Blagojevich Trial

Well the circus is supposed to officially start tomorrow with opening statements. I'm wondering how long the Judge will allow Blago to keep giving these mini speeches proclaiming his innocence outside the Federal Court building every day? I don't believe that the jury is being sequestered. Anyone know for sure? Oh,and he'll also be tweeting daily at http://twitter.com/governorrod

I haven't had access to the news for awhile, but caught up in a little bit of his trial this week. He surely will end up in jail they said especially since MONK, his bestfriend is testifying against him and also confirmed that POttY-MOUTH did no work for the 700,000 she got paid as a realtor.

All his circle of friends already pled guilty, the tapes are proving him guilty, and he's up a creek with out a paddle. Look for jail time for both. Potty Mouth for tax evasion and corrupt money dealings...

Grampa Mell will get the kids.....and he was right about ROD for years...

Blago is as innocent as a devil.

Wow, what a shocker, but not a shocker. Blago shut his mouth. Does this mean he walks?

His SR. lawyer said the prosecution presented to witnesses, so why put Blago on the stand. He, the Sr. lawyer claimed they went over every tape...at a park without phones or "interruptions".

Guess it pays to be a politician.

Question is: If he walks...where does he work, now?

UrRight wrote:

Wow, what a shocker, but not a shocker. Blago shut his mouth. Does this mean he walks?
His SR. lawyer said the prosecution presented to witnesses, so why put Blago on the stand. He, the Sr. lawyer claimed they went over every tape...at a park without phones or "interruptions".
Guess it pays to be a politician.

The prosecution sure didn't put on a convincing case. Other than proving he's a jerk,I'm not sure if the proved any crime.

Quote :

Question is: If he walks...where does he work, now?

He'll get a TV or radio gig if he wants one. Another book deal. Speaking fees maybe.

Another headache for Giannoulis/Redzko...and wow...read the comment section.



http://www.suntimes.com/news/watchdogs/2555870,CST-NWS-watchdogs02.article

A new headache for Giannoulias? Another Rezko loan
His family bank lent $22.75 million, in newly uncovered deal
Comments

August 2, 2010

BY ABDON M. PALLASCH, CHRIS FUSCO AND TIM NOVAK Staff Reporters
By February 2006, businessman and political fixer Tony Rezko was already politically radioactive, caught up in a federal investigation that would see him criminally charged by the end of that year.

News reports had linked Rezko, a key adviser and campaign fund-raiser for then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich, to shady deals involving state pension funds -- among the crimes that ultimately would send him to prison.

» Click to enlarge image

In 2006, Tony Rezko (inset) sought a loan to develop a 62-acre parcel of land at Roosevelt and Clark.
(Brian Jackson/Sun-Times)



» Click to enlarge image

Nadhmi Auchi



This was the Tony Rezko who, looking for millions of dollars for a massive South Loop development, turned to Broadway Bank, owned by the family of Alexi Giannoulias. Giannoulias, the Democrat now running for U.S. Senate, had left his post as a senior loan officer at the Chicago bank in late 2005 to mount a successful campaign for Illinois state treasurer, though he still held an ownership stake in the bank.

Rezko's company asked. And Broadway Bank came through.

On Feb. 14, 2006, newly obtained records show, the bank made a $22.75 million loan to a company called Riverside District Development LLC, whose owners, it turns out, included Rezko.

You won't find Rezko's name on any documents filed in the public record in connection with the loan.

But Rezko acknowledged his ownership stake in Riverside District Development to a federal judge about a year after the loan was made, according to a transcript of the court hearing.

The loan could prove to be a political liability for Giannoulias as he campaigns against his Republican opponent, U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk, for the Senate seat now held by Roland Burris. Not only does its disclosure come during the Senate campaign, but records show the loan was made while Broadway Bank was already having problems with an earlier loan to another Rezko company.

Federal authorities shut down the bank in April.

Giannoulias, who touted his experience at Broadway Bank in his campaign to win election as state treasurer, has said its failure was the result of the national economic slowdown and the pullback in the real estate market, in which it invested heavily.

Through a spokeswoman, Giannoulias says he knew nothing about the $22.75 million loan to Riverside District Development until reporters contacted him.

"Alexi left daily operations of the bank in September of 2005, months before this loan was made," says Kathleen Strand of his campaign staff. "He had no knowledge of it, and his name is not on any documents related to the loan.

"This guilt-by-association story is an unfortunate and failed attempt to link Alexi to Mr. Rezko.''

Rezko's relationship with the bank developed through his friendship with the bank's founder, family patriarch Alexis Giannoulias, Alexi Giannoulias' father, who died in June 2006.

