Obama administration opposes Blagojevich request to delay corruption trial

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Feds: Don’t delay Blagojevich corruption trial

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration said Friday the Supreme Court should let the corruption trial of ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich move forward.

Blagojevich has asked the high court to delay his trial, scheduled to begin June 3, until the justices rule first in pending cases about the constitutionality of the federal honest-services fraud law. Prosecutors have charged Blagojevich with violating the fraud law and other crimes.

Requests to delay the trial have been denied by lower federal courts and acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal said the Supreme Court should do the same.

The evidence on the honest services charges “is the same as that underlying the bribery, extortion, and racketeering counts,” Katyal said in court papers Friday. That means the flow of the trial won’t be affected by what the Supreme Court says about the honest services charges, he said.

Also, the trial judge has told lawyers on both sides in the Blagojevich case not to use the words “honest services” in their opening statements, Katyal said.

“Accordingly, a stay of the district court’s discretionary decision to proceed with the trial is not warranted,” Katyal said.

Blagojevich will be tried with his brother, Nashville businessman Robert Blagojevich, in U.S. District Court in Chicago.

Blagojevich has pleaded not guilty to charges that accuse him of scheming to sell or trade President Barack Obama’s former U.S. Senate seat. He has also pleaded not guilty to illegally pressuring potential campaign contributors for money.

The honest services fraud law has been described by critics as so vague that a federal prosecutor could label all sorts of activities criminal. Justice Antonin Scalia once said it was so vague a mayor could be charged for using influence to get a good table at a restaurant.