Rod Blagojevich trial: Obama isn't there, but he comes up a lot
| Chicago
President Obama may be elsewhere, dealing with issues like the BP oil spill and America鈥檚 financial recovery, but his presence is still very much felt at the federal trial of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
US District Judge James Zagel spared Mr. Obama from the trial in downtown Chicago, ruling out an early defense request that he testify. But the president is often the subject of daily testimony by Chicago political operators.
This week, jurors have been listening to testimony and taped conversations that prosecutors say show Mr. Blagojevich was trying to profit from his power to appoint a senator. Obama vacated one of Illinois鈥檚 US Senate seats after he was elected president.
Blagojevich鈥檚 defense says that Obama, through different emissaries, was a participant in the backdoor, and often crass, negotiations about giving the seat to Obama friend and current White House adviser Valerie Jarrett.
Chicago lawyer Andrew Stoltmann says that Obama, like many figures connected to the state鈥檚 political theater, is doing his best to distance himself from the trial because it 鈥渆xposes the seedy underbelly of Illinois politics.鈥�
鈥淚 can guarantee you that Barack Obama doesn鈥檛 want to be anywhere near that mix. I don鈥檛 think it helps him. I think it makes Obama look like the old-style politician he doesn鈥檛 want to be,鈥� Mr. Stoltmann says.
Obama鈥檚 involvement was highlighted this week through the testimony of Tom Balanoff, the Midwest head of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), who was considered a political friend to both Obama and Blagojevich.
Mr. Balanoff testified that Obama made two calls to his mobile phone the night before the 2008 presidential election. According to Balanoff, Obama mentioned Ms. Jarrett as an interested candidate but said he was not supporting anyone in particular. After the election, Balanoff met with Blagojevich to recommend Jarrett for the seat.
According to the prosecution, Blagojevich also met with Andy Stern, then the national head of the SEIU, who reiterated Jarrett鈥檚 qualifications.
Audiotapes of conversations between Blagojevich and aides reveal that the two SEIU officials directed Blagojevich to call Obama adviser David Axelrod to confirm Obama鈥檚 wishes.
Blagojevich and John Harris, his former chief of staff, are heard on the tapes speculating why Obama was sending emissaries and not reaching out to them directly.
鈥淚t puzzles me why they wouldn鈥檛 be a little bit more, uh, overt about it,鈥� Mr. Harris says.
鈥淚鈥檒l tell you why 鈥� because they don鈥檛 want anybody to say that [Obama鈥檚] saying it,鈥� Blagojevich replies. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 want a trick bag.... They want to be very careful and protect him.鈥�
In the same conversation, Blagojevich is heard saying: 鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty obvious 鈥� Obama doesn鈥檛 want it getting out that he鈥檚 pushing somebody.鈥�
As indicated in the tapes, Blagojevich considered himself a viable candidate for a number of positions in Washington, including US secretary of Health and Human Services, because he perceived Obama as invested in the naming of his successor.
When it became clear he would not be invited to Washington for a job, Blagojevich is heard angrily denouncing Obama, fantasizing that he could have beaten Obama in the 2008 Iowa caucuses and complaining that the president鈥檚 newfound popularity made him a 鈥渄emigod.鈥�
Albert Alschuler, a law professor at Northwestern University School of Law who specializes in criminal justice, says the presence of Obama's name in the trial 鈥渁dds to the drama of the occasion鈥� but 鈥渄oes not suggest anything damaging鈥� to the president. Just because Obama had an opinion about his successor did not necessarily show any impropriety on his part, Mr. Alschuler says.
鈥淚t鈥檚 certainly appropriate to have an opinion on the subject. There wouldn鈥檛 be anything wrong with supporting a particular candidate,鈥� he says.
What is striking about the trial so far, Alschuler says, is how effective the live testimony from former Blagojevich aides is in connecting the dots with the political wrangling heard on tape.
鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 expecting them to tie Blagojevich so tightly as they have to quid pro quo exchanges on the tapes,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he tapes themselves seem to be strong evidence.鈥�
Blagojevich is charged with 24 counts that include bribery and racketeering.
Related:
