As Rod Blagojevich’s lawyer declared to the jury during his closing argument last week, “Think about it.” He wanted jurors to consider what he thinks is self-evident about his client’s innocence.
The rest of us might well think about all we still don’t know.
Even if the former governor is convicted, and prosecutors dutifully proclaim how the jury has sent a “message” to the community, let’s leaven either our hope or cynicism with amodesty about all that remains fuzzy in this nationally-dissected case — at least publicly.
For starters, there are the 1,001 questions one couldn’t ask the former governor because he didn’t testify. One involves his lofty claims for selecting a successor to the United States Senate seat once occupied by President Barack Obama.
The day after the presidential election, Mr. Blagojevich spoke of Mr. Obama’s win affirming the legacies of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Abraham Lincoln; the need for a superb successor; and his lack of interest in the job. How did that square with wiretaps that very day in which he badmouthed Obama as a “demigod;” used an expletive when referring to the vacancy as “golden” and said he might pick himself?
There are the conversations we’ll never hear, perhaps some that reflect well on him. If we could hear the hundreds of hours, we might combine them with former President Richard M. Nixon’s secret White House tapes for a complete Nixon-Blagojevich Audio Library. It would constitute a primer on American government, high and low.
We know that co-defendant Robert Blagojevich and his younger brother had a strained relationship. We really don’t know the whys from the mature ex-Army platoon leader who has known Rod longer than anybody.
The absence of Christopher Kelly, a close confidante and chief fundraiser for Mr. Blagojevich, deprived us. Indicted three times and convicted twice, he was to go on trial with Mr. Blagojevich. Not long after telling the news media, “My life is over,” he killed himself.
Having declined to flip for the government, imagine the secrets he took to the grave. What did he know that we don’t?
As WTTW’s Elizabeth Brackett reminded me, without testimony from United States Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., we wonder about a Loop restaurant meeting he held with Ragu Nayak and Rajinder Bedi, Jackson loyalists who allegedly angled to give Blago money if he picked their guy for the Senate. Is it a tale of benign blue-skying or illegal conniving?
Then there’s no Tony Rezko, the convicted swindler and once-respected developer deemed so untrustworthy that neither side beckoned him from prison.
The defense sees Mr. Rezko as a slimy manipulator who was putty in Rod’s hands. But his absence leaves much unclear, including details on a 2003 $10 billion state bond issuance to bolster pension funds.
It’s the sort of under-the-radar deal that we in the media rarely mention or understand. We’re left hanging as to what was going on between Mr. Rezko and Robert Kjellander, a Springfield-based lobbyist and former Republican National Committee treasurer.
For the bond deal, the Democratic governor picked the now-defunct Bear Stearns, whose lobbyist was Mr. Kjellander, as lead underwriter. It was part of what the government said was a kickback scheme to enrich the governor and his aides, and which did enrich his wife, Patti Blagojevich, via her close-to-no-show job with Mr. Rezko’s real estate firm.
It remains unclear how and why Mr. Kjellander got the business; what he did for an $809,133.96 fee from Bear Stearns; and why he wasn’t either a witness, perhaps even a co-defendant, given the prosecution’s unsubtle portrayal of a slimy deal.
After a phone conversation between Mr. Kjellander and Mr. Rezko, the Republican gave $600,000 of the fee as part of a no-collateral loan to a Rezko chum he didn’t know. The friend, who testified with immunity, kicked back $460,000 to creditors of Mr. Rezko, who then started paying Patti $12,000 a month.
Mr. Kjellander, who was not charged with any illegality, got his money back with interest. But how did he get the business in the first place and why no due diligence before loaning to an unknown running a faltering pizza business? He declined comment.
Especially frustrated over Mr. Rezko, I sought wisdom from a prominent local political scientist, Mayor Richard M. Daley. He told me that he had one lengthy dinner with Mr. Rezko and came to an instant conclusion.
“Cuckoo,” he told me.
Maybe some things are clearer than I realize.
If I was on the jury, I would vote to acquit on all counts (and I don’t even like the former governor!) Why? Because I don’t think people should be sent to jail for simply talking or even scheming. Jails would be full of politicians if this was the case. Does anybody think other politicians are any better? Other politicians are simply more careful. The former governor is guilty of having no finesse.
Secondly, if I was on the jury, I would vote for acquittal on all counts because of the sleazy way the prosecution aborted the investigation in order to not ensnare Jesse Jackson Jr. If they wanted a slam dunk winner of a case, they should have allowed the transaction to occur, waited for the governor to appoint Jesse Jackson Jr., waited for campaign contributions to be made from JJ Jr. backers. Then there you have it, a crime committed.
What we have here, ladies and gentleman, is a very weak case. And remember I don’t even like the former governor. I expect more from the U.S. Attorneys office. If you don’t have a case, don’t waste our time and money.
What no one has mentioned as far as I can see is that Tony Rezko was a business associate of Robert Kjellander. He was registered as a contractual lobbyist for Kjellander’s firm, Springfield Consulting Group, as recently as 2002, maybe even more recently. It is documented in the 08/16/2002 Illinois registered Lobbyist List.