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07 Dec 2011 15:10

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Politics: Corruption in the Illinois governor’s office is not uncommon

  • nine different governors of Illinois have served since 1961
  • four have been convicted and sent to prison — that’s 44% source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Dec 2011 13:57

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U.S.: Disgraced ex-governor Rod Blagojevich given tough sentence

  • 14 year prison sentence for former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich source
  • » The hammer drops: It’s been a long, twisting road to get to this point; it was three years ago Friday that then-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was arrested on federal corruption charges. The charges (that he was attempting to profit from his selection of a Senate replacement for Barack Obama) were grave, and captured the national attention for some time, not least of all because of the flamboyant, aggressive, and crusading defense Blagojevich mounted for himself. Despite the three years of legal and public relations maneuvering, though, the slick-haired ex-politico has failed in his bid to dodge incarceration.
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Jun 2011 13:31

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U.S.: Blagojevich saga might finally come to an end

  • Guilty as charged? Rod Blagojevich may learn his fate later this afternoon. About a year ago, Blagojevich, accused of trying to appoint a senator to replace Obama’s senate seat that would help him personally, went to trial for similar reasons. However, the jury at that time could only make up their minds on two of the charges (see the Red Eye cover, via Flickr user quinn.anya, above). It’s not because of a lack of evidence, however: Federal regulators secretly began recording Blagojevich’s phone calls after Obama’s presidential win, after getting word that the former Illinois governor was scheming for campaign contributions, a cabinet post, or even a new job in exchange for appointing someone to Obama’s former senate seat. We’ll see where this one goes — a partial verdict should come out at 1 p.m. Central time. source
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 May 2011 15:58

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Politics: Trial of the Century: Blagojevich may testify in his own defense

  • Big day for Blago? The Chicago Tribune is reporting that “sources” indicate disgraced former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich may take the stand to testify in his own defense. We forgive you if you’re skeptical, as we heard repeated proclamations from the man himself that he would testify in his last trial, only for his defense to rest without his name being called. Now in his retrial, will Blagojevich give the public what they want? His defense team has also implied they might call some high-profile witnesses from the political world, among them Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Mar 2011 13:03

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U.S.: Blago runs up against no-nonsense judge in retrial

  • NO Rod Blagojevich won’t get his corruption retrial canceled source
  • » “…intended for an audience other than the court.” When Rod Blagojevich and his legal team requested that his retrial be canceled and that the judge proceed to sentencing on the lone conviction from his first trial, lying to the FBI, that was the response Judge James Zagel gave in shooting the idea down. First of all, we didn’t realize you could try to pitch such a self-serving idea to a judge, although in this case it failed pretty epically, so maybe you really can’t. But moreover, this doesn’t bode well for Blagojevich — despite escaping the fullest punishment last time, and the media tour he’s gone on since to be thought of as “that funny corruption guy” instead of an unprintable expletive, if he’s staring down a stern judge and a new jury, anything could happen (remember, Blagojevich’s last trial was deadlocked by just one of the twelve jurors insisting his innocence).
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Mar 2011 10:26

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Politics: Trial of the Century: Rod Blagojevich wants to be sentenced (!?!)

  • Uh-oh. Appears Blago’s out of money: Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has asked a judge to pause the retrial in his corruption case and sentence him now. Why, you ask? Well, he’s out of money. “Should this motion be granted…funds for the second trial would no longer be necessary,” the motion said. Oh yeah, there’s a benefit for taxpayers, too: The decision would be of “no further cost to taxpayers.” Always looking on the bright side, Mr. Haircut. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 Feb 2011 11:17

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Politics: Well, that’s pretty hilarious: Blago’s lawyers push against wiretaps

  • Let’s say you’rE Rod Blagojevich’s lawyer. How could you prevent you guy from getting convicted with as little trouble as possible? Oh, there are wiretaps being used as evidence in this upcoming retrial of his, eh? Why don’t we just petition the court to say – hey, these are unfair to our client. They don’t present all the evidence in a fair or reasonable way. And this is why you’re Rod Blagojevich’s lawyer. Because, you know what, a transparent ploy to get the court to drop the key piece of evidence against your client is pretty transparent. But you don’t care. It makes it look like you’re doing something worthwhile for your paycheck. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

04 Oct 2010 18:48

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Politics, U.S.: Blago is the least popular politican ever

  • 8% of Illinois voters approve of Rod Blagojevich source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Aug 2010 00:14

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Politics: Max Headroom: A fact check is not a second opinion, just an FYI

  • A rip from Howard DeanJust remember, Obama staffers: He says this out of love, not hate. Howard Dean, still an icon of progressivism, ripped into Obama’s staff today, saying that they didn’t understand the concerns of regular people in their own party. Ouch.
  • Blago explains himselfOn “Fox News Sunday,” the man, the myth and the hair did a pretty terrible job evading Chris Wallace’s questions about how his case could hurt Democrats nationally. We think he should probably stick to awful reality TV instead.
  • Fact check? Not reallyWhile the guy they have on here certainly makes some good points about Franklin Graham’s rant on CNN the other day, the fact of the matter is that Boston University professor Stephen Prothero is analyzing, not “fact-checking.”
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Aug 2010 10:37

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Politics: At Chicago’s Comic Con, Blago outdrew the big stars

  • $50 the amount people paid for a signature from the hair himself
  • $80 the amount people paid to get in a photo with said hair source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink
 
 
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