Rod Blagojevich is guilty of being “silly,” his defense attorney said.
“Nobody is going to say that’s the sharpest knife in the drawer,” Sam Adam Jr. told jurors, after running through a list of Blagojevich whims and wishes. But that’s where his guilt should end.
With a series of “C’mons” and wipes of his brow with a tissue, Adam has brought his admittedly “all-over-the-place” summation to a close.
He lambasted the Chicago Tribune for criticizing Blagojevich’s efforts to circumvent the General Assembly while the Tribune Co. sought his assistance to go around the legislature to provide state aid in the sale of Wrigley Field.
“This is supposed to be a federal case,” Adam said, “come on.”
Referring to Patti Blagojevich, Adam decried: “Maybe I am the one that’s nuts here. Kickbacks for work is called a job, man.”
In his dismount, Adam went after former Blagojevich Chief of Staff Lon Monk, who Adam had previously cross-examined on the stand.
“He couldn’t even tell you about one deal, not one deal that was up there,” Adam said, referring to Monk’s testimony that early on in the administration, there were some meetings where they put up on a board a list of nine money-making schemes. On the stand, Monk could only recall one such scheme involving an insurance company.
“What did Monk do?” Adam asked jurors. “He took cash, he tried to sell out the state, he committed criminal acts.”
Winding down, the defense played a short clip of former Deputy Gov. Bob Greenlee telling Blagojevich, “People want to take you down for political reasons.” Greenlee had previously testified that he often placated the former governor with affirmative comments. The small snippet comes from a Nov. 3, 2008 telephone conversation between the men, in which they are discussing the possibility of Blagojevich’s impeachement.
Bringing his closing argument to a concluding whisper, he begged the jury that when they deliberated to ask the question: “What would Sam say about this?”
After a short break, Assistant U.S. Attorney Reid Schar will deliver the government’s rebuttal.