one of five counts against the former governor’s brother, Nashville, Tenn., businessman Robert Blagojevich, 54. They said the count of wire fraud pertained to a Dec. 4, 2008 phone call that he did not take part in directly.
Robert Blagojevich’s attorney, Michael Ettinger, said in his closing argument that jurors never heard any testimony, any tapes in which Robert Blagojevich said of any campaign contributions: “This is in exchange for something.”
“Raising campaign funds is not illegal. It is not against the law,” he said.
Meanwhile, a life-size statue of Elvis Presley belonging to Rod Blagojevich could be up for auction soon because the former governor hasn’t paid his storage fees for more than a year.
Boyer-Rosene Moving & Storage Chief Executive Officer Paul Lombardo said Monday that everything in Blagojevich’s seven storage units at the facility near Chicago will be auctioned Aug. 14, unless he pays fees of at least $3,300.
Lombardo said auction profits will go to the Children’s Memorial Hospital, where two of his deceased children were treated.
Front Section, Pages 2 on 07/27/2010