UPDATE: After the lunch break, Lon Monk testified about conversations he had with Chris Kelly and Tony Rezko leading up to the gubernatorial election about ways in which they could profit from Blagojevich’s position as governor.
“I was intrigued by the topic and wanted to make money,” Monk said.
Monk said he and Kelly met in the garage of the campaign office in 2002 prior to winning the election to discuss, “in essence, that the Republicans had been in power for so long and they were benefiting from the state individually and that this was something we were going to be able to do now that we were so close to Rod if he were elected governor” by directing state business.
According to Monk, it was about six months later when he, Kelly, Rezko and Blagojevich met to outline, on a blackboard, about eight or nine ideas of how the four men would individually benefit through state business. Rezko led the discussion and no other topics of significance were covered. On the board, the proposed ideas were numbered and next to each one was a circled dollar amount, no less than $100,000 each. The money would be divided equally among the four men after Blagojevich was out of office, Monk said. One idea they drew out was the creation or purchase of an insurance company that would do business with the state.
In 2004, while in California for a fundraiser, the four met again at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel and continued mapping their plans for lining their pockets through state deals, including the insurance company idea, Monk said. Fearing scrutiny from government agencies and the media, the men agreed that they would not collect profits from these plans until after Blagojevich left office.
In 2003, Monk said that he met with Kelly, Blagojevich and Rezko at the offices of Rezko’s company, Rezmar. The four huddled around a long conference table in the conference room and plotted how they might use their new-found authority. Monk testified that the four men all made recommendations for who should fill the 30 to 35 senior administration positions. They recommended Tim Martin for head of the Department of Transportation.
Monk then described how Blagojevich used his personal secretary to make almost all of his outgoing phone calls, including on nights and weekends. He elaborated further on his friendship with Rod and Patti Blagojevich and vacations they went on together.
In late 2003 and early 2004, Monk testified that White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel discussed then-Congressman Emanuel’s desire for state grant money to support the Chicago Academy, a school in his district. Blagojevich originally agreed to help out the school, Monk said, but then later he made it conditional on a fundraiser he wanted Rahm’s brother, Hollywood agent Ari Emanuel, to hold for him. Blagojevich would only agree to the funding for the school, Monk said, if Ari Emanuel’s fundraiser was lucrative enough.
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Former Blagojevich confidante Lon Monk was questioned by the prosecution before court broke for lunch Wednesday. Monk was first asked about the terms of his plea bargain, under which he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to solicit a bribe and for which he is expecting a two-year jail sentence in exchange for his cooperation.
Monk spoke about how his personal friendship with Blagojevich became a professional relationship, when he joined Blagojevich’s Congressional office as general counsel and eventually campaign manager for Blagojevich’s first gubernatorial run.
The testimony carried on in fairly rote fashion, with Monk spelling out for prosecutor Chris Niewoehner the particulars of Blagojevich’s campaign money-raising operation, Friends of Blagojevich. Monk said he moved to Chicago in the summer of 2001 and spent his first six weeks living with the Blagojevich family, until he bought his own place in Wrigleyville. Originally, Monk said, he didn’t have much to do with fundraising, as he was new to town and didn’t know the key contacts. But in short time, as he got his feet wet, he became increasingly integral to FOB and eventually took a lead role.
Monk gave the background on Blagojevich fundraisers Tony Rezko and Chris Kelly, explaining the roles each played in his campaign for governor, first on the money side, and later in more broad advisor positions. He said that Kelly put pressure on fundraisers and campaign “bundlers” to meet certain goals.
As Monk discussed the campaign’s strategy to win the 2002 primary by ramping up its media buys and spending more time downstate he looked over at Patti Blagojevich.
Judge James Zagel called both attorneys into his chamber upon breaking for lunch. Monk will continue on the stand in the afternoon.