Giannoulias' brother Demetris Giannoulias is the only Broadway Bank official named in public records regarding the loan, which involved a large, vacant piece of property in the South Loop -- 62 acres at Roosevelt Road and Clark Street -- that Rezko had been trying to develop. He hoped to build more than 4,000 homes along the Chicago River there, but he couldn't get City Hall to agree to provide $140 million in tax money to help pay to build roads and put in sewers to make the project work.

Broadway Bank made the loan even though another Rezko company, Chicago Hudson LLC, had fallen behind on a $10.9 million loan it got from the bank four years earlier. That loan -- for a proposed high-rise condo building at 750 N. Hudson on the Near North Side that never got built -- ended up in Bankruptcy Court. The property ended up being sold to another developer. Broadway Bank received $11.5 million from the sale, which took place July 31, 2006.

Following Rezko's indictment in October 2006, he and his lawyers met in January 2007 with U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve to discuss his assets. During that closed-door hearing, Rezko disclosed his ownership stake in Riverside District Development, the company that got the $22.75 million loan from Broadway Bank. Rezko's lawyers said his main partner in Riverside was General Mediterranean Holding, a Luxembourg company controlled by Iraq-born billionaire Nadhmi Auchi.

In a January 2008 court filing in Rezko's case, federal prosecutors in Chicago wrote that Auchi was "convicted several years ago in France on fraud charges" and sentenced to 15 months in prison, "but the sentence was suspended as long as Auchi committed no new crimes."

Auchi has said he has done nothing wrong and has sought to distance himself from Rezko. Auchi's lawyer, Alasdair Pepper, says Rezko no longer has a stake in the 62-acre site, which remains vacant.

Financial institutions typically file a document called a "release of lien'' when a loan is repaid. There's nothing on file with Cook County Recorder of Deeds Eugene Moore's office to show that Riverside District Development repaid the six-month loan from Broadway Bank, which was due Aug. 14, 2006.

But Giannoulias' campaign office says the loan was paid off early. Auchi's lawyer provided documentation to support that, showing the loan was repaid in July 2006.

According to Giannoulias and Auchi, Riverside District Development paid off the Broadway Bank loan with money it obtained from a $27 million loan from another financial institution: Mutual Bank.

Like Broadway Bank, Mutual also ended up getting shut down by federal regulators -- though the loan was paid off, records show. Like Rezko, Mutual's president, Amrish Mahajan, had been a top fund-raiser for Blagojevich.


Here's a sample of comments:
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greenwidow wrote:
The interest in this story is how Rezko met Auchi, arms dealer to Saddam Hussein and why he's buying real estate in Chicago? It was most likely through Rezko's college room mate Ayham Alsammarae the ex-minister of Electric for Iraq....WHY would one of the richest men in England worth billions of dollars be buying land in Chicago? WHY would he lend Rezko over 3 million dollars just before his trial?
THis story is more about Obama and Blagojevich than it is about Alexi...
8/2/2010 8:31 AM CDT on suntimes.com
Recommend Report Abuse

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pb1222 wrote:
Alexi-Rezko-Blago-Obama

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Damn, are there any honest idiots for the senate seat?

Blago guilty on just 1 count as Feds vow retrial

Another 20 or 30 million to retry him? A total waste of money,IMO. When I first heard Fitzgerald the prosecutor lay out the charges I was ready to hang him. Talk about a spin job! The only good thing that came from this is that Blago is no longer the Governor.

...and that he can never again hold public office.

My gosh, someone took their own life over this? Christopher Kelly, remember?

Most of his staff or links are already in jail.
It was the way the prosecutors presented it to the jury. The jury said if it had time-linked it, stream-lined it,..then maybe the one jurer would not have stuck to the "no" on several more counts that they all agreed on.

Look at the millions more it's going to cost if they don't have a re-trial: many will go on with a message that they can still be corrupt and get a slap on the wrist.

The prosecutors want to show they mean business when it comes to political corruption, so I am certain in the next trial he will be thrown in the pen for a lot longer.

1) I'm sick of the clown.
2) Let it go...losing his house, wife and kids for a few years may make him grow up,
3) There are other white collar crimes to go after.

I just feel sorry for his children. Not for his wife, nor him.
It's a mixed bag, whether it's worth a new trial or not.
Keisling had an opinion on why he thinks they shouldn't have a new trial in the NWITimes, today.
I'm getting to the point that I actually expect it today - corruption.

Well, you were right, Artie.

The blabbermouth is already booked for talk shows. Boycott them.

What an idiot he is.

UrRight wrote:

Well, you were right, Artie.

The blabbermouth is already booked for talk shows. Boycott them.

What an idiot he is.

