Golden (78 page)

“Sometimes,” Monk answered.

When Monk answered that his getting cash hadn't done anything to alter his attitude toward Rezko, Sorosky reacted with mock surprise, asking whether Monk knew he was under oath. Objection again.

“Don't do it again, Mr. Sorosky,” Zagel said, growing more agitated.

The objections continued, for compound questions and irrelevant questions but mostly for argumentative questions. Sometimes minutes would go by without Monk's voice even being heard in the room as Sorosky tried to formulate questions that the judge might actually let Monk answer, and then Niewoehner repeatedly stood to object. Monk sat and stared at times with his chin resting on his hand.

Sorosky did work through some of the tapes with Monk, pointing out times when he had lied to John Johnston about having talked to Blagojevich on his behalf and then turning around and lying to Blagojevich about how soon a campaign contribution might be coming from Johnston. At one point Monk had lied about going to play golf, Sorosky pointed out, telling Blagojevich he was taking his father to a military reunion.

“You wouldn't even tell that truthful statement to your old friend, would you?” he asked. Objection yet again.

More than two years after his arrest, and after prosecutors twice had presented their evidence that the onetime governor of Illinois had abused the powers of his office and turned his decision on naming a US Senator into an illicit auction, it was again Blagojevich's turn to put on a case. And this time, he wasn't going to let the opportunity float by without making some noise.

Team Blagojevich came out of the gate with both guns blazing, dragging into court both a sitting congressman and the new mayor of Chicago. The star power was surely an attempt at distracting the jury after it had heard the government's abbreviated but still confident case. But Blagojevich hoped to challenge the very allegation that anything had been offered for the Senate seat by anyone at all. Not only had the alleged swap never been consummated, but if there wasn't even anyone on the other end of the bargaining table, what had Blagojevich really been doing? Wasn't that almost the same thing as standing out on the sidewalk and mumbling to yourself?

First up was US Representative Jesse Jackson Jr., who strode into court in a dark suit and a silvery tie. Federal court surely was one of the last places he wanted to spend the day, but the charismatic politician swore to tell the truth and looked relatively comfortable as he took a seat on the witness stand. He described his congressional district as running from around the Museum of Science and Industry to University Park in the south suburbs, and then he was asked if he knew the defendant.

“I know Governor—former governor Blagojevich,” Jackson said, motioning toward the defense table. “The guy sitting over there in the corner with the gray suit.”

Blagojevich gave a little knowing wave back to Jackson with a look on his face that suggested, if nothing else, he was going to get some satisfaction from pulling another politician back into the fray. Jackson said that in the fall of 2008, he knew Blagojevich had the responsibility of naming a senator to replace Obama and that he wanted that post for himself—and badly. He said his strategy was to basically run a public campaign for the seat. He had been vocal and unapologetic about pursuing it. He had visited the editorial boards of newspapers and enlisted the help of other politicians to support him. He had asked prominent people to write letters on his behalf and done national TV shows talking about it, all in the hope of generating a ground-swell of support that might push Blagojevich to recognize a public demand to have Jackson installed in the Senate.

Jackson acknowledged that yes, in fact, he had met with Nayak and Bedi on October 28, 2008.

“I talked with scores of people about the US Senate seat,” Jackson said.

At that meeting or anytime that fall, Sorosky asked, had Jackson ever requested the Senate seat in exchange for fund-raising?

“No, sir, I did not,” Jackson said in a definitive tone, answering a moment later that he hadn't ordered it, either.

Jackson eventually had gotten an audience with Blagojevich, just the day before the governor's arrest. He said he had organized a binder of his accomplishments to bring along and rely on, not a cash bid. The congressman slipped on some reading glasses as he leafed through it on the stand, telling Sorosky that it appeared to be the notebook he had put together. He had met with Blagojevich for some ninety minutes that day, Jackson remembered, and the topic of fund-raising had not come up. Never had he offered campaign cash if he were named to the seat, he said again.

“Absolutely not,” Jackson said with an earnest look on his face.

Niewoehner cross-examined Jackson, who again described how he had taken his push for the Senate seat to the people of the state. His relationship with Blagojevich in the fall of 2008 was “frosty at best,” he acknowledged, saying he wasn't then on speaking terms with the governor.

The prosecutor then asked about Nayak, who Jackson described as close to him. Nayak was “a likable guy,” Jackson told the jury. “The kind of gentleman you would welcome into your house.”

There was no mention of the scandal that had effectively ended thoughts of another of Jackson's political ambitions the year before. Nayak had told federal authorities that Jackson directed him to make the cash offer for the seat but also asked him to fly a female “social acquaintance” from Washington to Chicago to visit him. Jackson had again denied the cash offer but apologized for the news of the other woman, saying it was a private matter that he and his wife were dealing with. The story had broken just as the race to replace the retiring Richard Daley as Chicago mayor was beginning to take shape, essentially derailing any idea Jackson had to angle for that post and clearing another hurdle for Rahm Emanuel.

The problems between Blagojevich and Jackson went back to Blagojevich's first campaign for governor, when Jackson had decided not to endorse his fellow congressman in the 2002 Democratic primary. Blagojevich had never forgotten it. Jackson also had been asked for $25,000 for Blagojevich by then-congressman Bill Lipinski, he said, though Lipinski would later deny it in a brief appearance of his own on the witness stand. Jackson said Lipinski reminded him that Illinois Republicans had enjoyed a stranglehold on the governor's mansion in the state for decades, and Blagojevich was a chance to break their string of wins. Jackson hadn't exactly jumped at the suggestion.

