Meet Blago's Political Hero

Ex-governor's lawyers cite too many gaps in tapes

(NEWSER) - Rod Blagojevich’s lawyers have asked a federal judge to forbid prosecutors from playing FBI wiretaps of the former Illinois governor during his upcoming retrial, the AP reports. The lawyers say the tapes—key evidence for the prosecution—are unreliable because of long gaps in the recordings, which remove the context of Blagojevich’s comments. The defense cites one now-infamous call in which Blagojevich says "I've got this thing and it's f---ing golden. I'm just not giving it up for f---in' nothing." In that call, three gaps result in four missing minutes (though the defense didn't offer an alternative take on what he might have meant). More»

Congressman cooperating with House ethics probe

(NEWSER) - Jesse Jackson Jr. said today he is fully cooperating with a probe by a House ethics panel into his relationship with Rod Blagojevich, the Hill reports. "As I said when the Blagojevich scandal first broke back in December, I have done nothing wrong and reject pay-to-play politics," the congressman said in a statement. He expressed confidence “the new ethics office will be able to conduct a fair and expeditious review and dismiss this matter." More»

Ex-gov bashes his trial, his successor; jokes about hair and lack of progress on book

(NEWSER) - Morning drive-time radio could be the future for Rod Blagojevich, if the impeached Illinois’ governor’s fill-in stint today on Chicago’s WLS-AM is anything to go by, Jimmy Orr writes in live-blogging the show for the Christian Science Monitor. Amid Elvis theme music and complaints about his successor’s proposed tax hike, the “natural radio host” responded to jokes about his hair and the book he’s writing. More»

(NEWSER) - John Ruff, a former associate of Roland Burris and his staff, is claiming Burris planned all along to make a trade with then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich for the Senate seat he now holds. The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Ruff, then a participant in the effort to get the seat for Burris, was told by Burris aide Fred Lebed, “We’ll have to do some things for the governor.” More»

He'll comply with perjury review, but no more interviews

(NEWSER) - Roland Burris today urged his constituents to "stop the rush to judgment" as he denied any wrongdoing in the process of gaining his Senate seat, the Chicago Tribune reports. "If I had done the things I’ve been accused of, I’d be too embarrassed to stand up here," he said at a meeting in Chicago. He also fired back at the press, vowing not to "engage the media and have facts drip out in selective soundbites." More»