In his new book, The Governor, ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich said the day before his arrest, he called his chief of staff, John Harris, and told him to get the ball rolling on the appointment of Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan to the Senate seat.

He hoped to strike a deal with her politically powerful father who would have to agree to advance a legislative package that would expand health care, create 500,000 new jobs and put a hold on foreclosures.

The notion that Blagojevich would have chosen Lisa Madigan appears to lay the groundwork for a defense strategy that would attack the government's sexiest allegation: that Blagojevich aimed to sell the Senate post for personal gain.

Whether the contention will hold up is in question in a case that is grounded in a substantial number of secret conversations caught on FBI wiretaps.

Read more in today's story: How Blagojevich did business