Blago, Whores and Barack Obama: What Was Left Out of Tony Rezko's Trial

By Margaret Lyons in News on Jun 27, 2008 5:08PM

Now that Tony Rezko's trial is over, Judge Amy St. Eve has unsealed several defense documents, and boy oh boy, are they a treat.

According to the documents, federal agents questioned Governor Rod Blagojevich on multiple occasions. (His spokesperson says two.) Blago disputed fund-raiser Joseph Cari's story that he was offered state contracts in exchange for fund-raising help. But Cari testified about that conversation at Rezko's trial, which means maybe he lied under oath, or maybe Blago lied to federal investigators, or maybe it's a little of both, or maybe everyone is a totally honest squeaky clean boy scout.

Speaking of squeaky clean, star witness Stuart Levine apparently agreed to testify only after he found out that the government knew he "frequented male prostitutes," according to the Trib.

And speaking of shady ways to make money, the prosecution was preparing to explain Rezko's ties to Barack Obama's campaign funds. According to the Sun-Times, "prosecutors considered offering witnesses to explore why Rezko used others to contribute to Obama and also to Blagojevich, and U.S. District Judge Amy J. St. Eve ruled that they could. But they did not end up offering any such testimony during the trial." [Trib, S-T, AP, S-T]