{"id":519860,"date":"2010-04-07T01:58:00","date_gmt":"2010-04-07T05:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c60fd53ef01347fb6a163970c"},"modified":"2010-04-07T13:59:57","modified_gmt":"2010-04-07T17:59:57","slug":"blagojevich%e2%80%99s-brother-wants-to-suppress-recordings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/519860","title":{"rendered":"Blagojevich\u2019s brother wants to suppress recordings"},"content":{"rendered":"

From today’s print edition<\/em>:<\/p>\n

Blagojevich\u2019s brother wants to suppress recordings<\/h2>\n

Strategy differs from that of former governor<\/h3>\n

By Jeff Coen, Tribune reporter<\/p>\n

In the first indication of a split in strategy, former Gov. Rod
\nBlagojevich’s brother, Robert, is seeking to keep undercover recordings
\nfrom being aired at their upcoming trial \u2014 a sharp contrast with the
\nformer governor, who has repeatedly urged that all the recordings be
\nplayed.
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\nIn a motion filed Tuesday in federal court, Robert Blagojevich’s lawyer
\nargued that authorities had no probable cause to undertake the secret
\nrecording in the first place. The brother ran the governor’s campaign
\nfund for part of 2008.\n<\/p>\n

The lawyer, Michael Ettinger, contended the FBI submitted no hard
\nevidence that favors were being traded for campaign cash before agents
\nbegan tapping the phones of the then-governor and some of his key
\nadvisers in 2008.
<\/br><\/p>\n

\n
<\/br>
\n"Evidence of Robert Blagojevich soliciting campaign contributions on
\nbehalf of his brother, without proof of an explicit quid pro quo, is not
\n remotely criminal, but, rather, exemplifies the American political
\nprocess," Ettinger wrote.
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\nU.S. District Judge James Zagel, who is presiding over Blagojevich’s
\ntrial this summer, is expected to hear the matter on Friday.
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\nThe motion quotes from an application used by prosecutors to obtain
\njudicial authority to begin the recording. The document contended that
\nthe Blagojevich brothers and other close advisers had discussed raising
\nfunds before the end of 2008 because of an impending change in campaign
\nfinance law that would limit large donations.
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\nThe former governor is charged with shaking down potential donors,
\nincluding trying to force $50,000 in campaign contributions from the
\nchief executive officer of Children’s Memorial Hospital before he would
\nclear the way for the hospital to receive $8 million from the state.
\nAccording to the application, the former governor noted that former Cubs
\n manager Dusty Baker had called him on the hospital’s behalf.
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\nRod Blagojevich contends he will be found innocent of criminal
\nwrongdoing if all the recordings \u2014 not just the ones the government
\nwants played \u2014 are aired at the trial. His lawyers have sought to play
\nany and all recordings made of his private conversations while governor.
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\nZagel has said that if the former governor takes the witness stand \u2014
\nwhich he has promised to do \u2014 it is likely that the recordings that the
\ndefense believes back up his position would be played for the jury.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From today’s print edition: Blagojevich\u2019s 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 \u2014 a sharp contrast with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3992,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-519860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3992"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=519860"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519860\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=519860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=519860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=519860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}