As The Blagosphere Turns: Patti's Back, Rod's Trial Set
By Marcus Gilmer in News on Jun 26, 2009 3:20PM
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]."
Speaking of Rod, he had had an eventful day of his own before his wife's late night return. Earlier Thursday, the former governor learned when his federal corruption trial would officially start: June 3, 2010. U.S. District Judge James Zagel set the date yesterday, giving Blago's attorneys as much time as possible to sift through the 3.5 million pages of state's evidence. Blagojevich attorney Sam Adam Jr. was optimistic after the date was set, saying, “We have the finest jurors in Illinois. Once they hear the evidence, it will not be a long time before they realize an innocent man is being prosecuted.” Which is nice considering a pair of co-defendants appear to be considering testifying against him. [Sun-Times, Tribune]