Inherit The Windbag: Let The Spectacle Resume

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Jul 7, 2010 2:45PM

After an extended break due to the holiday weekend, the trial of former governor Rod Blagojevich got back underway yesterday. There was the small matter of the dismissed juror, but that was merely a minor bump on the road to a verdict as a full day of testimony continued. The primary focus from prosecutors was on a 2005 interview in which they claim Blagojevich lied to the FBI in regards to a connection between fundraising and doling out state jobs. But the day began with the ongoing suggestion by prosecutors that Patti Blagojevich was collecting money from Tony Rezko for a job in which she did absolutely nothing.

Still, the focus was on the FBI and special agent Patrick Murphy testified that Blago insisted he kept fundraising and politics separate, using the word "firewall" to describe said separation which is sorta funny given the word's largely tech-oriented usage now and Blago's technological failings.

At the time, Murphy said, agents were already looking into questions of whether Blagojevich and associates were shaking down political donors who in exchange for contracts, jobs and appointments to state panels.

“He said he stayed a million miles away from issuance of state contracts,” Murphy testified. “He tried very hard to maintain a firewall between politics, which he defined as fundraising, and government work.”

Murphy said Blagojevich also insisted “he does not track who contributes to him and does not want to know how much they were contributing.”

Following Murphy was Kelly Glynn, former fundraising staff member for the Friends of Blagojevich who testified that, in actuality, Blago knew exactly who was donating and how much and that his loving pet names for fundraisers who didn't come through on promises: "Bullshitters."

She also testified to Blago's constant inquiring about how much certain people donated. The claim that Blago was heavily involved with fundraising was further reinforced by the next witness, Danielle Stilz, former deputy finance director for Friends of Blagojevich. Stilz also testified that Blago's fundraising goals were often "unrealistic" but admitted under cross-examination that the funds were never used to buy Blago's expensive suits - a subject of testimony last week - and that checks were returned to donors if they were the subject of negative press.

Testimony for the day concluded with Gerry Krozel, a former building materials exec, on the stand testifying that Blago would offer Krozel's company a contract as part of an expansion project for the Illinois Tollway but only if he made a fundraising donation. Said Krozel, "I think he was waiting to see how much money I could bring in." Krozel's testimony continues today.