Reporting with Natasha Korecki
Robert Blagojevich, dressed in a dark suit and red and blue tie, took the stand a little while ago. At beginning of his testimony, he was asked if he had any siblings. "I have one brother. Rod," he said.
The words rang loudly in the courtroom, where his brother sat just feet away at the defense table, looking right at Robert with a slight smile on his face.
Robert's attorney, Michael Ettinger, asked with a smile whether there was a stipulation to identity.
"It's stipulated," said Judge James Zagel, also smiling.
We're going through Robert's history -- and resume -- quite closely. With at least one veteran on the jury, Ettinger is paying special attention to Robert's expansive military history.
Ettinger asks Robert about his political affiliation -- Republican, all his life -- and experience with fund-raising. He never did any, he said, until he started volunteering for the Red Cross.
Robert looks serious as he answers questions, doesn't smile much, if at all. He's giving the answers straight.
Ettinger is trying to draw contrasts with the brothers, showing that Robert Blagojevich earned a scholarship, served his country, was active in the Red Cross and was a self-made businessman. He didn't need Rod Blagojevich -- or the schemes he's accused of taking part in, the defense is trying to show the jury.
tell me in fifty words or less, how does an attorney become an upstanding business man!