By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com
Who didn’t figure this was coming?
The Chicago U.S. Attorney’s Office is asking U.S. District Judge James Zagel to impose a gag order to shut up ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his lawyers during the ongoing public corruption trial, the Chicago Tribune reported. Prosecutors claim the defense and Blago are trying to sway the jury.
The prosecution filed a 16-page motion Wednesday after Blagojevich and his attorneys made comments to reporters Tuesday at the end of testimony by government witness Alonzo “Lon” Monk, Blagojevich’s former friend and chief of staff, the Tribune reported.
The Tribune said the motion stated that lawyers and Blago made comments “to the press, on camera, giving their takes on Monk’s testimony, and in particular, his credibility, in what essentially amounted to mini-closing arguments on the topic.”
Prosecutors alleged that Blagojevich has conducted endless pre-trial media interviews and hired a public relations firm to sway the jury, the Trib reported.
“Blagojevich used these platforms to try his case in the public realm, often going beyond declaring innocence and instead representing pretrial developments in the court case and making inflammatory comments regarding the prosecutors,” the government wrote in the filing, according to the Tribune.
The prosecution indicated that Blagojevich’s comments after Monk’s testimony were the final straw and that the ex-governor’s alleged efforts to manipulate media coverage and influence the jury “has reached a level that requires court intervention.”
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