with Natasha Korecki and Chris Fusco
Judge James Zagel has adjourned court for the day, but first he asked defense attorney Sam Adam Jr. how much time he'd need to finish cross-examining Lon Monk.
"Tomorrow," Adam said -- meaning all day.
A pause from the judge. Then, "Umm... sure."
If Adam's cross-examination of Monk ends before the end of the day, we will hear brief testimonies from two witnesses -- David Abel and Vinnie Mazarro.
Next up on the stand will be Joseph Aramanda, a Tony Rezko associate who is accused of siphoning money to Rezko tied to the $10 billion state pension bond deal, which was referenced earlier in testimony.
Before Zagel called it a day, Adam was working on breaking down the line between pay-to-play and politics as usual.
Blagojevich was always going to sign the race track bill, Adam argued, contribution or not.
"At no point did he ever say to you, that (the contribution) is what I want, or I'm not going to sign the bill?" Adam asked Monk.
Adam also painted Monk as a bad friend and untrustworthy employee who lied to both Blagojevich and his clients, the Johnstons.
Court will reconvene at 9:30 a.m.
There is one big question that I want the prosecutors to ask Lon Monk: "Did you ever take a law school exam for Rod Blagojevich or help him in any other way get through his law school exams?" Because a man as dumb as Blagojevich, who can't operate a computer (so he says) and has his publicists running his Twitter account, had to have someone help him get that degree. And given his penchant for constantly talking and moving and glad-handing, he couldn't sit still long enough to study for and pass law school examinations.