Blagojevich’s brother says offer of millions if Jackson got the Senate seat ‘a joke’

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Blago brother calls fundraising offer ‘a joke’

CHICAGO — Rod Blagojevich’s brother testified Monday that a businessman claimed he could raise millions in campaign funds if U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. were named to the Senate, but that he and the Illinois governor considered it “a joke.”

Robert Blagojevich, a co-defendant at the ousted governor’s corruption trial, said businessman Raghuveer Nayak told him at an Oct. 31, 2008, meeting that he could raise $1 million if Jackson were appointed to the seat Barack Obama was leaving to move to the White House.

Nayak said he could raise another $5 million eventually, Robert Blagojevich said. But he said neither he nor his brother took such an offer seriously.

“We considered it a joke, outrageous,” he testified. He said he told Nayak that Blagojevich was going to “do the right thing for the people of Illinois” and the Jackson appointment was “not something that was going to happen.”

Both Blagojevich brothers have pleaded not guilty to taking part in a scheme to sell or trade the seat for a Cabinet post or other major job for the governor in the Obama administration.

Rod Blagojevich, 53, has also pleaded not guilty to plotting to launch a racketeering operation in the governor’s office. Robert Blagojevich, 54, has pleaded not guilty to a wire fraud charge that he was involved in pressuring two businessmen illegally for campaign funds.

During the first part of the trial, prosecutors told the judge that the state’s former international trade director, Rajinder Bedi, had told them he attended a meeting at which Nayak told Jackson he would raise $1 million for Blagojevich’s campaign if the governor would appoint Jackson to the Senate.

At the time, Judge James B. Zagel barred prosecutors from allowing jurors to hear specifics such as the alleged $1 million figure or the allegation that Nayak spoke directly of trading money for the seat. He did allow Bedi to testify that he had attended the meeting with Jackson and Nayak and that he later spoke of the matter with Robert Blagojevich.

Robert’s defense, which is separate from his brother’s and is going first, played a recording in court in which he is heard in a one-on-one meeting with a different businessman repeatedly saying that contributions wouldn’t be an issue in the Senate seat appointment.

“Money is not going to be a factor here,” Robert Blagojevich is heard saying. He told jurors that he wanted to make sure the businessman knew that any notion of a pay-to-play deal “was dead.”

Much of the prosecution’s case centered on the ousted governor’s alleged hope to be named to Obama’s Cabinet or get another major job in exchange for appointing the president’s friend, Valerie Jarrett, to the Senate seat.

Sam Adam Jr., a lawyer for Rod Blagojevich, said the defense plans to call White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel as a witness but currently has no intention of calling Jarrett.

A lobbyist had testified earlier in the trial that Emanuel urged him to make sure Blagojevich knew the president-elect wanted Jarrett to get the seat.

On Monday, Robert Blagojevich’s attorney, Michael Ettinger, replayed a recording initially played by prosecutors in which Robert says about the Senate seat, “the only brotherly advice I’d give ya … I wouldn’t give anything away.” He told jurors he was merely talking about getting a good political deal — including using the Senate appointment to gain leverage in the state capital to force policy initiatives through the legislature.

He appeared flustered and defensive at times under cross-examination by prosecutor Chris Niewoehner. When asked if he urged his brother to horse-trade about appointing Jarrett in exchange for Obama arranging to put an end to the federal investigation of the governor’s administration, he bristled, “absolutely not.”

He said several times that he that only thought in terms of “political horsetrading” so his brother could further his policy agenda, never about how his brother could benefit personally.

Robert Blagojevich also testified that he never tied political contributions to government business while he served as chairman of his brother’s campaign fund, and portrayed himself as frequently outside the loop during discussions.

“I was told never to tie the two and I never did,” Robert Blagojevich said, while across the courtroom at the defense table the former governor nodded his head.

He said he did attend meetings in the campaign office at which witnesses said Blagojevich urged his aides to try to get contributions out of a roadbuilder who was hoping for a big toll road program and a racetrack owner who was awaiting action from the governor on a major racetrack bill.

But Robert Blagojevich said his brother often went into a back office with lobbyists including two former aides, John Wyma and Alonzo Monk, to discuss “stuff I wasn’t part of.”

He also said fundraising for his brother was difficult in part because of reports that the administration was under investigation.

“Rod’s brand, Rod as a politician, was tarnished,” he said, adding that they got the answer “no” more often than “yes” in trying to raise money.

At one point, Robert Blagojevich went out of his way to address the profanities he and his brother threw around on the secret FBI recordings. Breaking courtroom protocol, he turned toward the jury without his attorney asking any direct question on the subject.

“If anyone was offended by the vulgarity, I apologize,” he said casting his eyes around the courtroom. “I didn’t expect anyone would hear me.”