He's got a lot of people who still like him. IMO,his public relations tour after he was impeached saved his ass from more guilty verdicts. He'd be a fool to quit taling now.Today he's appearing at a Comic Con convention and charging for autographs and pictures taken with him.
Blago at Wizard World: Rod Blagojevich Signs for Cash at the Chicago Comic Con and Other Friday Happenings

Autographs & Photo Ops Pre-Sells Available Now! Don't Miss Your Chance To Meet Rod Blagojevich!

I still can't understand why, if they are going to go to a 2nd trial, the judge didn't impose a "gag" order on the nonsensice idiot.

Even his own brother said he was nuts.

I flip the tv when he appears.

There were a lot of negative comments made by real celebrities at that last event...that, "he's not a celebrity!"

It's hogwash that they don't gag the idiot and make him work in the Dirksen Bldge cafe while awaiting for his January trial.

It just is a flucked up judicial system, and it sucks. Anyone else of us would have been thrown in the slammer for less reasons.

He's the most dumbest of all dumbocrats I ever saw on tv. Making a mockery of the seriousness of our judicial system.

Convince me not one on the jury never were exposed to the news or the media that "could taint the jury".

Really? Why not order him secluded or put some duct tape on his mouth so we can at least see a fair trial.

I guess the whole damn judicial system is crooked. I'm not a judge, but the last one I would pick is the 105 that previously worked for the crooked county of CROOK.

I would have dismissed her due to her knowing "how to get away with it" even though she's 68 yrs. old. I'm 56, worked for the top level of the gov't and and you wouldn't want me to serve on a jury, cuz I know how crooked the feds are. Even though it was "way back"...nothing changed!

Well, legally he is only allowed two public defenders, but today he goes back into court and they mentioned on the news, "status; to see if moreT may be required".

Is the court nuts? Are they actually gonna pander to the idiot?

If it was a regular "joe" that worked, they would insist on he/she to get their own lawyer.

He apparently is making money...so if he wants an extra atty., he should put the money up for himself.

Is his wife disabled? If not, why isn't SHE working while he's out having fun?

Honestly, though...haven't heard much about what he is doing now'a'days, other than his radio talk show.

He and Peterson is just wasting tax money. Why don't they hold the trial right away...Blago's is in January; Peterson sits the day away...get the crap out of the way so we can move on.

Oh, that big, fat Nov. primary...see, it's all about the votes, then move on in January when everyone is done celebrating...and has to start a new year with the same old.

Question is, at this point, who in the hell hasn't heard of Blago where you can find an unbiased jury?

At this point, I think they should hold the trial in Wyoming, Utah, Nebraska...where no one really followed him or knew him.

If that's not feasible, then make him enter through the basement or something. He's a distraction, and a complete mental case...

Better yet, hold it right south of the Mexican border and have him get a trial there, with the cartels. No worry about shaking hands, and ranting, "I'm innocent..." Let border control shoot a drone if he tries to rush back to the USA. See how simple things can be?

Blagojevich asks to cancel retrial

Quote :

CHICAGO (AP) — The impeached former governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, asked a judge on Wednesday to cancel his retrial and promptly sentence him on the sole conviction from his first trial, arguing that money woes prevent him from mounting an ample defense.

A five-page motion filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago insists that Blagojevich isn't conceding any guilt, including on the conviction of lying to the FBI. That's the lone count jurors agreed on at his otherwise deadlocked trial last year.

The motion says the broke ex-governor, whose legal bills are supposed to be paid by the government, wants to forego a retrial on grounds that none of his lawyers have been paid for months of pretrial preparations.

"Should this motion be granted . . . funds for the second trial would no longer be necessary," the motions says. An added bonus, it continues, would be "no further cost to taxpayers."

Blagojevich, 54, faces a maximum five-year prison term for the lying count. It was widely expected that a sentencing date for that conviction would only be set after the retrial was over.

At that trial do-over, currently scheduled to start on April 20, Blagojevich faces 20 charges, including that he sought to sell or trade an appointment to President Barack Obama's vacated U.S. Senate seat in exchange for a top job or campaign cash.

Many of the outstanding charges that would be the focus of a second trial, including fraud and attempted extortion, carry a far stiffer maximum sentence — 20 years in prison.

Maybe he can have someone as put of touch as he is like Charlie Sheen represent him.

Saw it on the news. Chances are nill that they will accept his plea. It is very rare what he is asking for. My bet is, he will go thru retrial to prove to other politicians, and those that went to jail for him, he is not gonna be granted his wish.

As Judge BROWN would say...."What say you?"?

The one count against twenty requires a maximum of five years. As Judge Judy would say, "Don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining!"

Numbskull. How has he managed to live this long without money?

