 Rod can be seen yacking it up with his defense team during breaks or
posing for pictures outside the courthouse, ever the glad-handing
politician.You will hardly see Robert crack a smile -- or a
grimace, for that matter -- during the trial. His defense attorney
Mike Ettinger introduced him to the jury as Lt. Col. Rob Blagojevich
during opening statements -- a move intended to win over the four
veterans on the jury. He looks the part, resembling another
embattled lieutenant colonel from long ago -- Oliver North of
Iran-Contra fame. His square jaw and close-cropped part stand in
stark contrast to the former governor's wildly grown, yet carefully
groomed hair.
The differences are not just evident in courtroom behavior.
Wiretaps have reinforced the contrast between the gregarious, moody
governor and the discipline his brother exudes.
Jurors listened to hours of wiretaps in which Rod cursed wildly
and lashed out at everyone from President Barack Obama to the
Chicago Tribune to the people of Illinois.
The prosecution played two recordings from the elder Blagojevich
-- voice mail messages in which Robert asks Children's Memorial
Hospital chairman Pat Magoon and his lobbyist John Wyma for $25,000
in campaign contributions, his tone even and language polite.
"You know I'm jerking your chain, but I think (the hospital has)
a potential to do well by us," Rob told Wyma just five days after
Blagojevich enacted a law providing millions in Medicaid
reimbursements to pediatric specialists.
Robert's telephone etiquette, however, did not ease Magoon and
Wyma's sense they were being threatened.
"The governor has the power to approve or rescind that money,"
Magoon testified on Tuesday. "I felt threatened; I felt at risk."
Prosecutors believe Robert helped his brother solicit bribes as a
fundraiser for the Friends of Blagojevich campaign fund -- and the
voice mail seems to prove it.
Robert is the only alleged co-conspirator to weather the trial
with his brother. Fundraiser Chris Kelly committed suicide in
September and former advisers Lon Monk and John Harris testified
against the brothers. Such testimony, however, has focused almost
entirely on the former governor, leaving Rob and his attorneys
largely mute during the prosecution's case.
Ettinger and his defense team cross-examined less than half of
the government's witnesses in the trial's first five weeks. When
they did approach witnesses, questioning was limited to terse
exchanges about Robert's involvement. Witnesses often admitted that
Robert was not present during meetings in which the alleged
conspiracy took place.
They may stay just as quiet when the defense argues its case.
Ettinger indicated the defense team would only introduce Robert as a
witness when Obama's former U.S. Senate seat and the hospital are
introduced -- and that may take a while since the government's case
against Rod dates back to 2003.
[to top of second column] |
Robert, a Tennessee businessman, volunteered for his brother's
2006 re-election campaign fund as a way of getting close to Rod,
according to Ettinger. He did not, however, accept a permanent job
at the campaign fund until late summer of 2008. His defense team is
arguing that Robert's fundraising practices derive from his charity
work at the Tennessee Red Cross. His client, he says, was calling
names on a list, rather than plotting.
But the defense is relying on another more subtle argument: The
two brothers just aren't close. He pointed to one campaign
contribution in particular to demonstrate his point -- the $250
check Robert cut to the Republican National Committee in 2004.
"They're not close. Rob's a Republican, but that's his brother,
his blood," Ettinger said during his opening statement.
The more distance the better, according to former federal
prosecutor Rodger Heaton, who helped convict Arkansas Gov. Guy
Tucker of fraud in 1996.
"(The low profile) is probably intentional," he said. "The more
they talk about Rod, the better it is for (Robert)," he said.
Trials with high-profile defendants like the former governor
often leave co-defendants in the shadows, which can be beneficial to
Robert. What effect this has on a jury verdict remains to be seen,
according to Heaton.
Rob Blagojevich could be tainted by the case against his brother,
anchoring him to the former governor's potentially sinking ship. Or,
as Heaton said, the focus on Rod may end up vindicating Robert.
"The jury could think, 'We heard 40 days of stuff about Rod and
only two hours on his brother -- maybe he's not involved," said
Heaton, who now works as a white-collar criminal defense attorney at
Hinshaw & Culbertson.
The defense will return to the Dirksen Federal Courthouse in
Chicago on Monday to begin its case.
[Illinois
Statehouse News; By BILL McMORRIS]
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