Inherit The Windbag: Day 10

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Jun 18, 2010 2:00PM

The Blagojevich trial resumed Thursday morning as Joseph Cari continued his testimony, detailing alleged dealings with Stuart Levine which included an alleged shake-down of a Virginia-based private equity firm, JER Partners. While Cari admitted under cross that Blago wasn't directly involved with the JER dealings, he did say, “It was very clear to me, based on conversations with [Chris] Kelly, [Tony] Rezko, and the governor, that if you did not play ball the way they wanted, there were repercussions.”

Cari was followed by Jill Hayden, who served as director of the Governor's Office of Boards & Commissions while Blago was in office. Hayden, as she did at Rezko's 2008 trial, testified that Rezko and Kelly had significant influence on state board appointments. Hayden was then followed by Ali Ata, who served director of the Illinois Finance Authority under Blago, and considered a key witness for the prosecution. Ata discussed fundraising efforts as well as a $25,000 donation that got him his state post. He also talked about Rezko's fears of being bugged as well as a plan - involving Karl Rove - to replace Patrick Fitzgerald as U.S. Attorney.

The day concluded with a battle between Judge Zagel and defense attorney Sam Adam, Jr. The two sparred over Adam's line of questioning of Ali Ata with Zagel at one point sending the jury out of the room. With today off, the trial will resume Monday as Adam continues his cross-examination of Ata.