Tape shows Blagojevich eyed Winfrey for Senate

[June 29, 2010]  CHICAGO (AP) -- A secretly made FBI tape shows that former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich weighed the possibility of naming Oprah Winfrey to the U.S. Senate seat being left by President Barack Obama.

Blagojevich was heard on the tape played Monday at his corruption trial saying Winfrey's name carried so much prestige that no one could criticize him if he named her to the Senate.

His former chief of staff John Harris, who is on the witness stand, is heard on the tape saying he didn't know what Winfrey stood for politically. But the former governor says he knows she is a Democrat and supported Obama in his race for president. He calls her a "kingmaker."

Blagojevich has pleaded not guilty to charges including that he schemed to sell or trade Obama's former seat.

[Associated Press]

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