Judge begins questioning potential jurors for trial of former Ill. Gov. Rod Blagojevich

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Judge begins jury questioning in Blagojevich trial

CHICAGO — The judge in the corruption trial of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has begun questioning potential jurors for the case.

Among the first questions Judge James Zagel asked them Thursday were whether they had read much about the case and whether they could set aside any preconceived notions about Blagojevich.

The former governor is accused of scheming to profit from his power to fill President Barack Obama’s former Senate seat. He denies any wrongdoing.

One potential juror said she had seen the former governor’s wife, Patti Blagojevich, on a reality TV show eating a bug.

Jurors were referred to in the courtroom by numbers only. Zagel plans to keep the jury anonymous until after the trial and denied a request by news organizations to reverse that.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

CHICAGO (AP) — The corruption trial of Rod Blagojevich began Thursday, 18 months after authorities arrested him at home one morning 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.

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.

“We’re here, we’re ready to start and God willing we will prevail,” Blagojevich attorney Sheldon Sorosky said earlier.

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. Since being impeached and ousted from office, Blagojevich has pleaded his case to the public from radio to reality TV.

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 president’s old Senate 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 spoke to potential jurors about the gravity of their service before swearing them in. He said he plans to question up to 34 jurors a day until a jury is seated. Zagel also denied a request from five news organizations, including The Associated Press, to reverse his plan to keep the jury anonymous until after the trial.

The first juror Zagel questioned is a math teacher who said she had a cousin who works as a judge.

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.