Blago Defense Plans to Blame Then-Gov's Lawyers for Steering Him in Wrong Direction
To the extent that impeached former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich may admit any mistaken conduct on the stand if he testifies, as expected, in his ongoing political corruption trial, there is a ready-made target for blame: His lawyers.
His criminal lawyers have notified the Chicago federal court in which his case is being tried that Blagojevich plans to rely on advice of counsel as a defense—that is to say, of course, advice of the counsel on whom he relied as governor, reports the Chicago Tribune’s Blagojevich on Trial blog.
Already, some testimony in the case offers a preview of the direction in which this defense may be headed:
Attorney Robert Greenlee is heard on a number of 2008 wiretaps as the then-governor mulls various ideas for using a U.S. senate appointment to create a job for himself, either as the head of a nonprofit or in the cabinet of then-incoming President Barack Obama. Never does Greenlee interrupt to say doing so would be wrong, the Tribune writes.
Although he didn’t necessarily agree, for instance, that Blagojevich was the best-qualified candidate to serve as secretary of Health and Human Services, his job called for him to suppress his own views and pump up the governor on occasion, Greenlee testified.
“For the state of Illinois, for the people,” he said.
It isn’t clear from the article whether the lawyers whose advice the defense may intend to cite were acting as legal counsel to Blagojevich or simply as political advisers.
