Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich got dealt another blow this week from federal prosecutors. A revised corruption indictment filed in federal court adds eight new criminal charges against Blagojevich, including racketeering, attempted extortion and bribery. The new charges are in addition to the original indictment filed in January, accusing Blagojevich of trying to sell Barack Obama’s IL US Senate seat to the highest bidder and other “pay to play” schemes.
Blagojevich released this statement late Thursday night via his publicists. “Prosecutors overreached and brought charges they can’t prove. So now they’re reworking the charges and backpeddling. They’re more interested in saving face than doing justice.”
Blago’s defense attorneys told reporters the superseding indictment is like “the same old soup re-warmed under different legal theories” and has “no affect on the case.” Attorney Sheldon Sorosky referred to the charges in the indictment as “political dealings” not “criminal conduct” and maintains his client is innocent and did nothing wrong. The trial is scheduled to start June 3rd. Sheldon Sorosky and Aaron Goldstein spoke to reporters about the charges in the latest indictment. Watch the news conference here.