Rod Blagojevich: May 2009 Archives

Roland Burris tells the Associated Press today he'll publicize "in the very near future" whether he'll run for a full term in 2010.
Meanwhile, our Springfield reporter Jordan Wilson reports:
SPRINGFIELD -- U.S. Sen. Roland Burris continued to defend himself of pay-to-play allegations Thursday, taking shots at the media and the state's senior U.S. Senator.
Burris came under fire again after a FBI wiretap transcript showed he promised a campaign contribution to the man who appointed him, the now-indicted former Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
In the Nov. 13 conversations, Burris tells the ex-governor's brother that he would "personally do something OK? And it will come to you before the 15th of December."Burris was referencing a promised donation of $1,500, a figure his lawyer confirmed.
Burris said Thursday that he has been truthful throughout the events leading up to his appointment and in the sworn testimony and affidavits he submitted after. He just wants the public and media to believe him.
"I expect the media and the public to review every word of the transcript and the context," Burris said. "And at the end of the day, I expect both to judge me fairly and to acknowledge I did nothing to curry favor, was not a wiling party in any alleged pay to play scheme and I did not lie to anyone about the events leading to my appointment."
Burris then went a step farther and accused the media of mischaracterizing how he withheld key facts about his appointment during his dealings with a House committee that launched the impeachment case against former Gov. Blagojevich. Burris put the onus on his questioners on the committee.
"You all have got it backwards," Burris said to reporters. "It is not upon a person who is testifying to go out of his way on anything. It is the person who has to ask the questions."
Not only did Burris try to convince members of the press to lighten their coverage, but he also denounced comments made by his fellow U.S. Senator from Illinois, Dick Durbin (D-Ill.).
Durbin said Wednesday that Burris' testimony before the House impeachment panel in January was incomplete and not accurate.
"Senator Durbin's comments are not correct," Burris said sharply. "Please accept Roland Burris' comments rather than Senator Durbin. I answered every question that was asked of me by that committee."

In the most revealing interview she's given since her husband's Dec. 9 arrest, Patti Blagojevich told the Sun-Times her love for Rod Blagojevich has not wavered.
"Through thick and thin. You're married. You made a commitment to someone. I love my husband. He's a devoted husband, a great father. He's loyal, hardworking," Patti Blagojevich told the Sun-Times. "I don't see why these circumstances -- which were wholly beyond our control, rained down on us -- would affect our relationship."
As she prepared to appear as a contestant on a reality TV show, Patti said her chief concern is for her two daughters.
"The big challenge is keeping things as normal for them as possible" she said. "That's why I'm doing the show. We're going to try as hard as we can to keep them in the same school they've been in since they were toddlers, to keep that kind of stability in their lives. That's why I would consider anything like that."
Mrs. Blagojevich said fears that a lack of income will create instability for her kids. She said she's doing the show, in part, to help keep the family in the same Ravenswood Manor home as well as afford the $20,000 annual tuition it costs to put both her daughters in private school.

Not just another Wednesday for Mr. and Mrs. Blagojevich.
While Patti Blagojevich is flying out to Los Angeles today to finalize plans to be a contestant on "I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here," Rod Blagojevich is meeting his book deadline, which is today.
The ex-governor's wife plans to film some promotions for the show and is expected to sign the contract while she's out west.
The prime-time NBC show will start filming in June in Costa Rica.

Sam Adam Jr., attorney of R&B star R. Kelly, says he's ready to dig into the sweeping case against former Rod Blagojevich.
"I'm ready to go," Adam Jr. told me after formally filing his intent to be Blagojevich's lawyer with the court today.
This blog reported Friday that Adam Jr. and his father officially agreed to do the case. Adam said he expected his father would tomorrow formally file his "appearance" or his intent on acting as another Blagojevich lawyer.
Judge James Zagel is allowing three lawyers represent Blagojevich (the other is Shelly Sorosky) and will authorize their payments from the Friends of Blagojevich campaign fund. The rate is $110 an hour.

ELK GROVE, Ill., May 14 (UPI) -- An Illinois company is marketing hair care products inspired by and named after disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Dennis Fath of Delta Laboratories in the Chicago suburb of Elk Grove said he "woke up in the middle of the night" with the idea for "Blago It's Bleep'n Golden Volumizing Shampoo and Conditioner," WMAQ-TV, Chicago, reported Thursday.

"He does have a nice head of hair, and (I thought) it would be funny to have something named after him because of his hair," Fath said.

Fath said the shampoo and conditioner sell for $8 each, or $15 for a set of both. He said the products, which are only available at blagohair.com, have so far sold fewer than 100 bottles.

