Inherit The Windbag: Day 2 Recap

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Jun 5, 2010 2:00PM

It was back to court on Friday for former governor Rod Blagojevich, his brother Rob, wife Patti, and a host of attorneys as jury selection continued in the federal corruption trial of the Brothers Blagojevich. While he didn't say much on Day One, yesterday, Blago told a group of reporters, "We've been lied about and falsely accused. I know I'll be vindicated." As we saw yesterday, Blago didn't let what's facing him deter him from putting on a happy face as he tried to work a little bit of that ol' Blago magic on the courtroom artists.

In the early part of the day, Judge Zagel sent nine prospective jurors packing for "cause" and by day's end, there was a pool of 30 jurors who cleared the initial round of questioning. One juror complained about how Blago "flaunts himself" while another said it would be impossible for him to avoid news of the trial without being sequestered.

The Blagos got a bit of bummer news: Judge Zagel said it was unlikely Blago would be allowed to attend the grammar school graduation of one of his daughter on Tuesday because he expects opening statements to be made by then. And if that wasn't enough to bum them out, even Patti seems to be growing wary of all the attention the family is getting. Jury selection is scheduled to resume Monday morning.