“No chance,” he said.

And as it turned out, Blagojevich wouldn't forget that either.

After he was elected, Blagojevich had traveled to Washington with Mayor Daley in 2003 for a visit by Illinois leaders. Jackson told Blagojevich that his wife, Sandi, a lawyer who would go on to become a Chicago alderman, was interested in a position in his administration. What she should do, Jackson recalled Blagojevich saying, was get his wife's resume and biography to Rezko, who by then was controlling significant state post picks. Jackson said he wound up hand-delivering them to Rezko himself, and Rezko had told him that his wife was being considered for director of the Illinois Lottery. That was encouraging, but it wasn't to be. Sometime later, Jackson said he was watching the news and saw a story about Blagojevich naming a lottery director. Needless to say, “It wasn't my wife,” Jackson told the jury.

Months later, Blagojevich was back in Washington for another Illinois visit, Jackson said as Blagojevich sat at the defense table with his head resting on his chin. The two were in the same meeting room, Jackson remembered, but there was a bit of a chill in the air. Jackson said he got the sense right away that Blagojevich wasn't going to do anything for Sandi. And as he was leaving, Blagojevich had said as much, telling Jackson he was sorry nothing had worked out. And Blagojevich apparently couldn't resist rubbing it in a little. Jackson told the jury that as the Illinois governor was leaving the meeting, he had turned and “in classic Elvis Presley form” snapped both of his fingers and delivered a message in the King's voice.

“‘You should've given me that $25,000,'” Jackson said, quoting the governor and wiggling slightly in the witness stand like he was doing Elvis himself. The congressman said he was sure Blagojevich was referring to the money that had been asked for during the 2002 campaign.

The defense was aware of Jackson's story, and it was one reason the Adams weren't really eager to call him to the stand during the first trial. The second team had thought it was worth having Jackson talk about not being behind any Nayak cash offer for the seat and had hoped to object and keep it out. Once Jackson was on the stand, it had slipped in after he described his relationship with Blagojevich as frosty. Goldstein sought to blunt it when he questioned Jackson again, asking about the snapping while pointing out that he wasn't really a big Elvis fan.

“You work for one,” Jackson shot back and then repeated how Blagojevich had snapped at him. Many in the courtroom laughed as a sitting congressman again imitated the former governor of Illinois imitating Elvis Presley. You know, Jackson said of how Blagojevich spoke to him, like, “Thank ya veruh much.”

Moments after Jackson walked out of court, the next witness came through the doors of the courtroom. Jurors were about as wide-eyed as they had been when they first came into court and saw Blagojevich sitting at the defense table in front of them. Rahm Emanuel walked up the aisle of the courtroom in a crisp suit, his back straight in his normal gait. He didn't glance toward Blagojevich as he made his way to the front of the courtroom to be sworn in by Zagel. As he sat on the witness stand and looked toward Sheldon Sorosky, he had a slight smile on his face that seemed to be somewhere between irritation and amusement. He offered only a quick “fine” when the defense attorney asked how he was but cracked a wider smile when Sorosky asked him for his current occupation.

“Thank you, mayor of the city of Chicago,” Emanuel answered.

Was it fair to say that was sort of a new job? Sorosky asked.

“Unless your subscription to the newspaper ended recently, yes,” Emanuel said.

From there, the questions the defense was allowed to ask were pretty tightly controlled. The judge wasn't going to allow a fishing expedition into what Emanuel had or hadn't done or decided to do in connection with Blagojevich's offers on the Senate seat. As Sorosky spoke to Emanuel, the mayor leaned in toward the microphone as if he already knew exactly what he was going to say.

Sorosky asked if anyone had come to him in 2006 to say Blagojevich was holding up the grant for Chicago Academy until Emanuel's brother held a fundraiser.

“No,” Emanuel said, drawing his lips tightly together after he spoke the word.

He answered only “yes” when asked if Obama was elected president in 2008 and whether he was a key player on the subsequent transition team that fall. “Yes,” Valerie Jarrett was a potential candidate for the Senate seat, and “yes” he knew her, and “yes” he had advocated for her.

So, Sorosky said, winding up just a little bit, had anyone come to him and said, Mr. Emanuel, Valerie Jarrett can be appointed a senator by Governor Blagojevich, but in order for that to happen, you have to use your influence to see that an advocacy group be established and funded for Blagojevich to lead?

“No,” Emanuel said.

The defense hadn't been allowed to get into whether Emanuel really was interested in helping Blagojevich any further with any other plan he might have had for the seat. Zagel already had barred the defense from getting into a meeting Emanuel had with US Senator Dick Durbin and Obama political czar David Axelrod just the day before Blagojevich's arrest in which the Blagojevich idea of appointing Lisa Madigan to the seat in a political deal had come up. Blagojevich himself would have to talk about discussions he had with Emanuel about him agreeing to talk to Obama about the possibility of brokering such a deal if the jury was to hear about it. And the defense hadn't wandered into Emanuel's knowledge of earlier trade offers Blagojevich had made, including being named secretary of health and human services.