The theatrical father-and-son team Sam Adam and Sam Adam Jr., best known for defending R. Kelly, told me today they are officially on board Blago's case.
"We're in," Adam Jr. said. "My father and I are planning to file our appearances Monday or Tuesday."
The firm decision comes after a Friday meeting among the lawyers in the case.
They join Shelly Sorosky as a team of three to represent ousted governor Rod Blagojevich. They expect to ask Judge James Zagel to appoint a fourth lawyer, Allan Ackerman, to handle the voluminous paper in the case.
"He is legal giant. We're going to need someone who's had experience with cases like this," Adam Jr. said.

The Adams, along with veteran attorney Ed Genson, were part of the trial team representing R&B singer R. Kelly, who beat sex charges last year.
"We are before one of the best federal judges that anyone can hope for," Adam Jr. said.

Attorneys in the Rod Blagojevich case met this morning to hash out a legal team strategy.
"We're in," Sam Adam Jr. just told me.
"My father and I are planning to file our appearances Monday or Tuesday."
Here's how the team is shaping up according to lawyers at the meeting this morning:
Sam Adam Jr. will be in the day-to-day control of the case along with his father, Sam Adam, and Shelly Sorosky, who has been on board with the governor since day one.
"They never left," Sorosky said of the Adams, who played a hand in the legal team when Blagojevich faced impeachment. "I think they will be on board, yes."
The Adams father-and-son team, best known for their work in the R. Kelly trial -- as well as Sorosky -- are expected to be the trial lawyers.
Allan Ackerman: The defense wants him to be the point-person on writing motions and sorting through documents. However, Judge James Zagel said he would only agree to appoint three lawyers to the case. He did leave the door open to appointing a fourth lawyer -- not for trial -- but to help work through the immense amount of evidence.
Sam Adam Jr. told me earlier this week he was "champing at the bit," to be Rod Blagojevich's lawyer.

They're well-known for being part of the trial team that beat sex charges against R&B star R. Kelly.
Now, Sam Adam Jr. and Sam Adam Sr. might be ready to take on the case of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
Sam Adam Jr. told me yesterday he's "champing at the bit," to do the case.

Read more: Father-and-son team might defend Blago

Prosecutors say the evidence they've turned over to defendants in the Blagojevich case is actually pretty manageable.
That's in response to all the griping from defense lawyers that the mountain of evidence turned over by the government would take 51 years for a lawyer to review.
"In short, the discovery in the instant case is manageable and not as
complicated as the defendants suggest," Assistant U.S. Attorney Reid Schar wrote in a court filing.
Prosecutors seem to tell Judge Zagel that the millions of documents and 400 hours of recordings sounds more daunting than it is. They say they turned over a detailed index, making it easy for lawyers to search through and that they've turned over stuff in an electronic format -- which is easily searchable.

Further, they say that a good number of the documents were turned over in an abundance of caution. "It should not take long for the defendants' counsel to quickly
determine that many of the documents are not relevant to their defense," prosecutors wrote.
"This is not a situation in which the government simply tendered boxes of unlabeled documents to the defense," they say.

If there's $2.3 million in the Friends of Blagojevich fund, how long would it take three lawyers to run through it at $110 an hour?
The computations come after a judge said he'd appoint three lawyers to represent Blago.
• If three lawyers are paid $110 an hour and each bill 40 hours a week, that's $13,200 a week.
• If all three work 52 weeks a year at that pace, that's $686,400 annually.
• $2.3 million divided by $686,400 brings us to 3.3 years.
• If the defense got what they wanted -- seven lawyers (four for trial and three others for prep) they'd potentially burn through $30,800, a week.

BUT, there's many other variables.
• Defense lawyers say they'd likely bill 30 hours a week per atty (not 40).
• Judge James Zagel said he'd consider appointing a fourth lawyer -- not for trial -- to oversee evidence.
• He also said he'd allow additional contract lawyers to be paid through the fund in preparation for trial. He said they were likely to make "significantly less," than the $110/hour.
• Lawyers representing the interests of Friends of Blagojevich campaign fund say there's other overhead costs to pay.
• Blago lawyer Shelly Sorosky wants to also tap the fund to pay for office space where the defense can set up camp and house hundreds of thousands of pages of documents.
• Assistant U.S. Atty Reid Schar said the fund was meant for Blagojevich's future runs for governor: "That is now never going to happen, ever again," Schar said of the impeached ex-governor.