It would be RARE if he got his request. VERY RARE.

Read an article somewhere...Chicago Tribune or Sun-Times...the prosecutors streamlined their accusations.

One thing they mentioned was reality hit Rod in the face...stupid should have done it sooner. Each count carries twenty years in prison.

He must have realized how he will miss out on his daughter's lives, bent down on his knees, forgot about Kelly killing himself, Redzko and Monk, least but not all Rham and Jessie Jackson, JR. Will be at his next trial.

Now they reported that a program he started for teens in the summer with grant money, never happened. No one could account for the missing money,

I can. The crooked politicians took it, giving him, ROD kickbacks. Ha.

Parts of a lot of tapes never exposed will now be exposed.

Kind of sad how you really keep hearing people shouting....

"You voted the idiots in!"

Why are voters blamed when they are suppose to believe the politician is telling the truth about reform, no corruption, music to their ears, only to be led into the opposite direction once they are elected?

Gotta add, thought Blago was nuts...he needs to share a cell with Charlie Sheen to past the years away...same personalities!

What's more Fluckin'Golden?

Selling one empty seat or the bunch of fleabags' empty seats in WI and IN?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110321/ap_on_re_us/us_blagojevich_trial_hearing_1?bouchon=602,il




CHICAGO – A federal judge in Chicago says he doesn't think a motion by former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to cancel his upcoming retrial is serious and so he declined to formally rule on it.
Judge James Zagel told attorneys at a status hearing Monday that he doesn't have the authority to simply call off a trial. He added he expects the motion "to go away by itself" and "vanish into thin air."
The impeached governor's attorneys filed the motion this month asking the judge to forgo a second corruption trial and proceed straight to sentencing on his lone conviction from his first trial.
The impeached governor faces a maximum five-year prison sentence on the conviction of lying to the FBI. His retrial on 20 counts is scheduled to begin April 20.

************************************************************************************

You Go Blago! STRAIGHT TO PRISON longer than you anticipated!

Oprah's last show? Bulls Playoff tickets?....Here's what's going to be the hottest ticket in town....
Blagojevich to take the stand

Quote :

Rod Blagojevich plans to testify in his own defense at his corruption retrial, according to several sources familiar with the former governor’s decision.

Blagojevich has been preparing to take the witness stand for several days and worked in depth on his possible testimony over the weekend, sources said. It was unclear how soon he could be called to testify, but the defense is scheduled to begin presenting evidence Wednesday at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse.

I'm not surprised at all. Without him taking the stand his chances for exoneration are zero,imo. It's a damn shame that cameras aren't allowed in Federal Court.

Blago jurors say they have verdict on 18 of 20 counts

Quote :

The jury deciding the fate of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich has reached a verdict on 18 of 20 counts, Judge James Zagel just announced in court.

“The jury has come to a unanimous decision on 18 of 20 counts … We are confident that we will not able to come to agreement on the two counts even with further deliberation,” the note from the jury read.

The judge said he expects the verdict to be announced in his courtroom between 1 and 2 p.m.

Blagojevich on guilty verdict: 'I frankly am stunned'

Quote :

Saying he was "stunned,"Rod Blagojevich was uncharacteritically tight-lipped today after a jury convicted him on 17 of 20 counts of corruption against him.

Holding his wife’s hand, Blagojevich spoke in a somber tone to a crush of reporters in the federal courthouse. "Patti and I obviously are very disappointed in the outcome. I, frankly, am stunned. There's not much left to say other than we want to get home to our little girls and talk to them and explain things to them and try to sort things out. And I'm sure we'll be seeing you.”

The two then walked to a waiting car as some in the crowd booed.

The federal jury found that the former governor brazenly abused the powers of his office in a series of attempted shakedowns captured on undercover government recordings.

Blagojevich showed no reaction as the jury announced its decision. Once the verdicts were read, he sat back in his chair with his lips pursed, looked toward his wife Patti and whispered, "I love you."

As the first guilty verdict was read, Patti Blagojevich slumped into the arms of her brother, who stroked her head. She kept shaking her head "no" as the jurors left the courtroom, and once the judge was gone, the former governor grabbed his wife’s right hand and hugged and kissed her.

When he arrived at his house in the Ravenswood Manor neighborhood, Blagojevich said he wanted to "let the people know I fought real hard for them."

Massive pwnage.

20 years which would likely be reduced to 6 to 10 years. Then 5 years for lying to the FBI.

Over greed.

Now those poor girls' lifestyle has again been turned upside down. No dad for graduations, prom, birthdays, etc.

It is for those two children my heart goes out to.


It was quite clear when the defense put him on the stand, "they only do that when they feel the defendent is guilty", the way he answered the jury, he is a wacko.