Blagojevich Trial

Rod Blagojevich was convicted on seventeen federal corruption charges this afternoon. Blagojevich’s second trial lacked the drama and media fanfare of his first courtroom spectacle, which ended last summer with a single conviction and an otherwise hung jury. This one was far more subdued, as even Illinoisans grew tired of their impeached ex-Governor’s seemingly never-ending legal saga. Between trials, Blagojevich, whom I wrote about for The New Yorker a year ago, made few media appearances, and the judge, James Zagel, reportedly issued a gag order on the attorneys in the case.

In the first trial, Blagojevich’s attorneys declined to mount a defense, arguing that the prosecution had failed to prove its case, and the defendant did not take the witness stand. This time, the defense did present its version of events, and Blagojevich testified on his own behalf. Federal prosecutors went after contradictions from his public and private statements, but the affable Blagojevich often deflected such assaults, consistently saying that his chatter on F.B.I. recordings was nothing more than wild talk. He teared up, smiled, joked, and offered plentiful denials. (One charmed juror told reporters, after the verdict was read today, “Gosh darn you, Rod. We tried to find you not guilty, but we can’t.”) That likable persona often conflicted with the coarser and excessively profane voice heard on F.B.I. recordings, on which he cursed Illinois voters for their insufficient support and plotted to horse-trade the appointment to fill President Obama’s Senate seat for his own benefit.

Jurors in the first trial said they were overwhelmed with the mountain of evidence presented and how to connect it with a complex array of federal corruption charges. Given a second shot, prosecutors presented just three weeks of testimony and stuck closer to the facts, rather than making grandiose statements of guilt. A prosecutor in the first trial, for example, said former Illinoisan Abraham Lincoln would roll over in his grave when presented with Blagojevich’s misdeeds, and in announcing the charges in December, 2008, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald had dubbed Blagojevich’s actions a “political corruption crime spree.” They also dropped several racketeering charges against Blagojevich and dismissed all charges against his brother, Robert, making the case easier for jurors to digest. (James Matsumoto, the jury foreman in the first trial, attended the second one, and he said the prosecution’s closing arguments the second time were less confusing. The jurors, he told WGN-TV, “were given a road map.”)

Blagojevich was more restrained, too. During the initial trial, he readily held court after the day’s proceedings, flamboyantly proclaiming his innocence and railing against prosecutors as his evil oppressors. He rarely addressed the media during his retrial, although he did sign autographs while making quick entrances and exits from the Dirksen federal courthouse.

Early reports from the courtroom said that Blagojevich’s wife, Patti, collapsed into a family member’s arms as the verdict was read. The daughter of a powerful Chicago alderman, Patti was heard on some F.B.I. recordings advising her husband. She has remained a devoted spouse and was perhaps the last true believer in her husband’s innocence.

The youthful ex-Governor had grand ambitions of national office. Now he is at the mercy of a federal judge who seemed less than sympathetic to Blagojevich’s lawyers throughout both trials. Judge Zagel will sentence Blagojevich in the coming weeks or months. Even with all his righteous anger, Blagojevich, a lawyer by trade and a cunning politician always, seemed to me at times resigned to this fate. Appearing hand in hand with Patti in the courthouse lobby after the verdict, he made perhaps his shortest media appearance ever.

“I, frankly, am stunned,” he told a horde of reporters and photographers. He then said he and Patti were going home to explain the situation to their daughters, Amy, fifteen, and Annie, eight. “I’m sure we’ll be seeing you guys soon,” he told the reporters, and then stepped away.