At this point, both houses of the legislature had passed the race track legislation; it only awaited the governor's signature to go into law.

The tape records Monk and Blago having a mock conversation about what Monk should say to Johnston to get him to pay up.

Monk would tell Johnston that he should hand over the money now, and the race track legislation would be signed just after Jan. 1, Blagojevich said on the recording.

That would leave enough time between the contribution and the signing so they could avoid suspicion.

Monk, as the Johnstons' lobbyist, wanted the bill signed sooner. Every day the bill went unsigned, he said, his clients lost $9,000 in subsidies.

Still, Monk said he would push Johnston to hand over the check.

"Give us the money. One has nothing to do with the other," Monk said he would tell Johnston, referring to the contribution and the legislation. "Give us the f-ing money."

Earlier in the conversation, Monk lies to Blagojevich, telling him he planned to visit his father in Oklahoma in the coming days. Monk was actually going on a golf trip to the Dominican Republic, but given the busy fund-raising season, he didn't want Blagojevich to know it was a pleasure trip.

Plus, the last time Monk went on a golf outing during a busy season a few years earlier, Blagojevich flew off the handle, Monk testified.

"He left a really angry message where he was yelling and screaming on my phone," Monk said about that 2006 trip. "He was angry."