The government is now trying to deconstruct one of the defense’s chief arguments: That Rod Blagojevich did not willingly commit criminal acts. Prosecutor Chris Niewoehner begs to differ.
“At the Cook County state’s attorneys office, he prosecuted people for committing crimes,” says Niewoehner of Blagojevich’s brief stint as a prosecutor. Niewoehner also points out that Blagojevich passed his state ethics test each year he was in office.
But the main case Niewoehner makes against Blagojevich is that an innocent man would not be inclined to have behaved so furtively or surrepticiously. Niewoehner notes the times on taped calls that Blagojevich and his aides discussed the need to be careful about how and when they say things.
“It you’re talking about health care, who cares if the whole world is listening?” Niewoehner said. “It’s when you talk about the Senate seat and fundraising in the same breath – then you care.”