FBI tapes played at Blagojevich impeachment trial

Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s voice resonated through the Illinois Senate at his impeachment trial Tuesday even though he stayed in New York on his frenzied media tour.

Legislators leaned forward in their seats and strained to hear tantalizing snippets of recordings that triggered the governor’s arrest on federal corruption charges last month and the state House’s vote to impeach him.

The articles of impeachment include allegations that Blagojevich tried to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President Obama and that he tried to shake down a horse track owner for a campaign contribution in return for signing legislation to divert casino revenue to horse tracks.

Federal prosecutors would not allow senators to hear the conversations involving the Senate seat, lest that affect Blagojevich’s federal trial. But segments about the campaign contribution were played.

In a Nov. 13 conversation, Robert Blagojevich, the governor’s brother and campaign manager, is heard telling the governor that “Johnny Johnston is good for it.”

Blagojevich responds, “Before the end of the year though, right?” The timing was crucial because the law was changing to cap campaign contributions.

Days after his arrest, Blagojevich signed the bill.

Despite their drama, the tapes cut both ways. Some senators said the recordings strengthened their resolve against the two-term Democrat, but others said the meaning was ambiguous, leaving them with new doubts about the criminal charges at the heart of the impeachment.

“The governor may be guilty as sin,” said Sen. Mike Jacobs, a Democrat, “but the tapes I heard today, they might have been close to the line, but I don’t think they crossed the line.”

Sen. Kimberly A. Lightford, a Democrat and assistant majority leader, is feeling pressure from constituents to oust Blagojevich. But she said that she and a growing number of colleagues believe the “federal case isn’t strong.”

At the same time, she criticized Blagojevich for boycotting the proceedings in favor of a national media campaign blasting the trial as unfair.

“The governor [and his defense counsel] should have been there, in my opinion, to defend themselves,” Lightford said. “I think they would have had a grand opportunity to take some context and turn it into substance because I just felt like there wasn’t much substance to it today.”

Instead, Blagojevich kept up a frenetic pace of interviews in New York. During at least 16 different interviews over two days, he argued that the Senate rules were unfairly stacked against him.

In a Fox radio interview, Blagojevich likened his battles with the state legislators to the fights that President Franklin D. Roosevelt had with Congress over helping England in World War II.

He acknowledged that he soon would have to “find some employment,” comparing himself to the “hundreds of thousands of people across America who, unfortunately, are losing their jobs, because this economy is so bad.”

And in an interview with the Associated Press, Blagojevich did not directly answer when asked whether he would step aside if convicted by the Senate.

“I’ll respect the law and the constitution and the rules,” he said, “and whether or not there are legal remedies to pursue beyond this, we haven’t really discussed . . . but I’m not going to rule out what some of those options might be.”

Blagojevich also told the AP that he hasn’t done anything to prepare state government for a new governor. “This was completely unexpected and not something that we envisioned happening,” he said.

In Chicago, state Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan lashed out at Blagojevich for “making a mockery of the constitution” by failing to participate in his impeachment trial, which continues today. She predicted the governor could be out of office by Thursday.

Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago) urged Blagojevich to come to the Capitol to plead his case.

“He’s not appreciating, I don’t think, the seriousness of this matter, and he is not appreciating the fact that he can come to defend himself,” Cullerton said. “We’re only hearing one side so far.”

--

rlong@tribune.com

jchase@tribune.com

Tribune staff writer Ashley Rueff contributed to this report.