Blago? Guilty on Only One Count? Retry Him!
Even the Narcissist - Blago - had to admit he was shooting off his mouth too much. (In a feeble attempt to rewrite history!)
Rod Blagojevich was convicted on one count of making false statements to federal authorities Tuesday, but the jury could not reach a verdict on the 23 other counts facing the former Illinois governor, forcing the judge to declare a mistrial.
U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said prosecutors will retry Blagojevich on at least some of the 23 other counts, including extortion, bribery and conspiracy on allegations that he converted his office into what prosecutors called a “corrupt ring” that included an attempt to trade President Barack Obama's old Senate seat in exchange for jobs and money.
Jurors twice told a federal judge over 14 days of deliberation that they were unable to come to a unanimous agreement on the vast majority of the charges against Blagojevich after a two-month trial.
As it stands, the verdict appears to be a big victory for Blagojevich, who right now faces a maximum of five years in prison — a significantly lesser sentence than he could have faced if any of the other numerous corruption charges had resulted in a conviction.
The verdict caps one of the most tawdry, and at times comic, corruption cases in recent political history, with a clownish and deluded defendant who relished rather than resented the attention, a colorful and often-profane script highlighted by FBI wiretaps and a frequent references to the president of the United States and two of his top aides.
While Blagojevich declared repeatedly before the trial that he couldn't wait to tell his side of the story, he never testified. His lawyer, in closing arguments, said in essence that his client was too dumb to be taken seriously as a criminal.
“No one’s going to say he’s the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he’s not corrupt,” said Blagojevich’s attorney, Sam Adam Jr. “Think about who he was trying to extort. The president of the United States? Give me a break!”
Not comic at all were the crimes outlined in the indictment and during the trial. The “message was 'pay up or no action,’" Assistant U.S. Attorney Carrie Hamilton told the jury. It was a "shakedown," she said.
In addition to trying to sell the Senate seat, he was accused of demanding money for himself, his campaigns and his wife, attempting to extort the CEO of a children’s hospital, a racetrack owner, a road construction executive and, indirectly, White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel. He was accused, as well, of offering to help the Chicago Tribune sell the Cubs if the paper would fire the editorial board that wrote critically of him.
According to the indictment, he did some of these things even after he knew that his alleged co-conspirators — including his brother, his chief of staff and business associates — were being investigated and watched by prosecutors.
The numerous charges — racketeering, bribery, conspiracy to commit bribery, attempted extortion and conspiracy to commit extortion — were extensively documented in the 113-page indictment and in testimony that pulled the curtain back on a vain politician, obsessing over his own political stature in private while publicly pronouncing his commitment to “the people” and fantasizing about perhaps becoming U.N. ambassador or even president.
Tapes of the foul-mouthed Blagojevich recorded by FBI wiretaps became a cult hit. Ring tones of the former governor’s greatest hits from the indictment posted by the State Journal-Register in Springfield went viral and were widely downloaded.
“I’ve got this thing, and it’s f------ golden. And I’m just not giving it up for f------ nothing,” Blagojevich says describing Obama’s Senate seat in one of the more popular ring tones.
“Only 13 percent of you all out there think I’m doing a good job. So f--- all of you,” he says in another.
On the way to his trial, Blagojevich milked the spotlight and the strange freedom provided to a politician removed from office and awaiting trial.
He hosted a weekly radio show and fell asleep before getting fired by Donald Trump on NBC’s “The Apprentice.” His wife ate a tarantula “as an act of love” and bonded with the stars of MTV’s “The Hills” on the reality show, “I’m a celebrity ... Get me out of here!”
His trademark line whenever meeting a new person during the nearly two years since he was arrested was: “Rod Blagojevich, innocent on all charges.”
By a unanimous 59-0 vote, the Illinois Senate removed Blagojevich from office on Jan. 29, 2009.
Blagojevich blamed his political opponents for his removal, claiming that it was retribution for his legislative push to provide health care to low-income families.
He has also blamed variously Obama, Emanuel and White House adviser Valerie Jarrett for his woes.
Blagojevich threatened to expose top White House staffers as equally corrupt, though his legal team never called any of them as witnesses. But there is a chance they could be called if Blagojevich is re-tried on some of the counts.
Blagojevich’s former chief of staff, John Harris, testified during the trial that Obama knew Blagojevich was “willing to make the appointment of Valerie Jarrett as long as he gets what he's asked for.”
But that uncorroborated statement was as close as the governor’s team got to implicating the White House, which never had to endure the scrutiny that Republicans hoped would befall Obama’s administration during the trial. White House spokesman Bill Burton referred all questions about the case to the Justice Department.
Instead, the trial was mostly an embarrassment for Blagojevich.
It was revealed that he and his wife had spent more than $400,000 on clothes during his term as governor while racking up $200,000 in consumer debt.
Tapes of the governor show that it occurred to him that he might be named the United States ambassador to the United Nations in exchange for the Senate seat and that he had considered appointing talk show host Oprah to the seat.
