 Tapes obtained
through FBI wiretaps show an increasingly desperate
Blagojevich grasping at straws, as he tried to allegedly cash in on
the Senate seat left open by then-president elect Obama."(Obama's)
gonna resign on Tuesday or Wednesday and they're gonna start putting
pressure (to fill the seat)," Blagojevich told John Harris, his
chief of staff, on Nov. 7. Obama resigned from the Senate nine days
later.
As the pressure to appoint Obama's friend Valerie Jarrett to the
seat mounted, Blagojevich's demands shrunk. He began floating ideas
about a move to the private sector with the help of his supporters
in organized labor, rather than a top Cabinet post in the
administration.
This came as a relief to Harris, who had previously warned
Blagojevich he might be reaching too high.
"I always thought his future lied somewhere in organized labor,"
Harris testified on Wednesday during Blagojevich's federal
corruption trial.
Blagojevich and his advisers had been in frequent contact with
Tom Balanoff, vice president of Service Employees International
Union.
Harris described Balanoff as Obama's emissary to the former
governor but noted the close relationship the labor leader shared
with Blagojevich, as well.
"Let's stay with just Balanoff," Blagojevich said of the
negotiating process for the appointment.
The governor hoped Balanoff and Obama could arrange a lucrative
position for his wife or himself at Win for Change, a political
action arm for the union, according to Harris. The former governor
said on tape he wanted to get a "long-term career" out of the seat,
expressing concerns about his financial troubles.
Harris said the job represented Blagojevich's best hope to
benefit from the seat.
"The SEIU provides a buffer between Rod and Obama ... meaning
Obama would not have ... an obvious quid pro quo for Valerie,"
Harris explained to the jury.
He seemed to see a labor position as a way to make more money and
stay on the political scene.
"It gives you a way to go out there and make contacts ... for a
political comeback in 2016," he said.
The governor was not always so excited about the move.
Blagojevich's temperament had changed since Election Day, when he
was recorded outlining his initial demands. Curse words echoed
through the courtroom far more often on Wednesday than his earlier
tapes.
[to top of second column] |
Blagojevich had seen himself as the next secretary of the
Department of Health and Human Services or ambassador to the United
Nations.
Harris' doubts about prospects in a top Cabinet position began to
sink in for Blagojevich.
"Barack really wants to get away from Illinois politics," he told
Harris.
The governor was also increasingly worried about Obama's reaction
to his demands and how to wiggle free of them.
He discussed leaking various candidates, like Attorney General
Lisa Madigan, to the press or calling in candidates like U.S. Rep.
Jesse Jackson Jr. to interview.
"We gotta show ... we got some process going on," he said.
But rumors in the press of a Madigan Cabinet appointment worried
the governor.
"If they make her the deputy attorney general, that hurts me,
right?" he asked Harris.
Harris testified that Blagojevich was worried his poor
relationship with Madigan could exacerbate the ongoing federal
investigation into the governor's relationship with convicted
influence peddler Tony Rezko.
Harris is testifying against his old boss in exchange for a
reduced sentence on a bribery charge he pleaded guilty to earlier
this year.
Blagojevich faces up to 415 years in prison of convicted of more
than 20 counts of corruption.
[Illinois
Statehouse News; By BILL McMORRIS]
 |
