Blagojevich attorney says jurors know from FBI tapes that ex-Ill. governor didn’t commit crime

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Blagojevich lawyer says ex-governor not a criminal

CHICAGO — Rod Blagojevich’s attorney says the former governor is an insecure man who talks a lot, but he’s not a criminal.

Sam Adam Jr. told jurors Tuesday in his closing argument that Blagojevich never tried to sell or trade an appointment to the U.S. Senate seat Barack Obama gave up when he was elected president.

And he says they know that for themselves after listening to hours of secretly made FBI wiretap tapes played by prosecutors during the evidence phase of the impeached governor’s corruption trial.

He says they heard “tape after tape of just talking” and says that’s how Blagojevich is.

Blagojevich has pleaded not guilty to charges including that he schemed to sell Obama’s old Senate seat and illegally pressure people for campaign contributions.

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

CHICAGO (AP) — An attorney for Rod Blagojevich says the federal government did not prove its corruption case against the former Illinois governor.

Sam Adam Jr. told jurors Tuesday that’s why he did not call Blagojevich to testify, as he’d promised at the beginning of the trial. He calls the governor’s silence the “big elephant in the room” but says he had no idea that prosecutors wouldn’t prove anything.

Adam was warned by the judge that he would be stopped if he tells jurors about witnesses the prosecution did not call in the evidence phase of the trial.

Blagojevich has pleaded not guilty to charges including that he schemed to sell President Barack Obama’s old Senate seat and illegally pressure people for campaign contributions.