Blago Trial Arguments Winding Up

By Bill McMorris, Illinois Statehouse News
Marathon closing statements Monday by the prosecution and lawyers for Robert Blagojevich —-older brother and fundraiser to Rod--extended the ex-governor's trial by another day as the case wound down before going to jury deliberation.

U.S. Attorney Christopher Niewoehner meticulously outlined the case federal prosecutors presented to the jury for the last six weeks, using a combination of graphs and headshots of witnesses as visual cues.

Niewoehner began with the allegation that Blagojevich attempted to exchange the U.S. Senate seat formerly held by President Barack Obama for money, campaign contributions, job opportunities and other forms of personal gain. The government attempted to convince the jury that Blagojevich’s behavior throughout his six years in office reflected years of criminal enterprise, with Blagojevich at the center of it all. “The thing that connects all of these schemes is Rod Blagojevich,” he said. “If you find him guilty on one, you have to find him guilty of the others.”

“I’ve got this thing and it’s @#$%^&* golden,” Niewoehner quoted from a transcript of a Blagojevich wiretap. “And I’m not going to give it away for @#$%^&* nothing.”

“Those agreements and those attempts are crimes,” Niewoehner said. “You don’t need to be a successful criminal to be a criminal.”

The prosecution faces some challenges in convicting Blagojevich, despite mountains of documents and miles of tapes. The defense is trying to argue that Blagojevich was a man who ran his mouth without much back-up to his unfiltered vulgarity — a notion Adam Jr. said was confirmed by the ex-governor’s actions. Though Blagojevich asked for campaign donations or sat on state actions, he never followed through. A horsetrack bill was signed, a hospital received its money and a school got its grant — all without the requested campaign donations.

The defense will make its final pitch to the jury today.

You can read Bill's full report at:  http://illinois.statehousenewsonline.com/3793/blagojevich-attorney-says-hes-willing-to-go-to-jail-for-client/