Judge in former Ill. Gov. Blagojevich’s corruption trial sets swift pace for jury questioning

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Blagojevich judge sets fast pace on jury questions

CHICAGO — The federal judge presiding over the racketeering and fraud trial of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich appeared eager Monday to complete jury selection and quickly progress to opening statements in the long-anticipated proceedings.

By midday Monday, just the third day of the trial, Judge James B. Zagel had questioned 73 people to gauge their fitness to hear evidence against Blagojevich, usually taking no more than 10 minutes per person.

Blagojevich has pleaded not guilty to scheming to profit from his power as governor to fill the Senate seat President Barack Obama left to move to the White House. He also denies plotting to pressure campaign donors illegally and launching a scheme to divide the hefty dividends with advisers after he left office.

Some 20 jurors have already been rejected over objections from both sides. No jurors were expected to be seated until after the lawyers make their final challenges. Zagel said Friday he would like seated jurors to hear opening arguments Tuesday.

Zagel agreed with defense attorneys Monday morning to send a tollway worker home, but he denied a defense request to strike an airport security employee off the list of potential jurors on grounds he has contact with the FBI through work. Zagel let a Polish-born woman go because she has some difficulty understanding English.

On his way into the courtroom Monday, an ever-upbeat and defiant Blagojevich likened the case to a “locked box” with the truth hidden inside. He said trial is the key that will open it and prove his innocence.

“Essentially the key to the truth will be in our hands,” he said. “We can unlock the locked box and the evidence and the truth will come out to show that I’ve been lied about and that the truth is in so many ways just the opposite of what you’ve been led to believe.”

Blagojevich, who has made scores of public appearances since his 2008 arrest, proclaimed his innocence again during a Monday morning interview on WLS Radio’s “The Don and Roma Morning Show,” hours before he arrived at the court.

Throughout proceedings, the former governor has displayed his usual campaign trail charm.

One potential juror, a former corporate banker who worked on political campaigns for Barack Obama, told Zagel she tends to rely on gut feelings in judging people.

Some of the other potential jurors questioned so far included two former Marines, a hospital administrator, a retired videotape librarian, a bank manager and a woman who does community volunteer work. An insurance underwriter said most politicians are motivated by “ego, control, power and money.” And another possible juror is a freelance writer who fears he won’t be able to make ends meet if he’s a juror in the lengthy trial.

One cited Blagojevich’s television appearances, saying she viewed it as self-promotion. Blagojevich appeared on NBC’s reality TV show “Celebrity Apprentice” and on several talk shows.

Prosecutors have 500 hours of secretly made FBI tapes on which Blagojevich and his brother are heard. They are also guaranteed to call as witnesses both of the former governor’s chiefs of staff, Alonzo Monk and John Harris, to give jurors an inside view of the alleged schemes.

The former governor’s brother, 54-year-old Robert Blagojevich of Nashville, Tenn., has pleaded not guilty to taking part in the alleged plan to sell the Senate seat and plotting to pressure a racetrack owner for campaign money using the governor’s power over racetrack legislation.

It’s only the latest episode in the federal government’s war on the decades-old corruption that has sent dozens of state and local officials to prison. Blagojevich’s predecessor in the governor’s office, Republican George Ryan, is serving a 6½-year racketeering and fraud sentence in federal prison.

The trial threatens to be a major embarrassment for Democrats, playing out for months before November elections. Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn — Blagojevich’s former lieutenant governor — is trying to hang onto the state’s top office and Democratic nominee Alexi Giannoulias is campaigning for the same Senate seat that is the focus of the corruption trial.

(This version CORRECTS number of jurors questioned by midday.)