From today’s print edition:
Blagojevich’s brother wants to suppress recordings
Strategy differs from that of former governor
By Jeff Coen, Tribune reporter
In the first indication of a split in strategy, former Gov. Rod
Blagojevich’s brother, Robert, is seeking to keep undercover recordings
from being aired at their upcoming trial — a sharp contrast with the
former governor, who has repeatedly urged that all the recordings be
played.
In a motion filed Tuesday in federal court, Robert Blagojevich’s lawyer
argued that authorities had no probable cause to undertake the secret
recording in the first place. The brother ran the governor’s campaign
fund for part of 2008.
The lawyer, Michael Ettinger, contended the FBI submitted no hard
evidence that favors were being traded for campaign cash before agents
began tapping the phones of the then-governor and some of his key
advisers in 2008.
"Evidence of Robert Blagojevich soliciting campaign contributions on
behalf of his brother, without proof of an explicit quid pro quo, is not
remotely criminal, but, rather, exemplifies the American political
process," Ettinger wrote.
U.S. District Judge James Zagel, who is presiding over Blagojevich’s
trial this summer, is expected to hear the matter on Friday.
The motion quotes from an application used by prosecutors to obtain
judicial authority to begin the recording. The document contended that
the Blagojevich brothers and other close advisers had discussed raising
funds before the end of 2008 because of an impending change in campaign
finance law that would limit large donations.
The former governor is charged with shaking down potential donors,
including trying to force $50,000 in campaign contributions from the
chief executive officer of Children’s Memorial Hospital before he would
clear the way for the hospital to receive $8 million from the state.
According to the application, the former governor noted that former Cubs
manager Dusty Baker had called him on the hospital’s behalf.
Rod Blagojevich contends he will be found innocent of criminal
wrongdoing if all the recordings — not just the ones the government
wants played — are aired at the trial. His lawyers have sought to play
any and all recordings made of his private conversations while governor.
Zagel has said that if the former governor takes the witness stand —
which he has promised to do — it is likely that the recordings that the
defense believes back up his position would be played for the jury.