In a post on her Facebook page, Patti Blagojevich called the prison's visiting room "one of the saddest places on earth." more ›

Patti wrote on her Facebook wall, "I can't help but wonder what planet we are on. 10 days vs. 5110 days, a sentence that is 51,100% higher than Rod. How do you explain that to your children?" more ›

Rosie O'Donnell interviewed Patti Blagojevich for last night's episode of The Rosie Show, and Patti explained why she's standing by her man. more ›

We weren't in the courtroom, but we were on Twitter. Kind of the same thing. more ›

The day Rod Blagojevich has been dreading has arrived. more ›

If living like Mayor Emanuel when he was a renter isn't for you, maybe owning a piece of Illinois gubernatorial history is more your speed. more ›

WLS 890 AM and Rod Blagojevich are no strangers to each other. The 50,000 watt talk blowtorch and the impeached former governor/blowhard have done business over the airwaves before. Governor Sound Bite is bringing wife Patti along for the ride as the pair fill in for the vacationing Don Wade and Roma on their morning show from 5-9 a.m. tomorrow. That might be enough to make us not tune in to Stern. more ›

Of course things wouldn't go smoothly or as planned at this trial. Nothing else has so far so why would closing arguments be any different? From the Blagojeviches shameless ploy for pity by bringing their daughters to the courtroom to the antics the courtroom, yesterday was a day of drama befitting the surreal clusterfuck that has made up everything about the Rod Blagojevich case. The main fireworks came at the end of the day when sparring between Blago attorney Sam Adam Jr. and Judge Zagel, an ongoing battle throughout the entire trial, reached a head. In his closing, Adam tried to point to the "missing witnesses," a reference to a number of witnesses federal prosecutors didn't call while presenting their case (including Tony Rezko and Rahm Emanuel), a move that was in direct defiance of an order from Zagel. After a particularly firey exchange between the two in which Judge Zagel threatened to hold Adam in contempt, Zagel sent the jury home for the day and scheduled a hearing for 8:45 a.m. this morning with attorneys before closing arguments were scheduled to resume at 9:30. After court, with his typical bluster, Adam said, "I have no qualms of going to prison if that's what's best." Besides bombast, what exactly was Adam after with his outburst? The Tribune breaks it down: more ›

After almost a week break, the Blagojevich Trial begins anew today as the defense begins presenting its case and today should include testimony from co-defendant Robert Blagojevich and his wife Julie. And after them? The ex-gov himself as well as his wife Patti. Natasha Korecki wrote a nice breakdown of the strained relationship between the two brothers earlier this year. more ›

The prosecution has rested their case in the federal corruption trial of Rod Blagojevich, and their presentation of the long-awaited wiretap audio has ended. We laughed, we cried, and we heard a lot of bleeped-out cussing on radio and on television. And since it takes a lot of time to poke through the Justice Department's excellent site and track down the appropriate audio, we thought we'd continue to show you the tapes the way you can't get them on broadcast media. You can find the first offering of uncut, purely profane audio here, and now we've worked our wizardry on a few more clips. more ›

Despite the fact that the Justice department has been doing a bang-up job posting wiretap audio and transcriptions of said wiretaps after every day's court proceedings, it's safe to say that most of us get our multimedia news on the trial through TV and radio news. Unfortunately, those fuddy-duddy nancypants over at the FCC frown on the use of the words "fuck" and "shit" and "motherfucker" over the public airwaves. You may have noticed that the interwebs don't suffer from the same restrictions. more ›

Wednesday was yet another day on the stand for Rod Blagojevich's former Chief-of-Staff John Harris, who referred to himself as Blago's "Prince of Darkness," and while Tuesday's talk centered around then-Presidential candidate Barack Obama's U.S. Senate seat, yesterday's chat continued that but took aim at Obama himself, including accusations that Obama knew Blago was trying to leverage the seat for a cabinet post. The day started off with more of the Blago Tapes, including one from the day after the election in which Blago was hoping to be appointed to the head of a charitable agency a la Elizabeth Dole (though Rod himself seemed to know little about the varying agencies). There was also more talk of Blago's pressure on the Tribune's editorial board as well as prep for a meeting with union leader Tom Balanoff; Blago believed Balanoff was a messenger that would relay Obama's preference for his replacement (Valerie Jarrett) and vice-versa. more ›

