CHICAGO — A federal judge on Thursday set a June 3, 2010, start date for former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s trial on charges of scheming to sell or trade President Obama’s U.S. Senate seat and pressure potential campaign contributors.
Defense attorneys said that despite millions of pages of documents still to be read and hours of FBI wiretap tapes still to be heard, they would be ready when the curtain goes up almost a year from now on the second spectacular corruption trial in five years of a former Illinois governor.
“We have the best judge in the entire system — everyone has always told me that — and if he says to be ready by June 3 we’ll be ready by June 3,†Blagojevich’s most outspoken defense counsel, Samuel E. Adam, told reporters about U.S. District Judge James B. Zagel.
Blagojevich is charged with racketeering conspiracy and other offenses. Prosecutors say he schemed to exchange Obama’s former Senate seat for campaign money, a seat in the Obama Cabinet or a lucrative job for himself or his wife.
They say he also illegally plotted to pressure various people — a racetrack owner, a hospital administrator and even White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel — for contributions to the Friends of Rod Blagojevich campaign fund.
Blagojevich has pleaded not guilty.
LinkDoes anyone else think that the timing of this could be beneficial to Republicans next year. OTOH , there could be some political pressure on him to change his plea before then.
On a side note, his foul mouthed wife dropped out of the reality show that she was on.
