Blagojevich prosecutors focus on Senate claim

Associated Press

CHICAGO

Prosecutors in the corruption retrial of Rod Blagojevich focused quickly Tuesday on the most serious and sensational allegation — that the former Illinois governor tried to sell or trade an appointment to U.S. President Barack Obama’s old U.S. Senate seat.

At Blagojevich’s first trial last year, the government didn’t delve into that accusation until weeks into testimony. They jumped into it this time on their first day of presenting evidence, calling a onetime Blagojevich confidant who claims the two discussed how the governor could leverage the appointment into campaign cash or a top job.

Former Blagojevich chief of staff John Harris SFlbdescribed to jurors matter-of-factly how Blagojevich talked about the Senate seat in October 2008, asking Harris in one conversation, “What do you think I can get for this?”

The government’s initial witnesses in the first trial were a series of experts and little-known players in the investigation, many of whom spoke about intricate financial transactions that many jurors later complained were difficult to understand.

But with Harris on the stand, prosecutors played for jurors excerpts from FBI wiretap recordings, in which a sometimes giddy, frequently foul-mouthed Blagojevich is heard talking about how he might benefit personally from naming someone to Obama’s seat.

In recordings made around the time of the 2008 presidential election, Blagojevich is heard mentioning Obama’s friend, Valerie Jarrett, and wondering if he could become the U.S. secretary of health and human services or an ambassador in exchange for naming Jarrett to the seat.

“So, I’m the governor of a $58 billion corporation,” he tells Harris, likening Illinois to a company he’d run for six years. “Why can’t I be ambassador to India?” Blagojevich brings up the possibility of being ambassador to Germany, England, France or Canada.

He also talks about landing a job in the private sector or with a nonprofit foundation, possibly with the Obama administration’s help; Blagojevich and Harris toss around names such as the Kaiser Foundation and the Red Cross.

Blagojevich later balks at appointing someone Obama favors without getting anything in return.