Former Ill. Gov. Blagojevich, accused of trying to sell Obama’s Senate seat, goes on trial

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Ex-Gov. Blagojevich goes on trial for corruption

CHICAGO — The corruption trial of Rod Blagojevich began Thursday, 18 months after authorities arrested him at home at dawn one day and accused him of trying to sell the Senate seat that President Barack Obama had vacated for the White House.

A smiling and relaxed-looking Blagojevich had arrived at federal court with his wife, Patti, and stepped into a gantlet of about 30 waiting cameras and reporters. He hugged supporters and thanked them on his way into the courthouse. That included a group of women with signs, including May Farley, 78, of Elmhurst, who held a placard saying, “Rod’s not cuckoo. Rod’s not guilty.”

“I feel great,” said Blagojevich, who denies any wrongdoing. “The truth shall set you free,” he told one well-wisher as he shook the man’s hand. Since being ousted from office, Blagojevich has pleaded his case to the public from radio to reality TV.

Patti Blagojevich thanked supporters for helping them through a tough time.

“But today is a good day because today is the day that begins the process to correct a terrible injustice that has been done to my husband, our family and to the people of Illinois,” she said. “My husband is an honest man. And I know that he is innocent.”

Blagojevich displayed a hint of anxiety, though, several times dropping his wallet after walking through a metal detector. He held hands with his wife as they entered the courtroom where his trial is expected to last at least 3 months.

Prosecutors have 500 hours of secretly recorded FBI wiretaps of Blagojevich and his associates. They see a chance to send a second straight Illinois governor to prison in one of the biggest political trials ever in this corruption-plagued state.

Blagojevich’s attorneys have said that the recordings, if played in their entirety, would show he did not try to sell the Senate seat. The 53-year-old has pleaded not guilty to 24 counts including racketeering, wire fraud, attempted extortion and bribery. He and his co-defendant brother — 54-year-old Nashville, Tenn., businessman Robert Blagojevich — deny scheming to sell or trade the seat for personal gain.

The former governor also is charged with plotting to turn his administration into a giant moneymaking operation with profits to be divided between himself and a circle of advisers and fundraisers after he left office. If convicted, Blagojevich faces a maximum of 415 years in prison and fines totaling $6 million.

U.S. District Judge James B. Zagel began questioning potential jurors for the case. Among the first questions he asked was whether they had read much about the case and whether they could set aside any preconceived notions about Blagojevich.

One potential juror said she had seen Patti Blagojevich, on a reality TV show eating a bug. Patti Blagojevich had been a contestant on the NBC reality show “I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here!”

Jurors were referred to in the courtroom by numbers only. Zagel plans to keep the jury anonymous until after the trial. Zagel had denied a request from five news organizations, including The Associated Press, to reverse that.

Prosecutors have lined up numerous key witnesses. Those include Blagojevich’s former chiefs of staff John Harris and Alonzo “Lon” Monk.

Monk, Blagojevich’s law school roommate who has pleaded guilty to conspiring to solicit a bribe in the form of campaign contributions from a racetrack owner, was with the governor at the outset of his administration and is guaranteed to be asked about alleged efforts to use the office to generate profit. Harris, who has pleaded guilty to conspiring to sell the Senate seat, will surely be asked for full details.

On Wednesday, attorneys close to the case said Blagojevich’s defense has subpoenaed White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel as a witness. The attorneys spoke on condition of anonymity because the subpoena had not been made public.

If Emanuel did take the stand, he might be asked about what effort, if any, the White House made to get Blagojevich to appoint Obama’s friend Valerie Jarrett to the Senate seat. Jarrett had been mentioned as a candidate but withdrew to become a presidential adviser. She also has been subpoenaed by the defense, a White House official said Wednesday on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation.

Neither Jarrett nor Emanuel is accused of any wrongdoing.

Sorosky said he’s not sure if Emanuel and Jarrett will testify, since he doesn’t know who the government will call. But he said he thinks it’s “very likely” that Patti Blagojevich will testify.

Blagojevich’s attorneys have said he did not plan to sell the seat. They say he planned to award it to Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan in exchange for a deal with her father, House Speaker Michael Madigan, to get tax, health care and jobs legislation through the House. Prosecutors are expected to call that deal largely fiction. Neither Madigan has been accused of any wrongdoing.

The case is the latest chapter in a state where politics have long been awash in patronage and payoffs. Blagojevich’s predecessor, Republican George Ryan, is serving a 6½-year racketeering and fraud sentence.

Associated Press Writer Erica Werner in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.