Another week of testimony kicked off in the corruption trial of the Brothers Blagojevich yesterday with talk about Patti's hair (no, really), saw several people take the stand, had plenty of talk of Rahm Emanuel, and wrapped with a big witness just starting what is expected to be several days of testimony. Just another day in Blago Court. Cross-examination of Ali Ata, which was the focus at the end of last week, concluded quickly and then the prosecution called Michael Horst who they allege was nominated for the same job as Ata - head the Illinois Finance Authority - as a cover and that the job was going to Ata all along. After Horst was horsetrack owner John Johnston who was an alleged extortion victim of Blago's. In 2008, a 2006 law requiring casinos to share a piece of their profits to subsidize the tracks was up for renewal. Once the state legislator passed the law, however, then-governor Blagojevich let the bill sit, meaning Johnston missed out on as much as $9,000 per day. Johnston, who had previously contributed to Blago but had no plans to do so in late 2008, alleged that Lon Monk pressured him at a December 2008 meeting to make a contribution to Blago, alluding to the unsigned bill. During cross-examination, Team Blago attorney Sam Adam, Sr. tried to put the onus of the pressure on Monk, separating the ex-gov from the alleged shakedown on Johnston. more ›

And away we go. After a big crowd assembled way too early in the morning (for us, anyway) for first-come, first-serve seating in the courtroom, Rod Blagojevich and wife Patti showed up just 10 minutes before the proceedings' scheduled start of 11 a.m. While Rod had little to say - a rarity - wife Patti had plenty to say, "Today is a good day because today begins a process to correct a terrible injustice that's been done to my husband, our family and the people of Illinois. My husband as governor did great things for people, and he continued to fight for them always. My husband is an honest man, and I know that he's innocent. Thank you." And now? Jury selection is currently underway after Judge Zagel ruled against a media request to release the names of the jurors before the end of the trial. more ›

This week, we're counting down the top 9 stories of 2009 according to the Chicagoist staff. more ›

Remember the back-and-forth between Patti Blagojevich and her old boss about whether or not she swiped the company email list for the purposes of pimping husband Rod's book? Well, now Patti is pissed and she's got the lawsuit to prove it. The Sun-Times' Natasha Korecki reports that Patti has filed a defamation lawsuit against Rick Roberts of the Chicago Christian Industrial League for his initial remarks. Lead attorney Jay Edelson said, "Hopefully, this will send the message that making false statements against Patti or Rod Blagojevich will not go unanswered." more ›

Patti Blagojevich responded yesterday to accusations she swiped an email list of donors from the Christian Industrial League, the charity job she was fired from earlier this year, and used the list to promote husband Rod's new book. Patti's defense? The list was her list to begin with. In an interview with the Sun-Times, Patti said, "The galling thing about this is before I got to CCIL -- there was no e-mail list. They had no e-mail outreach at all. I dumped all my contacts of all my friends...Their list is my list." CIL Director of Strategy Rick Roberts, who made the original accusation, fired back at Patti's claim, saying, "We're a century-old organization. To say there was no contact list is absolutely ludicrous." Roberts added, "The league realizes clearly -- clearly -- it made a mistake hiring Patti." YA BURNT! more ›

Remember Patti Blagojevich's swanky - and controversial - tenure with the Christian Industrial League? You know, the one she got fired from? It turns out that questionable shenanigans really do run with both sides of the Blagojevich marriage as Lady Blago swiped the donor contact list from that old gig and used it to pimp her husband's new - and apparently not-so-great - book via email. Rick Roberts, senior director of strategy at the CIL, told the Tribune, "The last thing we need is to have Mrs. Blagojevich showing poor judgment and unethical behavior. Our list is proprietary." We bet she CC'd the entire list, too, instead of using the BCC option. more ›

• Anne Lockett, the ex-girlfriend of Brown's Chicken Massacre defendant James Degorski, testified against Degorski at his trial today.
• WBEZ takes a look at the case of Devon Young, a 25-year-old man shot and killed by police in June 2008, and the seeming lack of a police investigation into the shooting.
• The Trib talks to Patti Blagojevich.