BY NATASHA KORECKI Staff Reporter

Saying it was more lawyers that he's ever appointed to a case, U.S. District Judge James Zagel agreed this morning to let ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich have three lawyers for trial and additional lawyers on contract for his trial preparation.
Zagel said he usually appoints one lawyer for a case.
The usual exception is a Death Penalty case. And those defendants get two lawyers, said.
The three will be appointed to the case and be paid through the campaign fund at the rate controlled by Zagel -- $110 an hour. When the $2.3 million Friends of Blagojevich campaign fund runs out of cash, the judge is likely to tap taxpayer dollars to bankroll the former governor's defense.
Zagel said he couldn't recall a case where he's appointed three lawyers. Even in death penalty cases, he's only appointed two, he said.
"I'm preparing to go to an ... exceptional number of lawyers and that is three," Zagel said. "I've never authorized more than two."
If Blago were paying for his defense from his own, personal money, he could have whatever number of lawyers he chose. But Blago says he's out of money and wants to tap the campaign fund -- something the government had opposed, or, at least wanted controlled.
On Friday, Blago's lawyers said it would take them 51 years to get through the 3 million documents and 400 hours of evidence the government had turned over.
Father and son team Sam Adam Sr. and Sam Adam Jr. are the likely additions to Shelly Sorosky, who is now the only official lawyer. The Adams were both in court today as "observers," but said they're likely to join the case.
The defense was hoping for four lawyers to be appointed-- with the fourth being veteran attorney Allan Ackerman.
Zagel said he'd consider a fourth lawyer for trial preparation only, someone who could oversee all of the evidence.
The time before trial is what's important, Sam Adam Sr. said.
"The trial is not the problem. It's the preparation for trial," he said.
He joked about adding Manny Ramirez to the trial team since he's got some time on his hands these days.
Said Sorosky: "We may have to put a lawyer on steroids just to do this."

The ex-gov's lawyers will be in court today to ask a judge how many of them he will appoint to attack 3 million pages of discovery and at least 400 hours of audio tape.
On Friday, Blagojevich's lawyers said it would take one lawyer 51 years to get through the evidence.
Since their client is hard up on cash, his lawyers and potential lawyers agreed to be paid out of the campaign fund but at the rate of a public defender -- $110 an hour.

Blago's lawyers said today it would take one lawyer 51 years to get through all the evidence the feds have turned over against the former governor.
In a filing where defense lawyers for Rod Blagojevich say they'll accept $110-hour pay (as this blog reported here earlier this week) they tell a judge they've received 1 million pages of documents and 400 hours of tapes. The filing also reveals that due to grand jury subpoenas, the Office of the Governor "has provided approximately 2 million documents to the government." Those 2 million documents are in the hands of Winston & Strawn, Blago's previous lawyers, according to the filing.
This comes after Judge Zagel said he would decide how many lawyers should be appointed to the case, in part, based on how much evidence there is.
Attorneys Michael Ettinger and Sheldon Sorosky asked Zagel to appoint a
"sufficient number of attorneys so that the massive amount of discovery can be read and the tapes can be digested within a reasonable amount of time and Defendant Rod Blagojevich be afforded effective assistance of counsel."
This blog reported earlier this week that the defense would give up its claim on the $2.3 million fund and instead allow Zagel authority to dole it out to them for attorneys fees -- at $110 an hour.
That is, until it runs out. Then the lawyers would be paid through taxpayer funds.
The judge has this kind of control because Blagojevich says he doesn't have money to fund his defense.
Prosecutors opposed the defense having complete control over the campaign fund, saying it was subject to government seizure. They asked Zagel for limitations on how defense lawyers would be paid and how many of them would be paid through the fund.
There's a hearing in the case Monday.

Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan wants to fire 3,000 state appointees who are holdovers from former governors George Ryan and Rod Blagojevich.
He has vowed to move legislation that would purge the posts and allow Gov. Quinn to reappoint or rehire.
"I'm not satisfied by the pace of change, and I want to accelerate the pace of change," Madigan told reporters today, according to a story written by Sun-Times reporters Dave McKinney and Jordan Wilson.
The legislation proposed by Madigan (D-Chicago) would cover about 90 state boards and commissions, all Cabinet-level appointees that require state Senate confirmation, and state employees in Rutan- exempt political hiring positions. Those covered under the legislation would be permitted to serve for up to 60 days after the effective date.
Some Ryan holdovers may have been in their jobs for 10 years by now.

Is this a good proposal?

Here's the story from our Springfield Reporters: Madigan vows to clear out government appointees

She's a big part of the reason we're here today.
Pam Davis, a hospital CEO, blew the whistle on the Blagojevich administration and extortionate tactics on the health facilities planning board.
Yesterday, she called for an end of the planning board.
Davis was among the first to wire up in the FBI's corruption case against former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's administration. Her actions led to more secret recordings, which brought down corrupt board member Stuart Levine.
Levine became the chief witness in last year's trial of political fund-raiser Tony Rezko.
Rezko is now cooperating against Blagojevich.
And on it goes.

