Reporting with Natasha Korecki and Abdon M. Pallasch
Even as the defense dives into the government's allegations and gets away from Thursday's biographical testimony, Rod Blagojevich continues to give defense lawyer Aaron Goldstein rambling answers at times.
He's managed to bring up Motorola while testifying about the Racetrack Bill.
"They had a new phone they were gonna come out with that was secret," Blagojevich said.
He later starts answering one of Goldstein's questions, then stops.
"Strike that," Blagojevich says, then pauses. "Can I say strike that? Strike that."
He throws in legal language, and a new word, in a later statement.
"This part right here, I think really encapsalizes my state of mind at this time," Blagojevich testified. The defense is allowed to put in much of its evidence only if it shows Blagojevich's state of mind, the judge has ruled.
Meanwhile Blagojevich's wife, Patti, and daughter, Amy, watch from the bench. At a morning break, Patti pulls out a laminated card of her late mother, Margaret Mell, and looks at it with her daughter.
When the defense plays its first tape, featuring him speaking with legal adviser Bill Quinlan, the ex-governor's potty mouth surfaces: "bulls***," Blagojevich tells Quinlan. Patti looks at her daughter and smiles.
Blagojevich said yesterday that Amy told him to "watch your language" while on the stand as he left for court.
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