It's been an eventful end of the week for the Blagojevich family. First, Patti returned from the wilds of Costa Rica after being voted off the reality show I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here. Husband Rod, daughters Amy and Annie, and sister State Rep. Deb Mell were at O'Hare to greet Patti upon her return. When asked about the experience, Patti said, "It was nice to go down there and meet people that didn't have an agenda with me, that became my friends and it helped restore my faith in people." Rod added, "She's a heckuva lot more popular [than him]." more ›

• Members of the Chicago 2016 Olympic bid team were to hold a secret meeting this afternoon with aldermen to allay their fears about putting taxpayers on the hook for the cost.
• The amazing story of Ald. Don Parrillo.
• State lawmakers are taking a break from working on the budget and will reconvene Monday to pick the problem back up.

In all his free time between appearing on talk shows and sending his wife to Costa Rica, Blago has been brushing up on his Shakespeare. And he’ll show off his newest skill set at Navy Pier this Saturday in the Second City musical under his name. Although he will not star as himself in Rod Blagojevich Superstar, he will participate in an improv set fueled by audience suggestions for his wife’s escape from the jungle. (And you thought his appearance on Letterman was bad.) He’ll also announce the show’s extension at Chicago Shakes. more ›

• Cook County Circuit Court clerk Dorothy Brown had no problem accepting gifts from employees until the Tribune came calling.
• What began as a simple break-in at a house in Matteson led to that town's biggest pot bust ever.
• Students rallied at Northwestern yesterday in support of classmates who say they were the victims of racial profiling.

We weren't really going to report on the ongoing appearance of Patti Blagojevich on the NBC show "I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Outta Here." We've talked it about it way too much as it is, though any show in which Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt join Patti for a prayer has got to be off the charts in unintentional comedy, right? Well, it gets better. Each "celebrity" is competing on behalf of a charity. But the folks at Bear Necessities Pediatric Cancer Foundation don't want anything to do with Patti's charity cash because they're partners with Children's Memorial Hospital, the same hospital Rod allegedly tried to shake down for $50,000. The Sun-Times' Natasha Korecki has the charity's full statement: more ›

It seems former governor Rod Blagojevich's federal trial might get underway come April 2010. At a status hearing this morning, U.S. District Judge James Zagel said he prefers for the trial to start by next April and by July 2010 at the latest. Zagel also floated the idea of an anonymous jury. Blagojevich defense attorney Sam Adam Jr. said, "If that's what the judge orders I'll be ready." more ›

In an interview with the Sun-Times, Patti Blagojevich says the only reason she will be appearing on the NBC reality television show “I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here,” airing in June, is for her children. She says finding a normal job right now would be impossible due to the bad economy and attention she’s received in connection with corruption charges against her husband. more ›

With a trip to Costa Rica and an appearance on an NBC reality game show in her very near future, Patti Balgojevich is making all the necessary plans for someone that's going to be in the jungle. According to the AP (via WLS), Patti "has gotten the necessary travel vaccinations and has attended yoga classes inside a room heated to more than 100 degrees to help her acclimate to Costa Rica's hot weather." She'll also get to take one luxury item with her and she told WVON this week that she's thinking about taking her pillow. No word on whether or not her husband's hair is considered a "luxury item." more ›

From the dangerous jungle of Springfield to the literal jungles of Costa Rica. This morning comes confirmation of what we pretty much knew was going to happen all along: Patti Blagojevich will be on the NBC show "I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Outta Here." WBEZ has the press release which has all the details, including the fact that the ex-governor will also somehow be involved in the show "in other ways which will be a surprise." more ›

We suppose someone in the Blagojevich family has to earn some income. And it now looks like it will be Patti. If Blago's lawyer Sheldon Sorosky is to be believed, it appears as though Patti is going to accept an offer to be on the NBC show I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here. Speaking to reporters yesterday, Sorosky said of Patti and the show's offer, "It appears she's going to do it." While the entire cast hasn't been named for the June 1 premiere, we do know that the currently announced "celebrities" include Heidi Montag, Spencer Pratt, Sanjaya from American Idol, and lesser Baldwin Brother Stephen. Wow, we never thought we'd see the day where we're actually rooting for a member of the Blagojevich family to succeed. more ›

Since her husband can't leave the state to participate in the reality TV show "I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Outta Here," it looks like Patti Blagojevich will step up to the plate and take one for Team Blago. The Sun-Times Natasha Korecki is reporting that Patti and NBC are in discussions to put her on the show in her husbands place. Well, we suppose she could use a job... more ›