Evanston, IL
The man accused of orchestrating ‘pay to play’ political schemes and trying to sell Barack Obama’s Illinois Senate seat to the highest bidder… headlined a discussion about “Ethics in Politics” at one of the country’s most prestigious universities .
Northwestern University’s College Democrats invited former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich to speak about, “Ethics in Politics.” The student government group paid Blagojevich an undisclosed amount of money to appear. The topic created quite a firestorm on campus, according to political science professor, Donald Gordon, who was part of the 3-professor panel to question Blagojevich Tuesday night. “Some students thought it was a terrible idea bringing you (Blago) on campus because they thought having a conversation with you (Blago) about ethics was akin to bringing Tiger Woods here to talk about fidelity.” That comment drew the first of many hearty laughs throughout the night.
Blagojevich kept his audience waiting, arriving almost 20 minutes late in a stretch limo, with a small entourage. A few minutes later, an announcer appeared on stage to inform the crowd of 1,000 students that, “Elvis is in the building!”
After taking the stage, Blagojevich almost immediately quoted the King of Rock n’ Roll, saying “I’m innocent of all charges.” He told the crowd, “Every allegation against me is false, they are all lies and when I have my day in court, I will prove that they are lies.”
The questions thrown at Blagojevich didn’t break any new ground in his federal corruption case. When asked what his definition of political corruption is, he replied, “Doing anything against the law or illegal.” Blagojevich said it time and time again, he believes he did not break the law in any way.
One of the loudest gasps of the night came after this question to Blagojevich from a Northwestern student….. “What advice on ethics would you give to someone taking office for first time?” Blagojevich’s answer: “Surround yourself with good lawyers… and be careful of gotcha politics.”
When asked about his relationship with other corrupt Chicago politicians, including convicted political fundraiser, Tony Rezko, Blagojevich responded, “I misunderstood Rezko and misread him but so did President Obama. I never knew he(Rezko) was the person he turned out to be – neither did Obama.”
NU law professor, Tonja Jacobi, asked Blagojevich, “when it comes to quid pro quo, what is OK for an elected official to ask for?” Blagojevich didn’t directly answer the question, but eventually took a swing at it by pointing fingers at Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton during the 2008 Presidential race. “Here’s a political deal that’s very normal and routine. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are fighting it out. On the eve of the (Democratic National) Convention, Obama’s ahead so there’s a political deal. In exchange for her (Clinton) getting out of the race, he agrees to make her Secretary of State. And he agrees to raise her $10 million to retire her campaign debt. That’s typical routine politics at the highest level and you should ask them whether or not you think that is appropriate.”
Regarding his desire to appear on reality tv (Blagojevich is a contestant on the upcoming ‘Apprentice’ on NBC and his wife, Patti, appeared on “I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!”) Blagojevich says “it’s not a strategy, it’s a necessity.” He maintains his family is suffering while trying to pay the mortgage on his north side Chicago home and the tuition to continue sending his two daughters to private school. “We have nothing,” he says.
The federal corruption charges against Blagojevich center around highly orchestrated ‘pay to play’ schemes.. including the allegation that Blagojevich tried to sell Barack Obama’s Illinois Senate seat to the highest bidder. Tuesday night Blagojevich told the panel his first choice for US senator was Lisa Madigan, who is currently Illinois Attorney General. Blagojevich says he struck a deal with Lisa’s father, Michael Madigan, who is Illinois House Speaker & Chairman of the IL Democratic Party. The deal- Blagojevich would appoint Lisa Madigan to the Senate seat and Michael Madigan would vow not raise taxes on people of Illinois. Blagojevich says the morning before he was arrested (Dec 2008) he directed his chief of staff to make the deal happen and had he not been arrested the deal would have gone thru. Blagojevich later said then-Congressman Rahm Emanuel, who is now President Obama’s Chief of Staff, was “one of the key guys to make this deal happen.”
Listen to highlights from Rod Blagojevich’s comments below.