As he continued to plumb through transcripts of a wiretapped phone conversation between Rod Blagojevich and his then-Deputy Gov. Bob Greenlee on Nov. 3, 2008, defense attorney Aaron Goldstein attempted to show that Greenlee came up with the idea of Blagojevich holding the Chicago Tribune editorial board at bay by threatening to kill state aid for the Tribune Co.’s sale of Wrigley Field.
“I would tell him look, if you want to get your Cubs thing done, get rid of the Tribune, you know,” Greenlee told Blagojevich in the phone conversation.
On Monday morning, Goldstein said to Greenlee: “Before that statement by you, there was a lot of anger expressed about these editorial articles, but no discussion about getting rid of the Tribune.”
Greenlee confirmed as much.
Goldstein then went on to portray Greenlee as a well-educated lawyer whom the governor could have plausibly relied on for legal advice. However, in cross-examination, Greenlee said he wasn’t even sure that Blagojevich knew of his legal background, which included schooling at the University of Chicago and a clerkship for a judge on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
“How much were you getting paid?” Goldstein asked Greenlee.
“Around 130 [thousand dollars],” Greenlee replied.
Goldstein: “And that was your job as deputy governor?”
Greenlee: “And you weren’t getting paid to just agree with the guy?”
Goldstein: “No sir.”
Greenlee and Goldstein then danced around whether the former deputy governor’s job was to “advise” Blagojevich, or to “provide him information.”
“My role was more to answer factual questions,” Greenlee said, “it wasn’t to [answer] what-do-you-think questions.”
Goldstein challenged Greenlee’s assertion that he placated Blagojevich to preserve the access to him that Greenlee said was necessary to be effective in his job. The defense attorney referenced previous testimony from Greenlee in which he described having meetings and conversations about Medicaid pediatric rate increases without talking to Blagojevich about it.