Former Governor Rod Blagojevich said that his attorney wrongly conveyed to Judge James Zagel that he and wife Patti had hoped to attend their daughter’s middle-school graduation tomorrow.
Blagojevich told WLS-AM hosts Don Wade and Roma that he was not asking for the judge to cancel a half-day of court proceedings, but maybe just end things an hour early.
“The lawyer misspoke, he gave the judge a wrong impression,” Blagojevich said, explaining that his daughter’s graduation is not until 6 p.m. on Tuesday, and that he was only hoping that the proceedings that day would proceed “judiciously,” so that he and Patti could make the ceremony.
Don Wade asked Blagojevich about Patti crying in court when the judge in the Blagojevich corruption trial said it was “unlikely” that they’d make the graduation.
“I love Patti for a million reasons and among them is she is a loving mother,” Blagojevich said. “She loves our kids more than she loves me, which is how she should be.”
He added that his wife “didn’t quite understand the dynamic either, and I am more than cautiously optimistic that it will shake out.”
Blagojevich also described as “interesting” the attempts of potential jurors who “don’t want to be jurors.”
“Let’s face it,” he said, “I have my detractors. But to actually see it.”
He also argued that he didn’t consider jurors who had seen him on television or formed an opinion of him were unqualified.
Jury selection in the corruption trial continues today as Zagel has stated his desire to begin opening statements by tomorrow afternoon.
“I think you should listen carefully to what they have to say,” Blagojevich said of the prosecution. “Opening statements, it is good, because again, it’s the beginning of a process that will unlock the truth by the prosecutors.”
“All I can say is: stay tuned.”