The pretrial hearing was like a “weigh in” before the big boxing match, where both sides snipe at one another.
A federal prosecutor on Monday called the very chatty ex-Ill. Gov Rod Blagojevich a ‘liar’ at a pretrial hearing in U.S. District Court in Chicago, according to the Chicago Tribune.
And U.S. District Judge James Zagel warned Blago to watch what he yaps to the media because some of those things could be used against him in the trial that begins on Wednesday.
“You can consider my remarks a red flag,” Zagel said.
Lead prosecutor Reid Schar complained about Blagojevich, who was saying in the media that federal attorneys tried to hide evidence that might clear him of the accusations, which include allegations that he tried to sell President Obama’s vacant Senate seat, the Tribune reported.
Schar said in court, according to the Trib: “This is just an attempt by him to poison what’s going on. . . . At a certain point, enough is enough.” Schar said he would like to grill Blago on the witness stand and “confront him with his lies.” However, it’s not clear if Blago will take the stand in his retrial. He did not in the first trial in which he was only convicted on 1 of 24 counts — for lying to the FBI.
Schar was particularly annoyed by Blago’s comments on TV in which he said the government had the power to publicly release more FBI wiretap recordings, the Tribune reported. Schar said that power resides with the judge. Blago has claimed repeatedly that the prosecutors don’t want to release all the FBI recordings, which would prove his innocence.
“We’d like some remedy for those fabrications that he’s not being called on,” he said, according to the Tribune.
Defense attorney Sheldon Sorosky countered by saying Blago was offering up his understanding of the rules and intentionally fabricating them, according to the Trib.
Blagojevich spokesman Glenn Selig said in a statement, according to the Trib: “The governor will continue to be truthful, honest and responsible as he does everything he can to clear his name.”
