2 officials testify at Blagojevich retrial

May 26, 2011|By Karen Hawkins and Michael Tarm, Associated Press

CHICAGO — Rod Blagojevich’s attorneys launched his defense yesterday in his corruption retrial, summoning Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and US Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. to testify briefly that they did not know of any arranged deals with the ousted governor over President Obama’s vacant Senate seat.

Testifying for less than five minutes, Emanuel leaned to one side, sometimes looking bored, as he told jurors with a one-word “no’’ that as White House chief of staff he never was asked directly by Blagojevich to help the then-governor get a top job in return for appointing someone to the Senate.

Jackson, on the stand only about 30 minutes, testified that he never authorized anyone to tell Blagojevich that Jackson’s supporters could raise money for the former governor if he made Jackson a senator.

But in their cross-examination, prosecutors took advantage of Jackson’s appearance to ask about an unrelated incident that could prove damaging to Blagojevich in the jury’s eyes.

Under questioning, Jackson confirmed that Blagojevich had once considered Jackson’s wife for a position as head of the Illinois lottery. But Jackson told prosecutors that his wife didn’t get the promised appointment after Jackson refused to give Blagojevich a $25,000 campaign donation.

Jackson said that when he met with Blagojevich in 2003 after someone else got the job, Blagojevich apologized that the appointment didn’t pan out but made it clear the donation was at least part of the reason why.