7th Circuit Hears Blagojevich Appeal

By Jeralyn, Section Corruption Cases
Posted on Sat Dec 14, 2013 at 08:53:00 AM EST
Tags: Rod Blagojevich (all tags)

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The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments Friday in the appeal of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Blagojevich's attorneys had to be happy that the panel raised questions about the heart of their defense that the attempted sale of a U.S. Senate seat was political horse-trading and that prosecutors had unfairly made it into a crime.

Does that bode well for Blago? Impossible to know. Predicting how an appeals court will rule is usually a futile exercise.

While Blago could not attend the hearing, his wife Patti did and addressed the media afterwards: [More...]

After the arguments Friday, Patti Blagojevich told reporters she had the "utmost confidence" that the court would rule in her husband's favor.

"Here we are again," she said somewhat ruefully. "I just want to say during this holiday season that there isn't a day or moment that goes by that my daughters and I don't feel the emptiness of the absence of my husband. We just hope and pray that he will be home soon with his family."

Having followed the first trial closely and some of the second trial (accessible here), I hope his conviction and sentence gets reversed. 14 years is way too long.

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7th Circuit Hears Blagojevich Appeal | 26 comments (26 topical)

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In (none / 0) (#1)
by lentinel on Sat Dec 14, 2013 at 07:39:30 AM EST

saying that

...the attempted sale of a U.S. Senate seat was political horse-trading and that prosecutors had unfairly made it into a crime.

is the defence claiming that the attempted sale of a U.S. Senate seat is not a crime - because it is just "horse-trading" - and "horse-trading" a Senate seat for money is not a crime?

A question: Are you hoping for a reversal because of the length of the sentence, or because you agree with the defence contention that the prosecution "unfairly" made "horse-trading" for a Senate seat into a crime?

The article explains it (5.00 / 2) (#4)
by Jeralyn on Sat Dec 14, 2013 at 10:22:51 AM EST

one exchange during the hearing:

n one of the testiest exchanges of the hourlong hearing, Judge Frank Easterbrook pressed a federal prosecutor on how Blagojevich's conduct differed from a famous political deal supposedly struck more than 60 years ago: President Dwight Eisenhower's nomination of Earl Warren to the U.S. Supreme Court in exchange for the California governor's support in the 1952 election.
"If I understand your position, Earl Warren should have gone to prison, Dwight Eisenhower should have gone to prison. ... Can that possibly be right?" Easterbrook asked the prosecutor in the packed courtroom.

I think his trial was unfair and his sentence was excessive. I've written a lot about the trial rulings I disagreed with, see my prior coverage.


I see (5.00 / 0) (#9)
by lentinel on Sat Dec 14, 2013 at 02:22:09 PM EST

what you mean.

I guess it's subjective - but I would think that nominating someone in exchange for political support is a notch or two removed from actively soliciting a bribe. Trading political favor for political favor is somewhat time-honored - albeit admittedly unsavory - and would appear to me to be closer to horse-trading than actually seeking to sell a Senate seat for money.


I don't remember the evidence in Blago's case (none / 0) (#10)
by Peter G on Sat Dec 14, 2013 at 09:36:16 PM EST

as suggesting bribery. I thought the discussions were all about what political favors and advantage he could secure in connection with exercising his prerogative as governor to name the interim Senator.


According to (none / 0) (#12)
by lentinel on Sun Dec 15, 2013 at 04:57:27 AM EST

Wikipedia,

In March 2012, Blagojevich began serving a 14-year sentence in federal prison following conviction for corruption including the soliciting of bribes for political appointments including the 2008 vacant U.S. Senate seat of then-President-Elect Barack Obama, while in public office.

That's according to them.
I haven't checked further.


: Much as I love wikipedia, (5.00 / 1) (#13)
by Mr Natural on Sun Dec 15, 2013 at 09:40:12 AM EST

in what is written there, separating opinion from fact can be difficult. Anybody can edit Wiki entries.
The affair looked like horse-trading from here, standard operating procedure, the ethos of politics being what it is.

: Well, I realize that the indictment (that is, (5.00 / 1) (#15)
by Peter G on Sun Dec 15, 2013 at 11:38:07 AM EST

the prosecutor's interpretation) characterized the arrangement as bribery, that the trial judge approved the case going forward on that basis, and that the jury convicted on that basis. What I meant was that the evidence I read about didn't make it seem like bribery, as opposed to our inherently corrupt, money-infused political system, to me. And that, I gather, is what is now before the appellate court.

Are you from Canada? (none / 0) (#2)
by MKS on Sat Dec 14, 2013 at 08:31:05 AM EST

No. (none / 0) (#3)
by lentinel on Sat Dec 14, 2013 at 09:48:16 AM EST

New Yawk.


"Defence?" (none / 0) (#5)
by MKS on Sat Dec 14, 2013 at 12:13:04 PM EST

: I see (5.00 / 2) (#8)
by lentinel on Sat Dec 14, 2013 at 02:07:45 PM EST

what you mean.
It's my spell-check thing.
It looked wrong to me too - I tried defense, and it said no.
Honour.
Colour.
Whatevour.

Hmm... (none / 0) (#6)
by NYShooter on Sat Dec 14, 2013 at 01:40:08 PM EST

If every act of "political horse trading" were investigated, and prosecuted, our legislative chambers would be as empty as deep space. I never subscribed to the idea that just because, "everybody is doing it," you're the one who got caught and shouldn't complain about being punished.

As an example that most everyone is aware of: You're driving down a four line highway and you, as is everyone else, are cruising at 70 mph in a 55 mph zone. But, the trooper has his radar gun aimed at you, pulls you over, and gives you that speech.

If "everyone is doing it," either the law should be changed, or, everyone should be prosecuted. This business of picking out one poor sucker for punishment in order to "send a message," has never felt right to me.

: Speeding is Breaking the Law (5.00 / 1) (#7)
by squeaky on Sat Dec 14, 2013 at 02:05:39 PM EST

Your analogy regarding speeding not apt, imo. The argument is that the horse trading that Blagojevich did is part of politics as usual and not illegal. Not that what Eisenhower did was illegal and he should have been prosecuted for it. What Eisenhower did was not illegal, which is the point of the analogy.

: In your (