Lawyers for Rod Blagojevich plan to give up their efforts to seize unlimited control of the ex-governor's $2.3 million campaign fund and instead let the judge parcel it out for attorney's fees. They plan to tell Judge James Zagel in a written motion this week that
they'll give up their fight to gain control of the fund, defense lawyers tell the Sun-Times.
Zagel previously said that if defense lawyers did that, he was likely to tap it to give them money for legal fees -- but at a rate public defenders are paid.
Zagel also warned the fund will quickly run out of money, leaving lawyers to turn to public funds. Zagel last week gave lawyers two choices: 1) ask for a hearing where they'd argue why Blagojevich should have unlimited control of the fund. 2) agree to give up control, allowing Zagel to oversee the money.
The court oversight would mean lawyers would be paid $110 an hour, instead of upwards of $500 an hour that some pull in. (The unemployed Blagojevich has said he doesn't have the money to fund his defense)
It also means that Zagel will decide how many lawyers Blago can have.
The number is a big issue for the defense team, who say they need help getting through 3 million documents and 400 hours of taped conversations.
The defense is expected to lay out that part of the dilemma in court documents this week and ask Zagel to appoint enough lawyers to get through the evidence in a reasonable amount of time.
So far, Shelly Sorosky is the only attorney signed on to represent Blago.
But those unofficially on the team, pending court approval, include Sam Adam Sr. and Sam Adam Jr. as well as Allan Ackerman.
Prosecutors, arguing the money might be seized, argued that defense lawyers should not have unfettered access to the $2.3 million. Without a limit on the rate of fees, they argued, lawyers would draw down the fund immediately and then ask to be put on the public dole.

Prosecutors have said they have an extraordinary amount of evidence against the ex-governor. They weren't joking.
The feds just turned over 1 million documents and 400 hours of recorded conversations to defense lawyers in Rod Blagojevich's case.
There's another at least 500 to 1000 hours of recorded conversations but prosecutors turned over the "pertinent" conversations to lawyers.
The volume of evidence will likely be one argument defense lawyers use as they're expected to ask U.S. District Judge James Zagel to appoint attorneys to the case.

Three times may just have been enough to charm a former friend of Rod Blagojevich into talking with the feds. But it hasn't quite gotten Christopher Kelly, who has been indicted three times, to cooperate.
It's the first time the former top fund-raiser has flirted with flipping on his longtime friend.
Sources say Kelly has been in some talks with prosecutors, but so far, the talks haven't amounted to Kelly's cooperation.
That was evidenced in an adverse hearing Tuesday, in which prosecutors fought a Kelly bid to delay sentencing in the first case against him. Kelly pleaded guilty to tax charges in January.
"I cannot comment on anything we've said to the government," said Kelly's lawyer, Michael Monico. "We are facing two upcoming trials and nothing has been decided. The government and Mr. Kelly have not reached any agreements. Mr. Kelly at this point is proceeding to review the evidence in the two pending (cases)."
Monico referenced the amount of pressure the feds have put on Kelly, who is a onetime adviser, fund-raiser and longtime friend to Blagojevich. Kelly was indicted for a third time April 2, along with the ex-governor on corruption charges.
"This case shows more than anything, the power of the government," Monico said.
Monico is seeking to delay Kelly's sentencing on the tax charges until after he gets more evidence for the other two cases against his client. Prosecutors opposed the bid. Monico said in court that prosecutors often delay sentencing when it is in their interests.
That includes the case of fund-raiser and state board member Stuart Levine, who was initially charged in 2004. He's become a significant cooperator for the government and has yet to be sentenced.

Any lawyer who signed up to represent former Gov. Blagojevich already knew there would be an issue with getting paid. Unlike some of the well-financed pols who are charged criminally, Illinois ex-governors can't seem to come up with the cash to pay for their own defense.
On Friday, a federal judge made it pretty clear that the best option for Blagojevich's lawyers to get paid was to go on the public dole.
And that means getting paid $110 an hour.
"They're not particularly high, but they're not all that low either," U.S. District Judge James Zagel said of the hourly rate.
He said there is a "significant pool of highly able lawyers who are willing to work for that fee," knowing that trying such a case would "enhance their reputation."
Regardless of the judge's remarks, many high profile attorneys consider the rate paid by taxpayers a significant pay cut.
Some of the lawyers who have tentatively signed on to represent Blagojevich are paid upwards of $500 an hour.
But the probable team, made up of -- Sheldon Sorosky, Sam Adam Sr., Sam Adam Jr. and Allan Ackerman -- have agreed that, in the "worst case scenario," they would agree to the $110-an-hour fee, defense lawyers in the case have told me.