Toward the end of the trial, even Blagojevich had to admit that he talked “too much.”
SOURCE
Rod Blagojevich was convicted on one count of making false statements to federal authorities Tuesday, but the jury could not reach a verdict on the 23 other counts facing the former Illinois governor, forcing the judge to declare a mistrial.
U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said prosecutors will retry Blagojevich on at least some of the 23 other counts, including extortion, bribery and conspiracy on allegations that he converted his office into what prosecutors called a “corrupt ring” that included an attempt to trade President Barack Obama's old Senate seat in exchange for jobs and money.
Jurors twice told a federal judge over 14 days of deliberation that they were unable to come to a unanimous agreement on the vast majority of the charges against Blagojevich after a two-month trial.
As it stands, the verdict appears to be a big victory for Blagojevich, who right now faces a maximum of five years in prison — a significantly lesser sentence than he could have faced if any of the other numerous corruption charges had resulted in a conviction.
The verdict caps one of the most tawdry, and at times comic, corruption cases in recent political history, with a clownish and deluded defendant who relished rather than resented the attention, a colorful and often-profane script highlighted by FBI wiretaps and a frequent references to the president of the United States and two of his top aides.
While Blagojevich declared repeatedly before the trial that he couldn't wait to tell his side of the story, he never testified. His lawyer, in closing arguments, said in essence that his client was too dumb to be taken seriously as a criminal.
“No one’s going to say he’s the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he’s not corrupt,” said Blagojevich’s attorney, Sam Adam Jr. “Think about who he was trying to extort. The president of the United States? Give me a break!”
Not comic at all were the crimes outlined in the indictment and during the trial. The “message was 'pay up or no action,’" Assistant U.S. Attorney Carrie Hamilton told the jury. It was a "shakedown," she said.
In addition to trying to sell the Senate seat, he was accused of demanding money for himself, his campaigns and his wife, attempting to extort the CEO of a children’s hospital, a racetrack owner, a road construction executive and, indirectly, White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel. He was accused, as well, of offering to help the Chicago Tribune sell the Cubs if the paper would fire the editorial board that wrote critically of him.
According to the indictment, he did some of these things even after he knew that his alleged co-conspirators — including his brother, his chief of staff and business associates — were being investigated and watched by prosecutors.
The numerous charges — racketeering, bribery, conspiracy to commit bribery, attempted extortion and conspiracy to commit extortion — were extensively documented in the 113-page indictment and in testimony that pulled the curtain back on a vain politician, obsessing over his own political stature in private while publicly pronouncing his commitment to “the people” and fantasizing about perhaps becoming U.N. ambassador or even president.
Tapes of the foul-mouthed Blagojevich recorded by FBI wiretaps became a cult hit. Ring tones of the former governor’s greatest hits from the indictment posted by the State Journal-Register in Springfield went viral and were widely downloaded.
“I’ve got this thing, and it’s f------ golden. And I’m just not giving it up for f------ nothing,” Blagojevich says describing Obama’s Senate seat in one of the more popular ring tones.
“Only 13 percent of you all out there think I’m doing a good job. So f--- all of you,” he says in another.
On the way to his trial, Blagojevich milked the spotlight and the strange freedom provided to a politician removed from office and awaiting trial.
He hosted a weekly radio show and fell asleep before getting fired by Donald Trump on NBC’s “The Apprentice.” His wife ate a tarantula “as an act of love” and bonded with the stars of MTV’s “The Hills” on the reality show, “I’m a celebrity ... Get me out of here!”
His trademark line whenever meeting a new person during the nearly two years since he was arrested was: “Rod Blagojevich, innocent on all charges.”
By a unanimous 59-0 vote, the Illinois Senate removed Blagojevich from office on Jan. 29, 2009.
Blagojevich blamed his political opponents for his removal, claiming that it was retribution for his legislative push to provide health care to low-income families.
He has also blamed variously Obama, Emanuel and White House adviser Valerie Jarrett for his woes.
Blagojevich threatened to expose top White House staffers as equally corrupt, though his legal team never called any of them as witnesses. But there is a chance they could be called if Blagojevich is re-tried on some of the counts.
Blagojevich’s former chief of staff, John Harris, testified during the trial that Obama knew Blagojevich was “willing to make the appointment of Valerie Jarrett as long as he gets what he's asked for.”
But that uncorroborated statement was as close as the governor’s team got to implicating the White House, which never had to endure the scrutiny that Republicans hoped would befall Obama’s administration during the trial. White House spokesman Bill Burton referred all questions about the case to the Justice Department.
Instead, the trial was mostly an embarrassment for Blagojevich.
It was revealed that he and his wife had spent more than $400,000 on clothes during his term as governor while racking up $200,000 in consumer debt.
Tapes of the governor show that it occurred to him that he might be named the United States ambassador to the United Nations in exchange for the Senate seat and that he had considered appointing talk show host Oprah to the seat.
Toward the end of the trial, even Blagojevich had to admit that he talked “too much.”
SOURCE
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