Although ex-governor Rod Blagojevich has generated a constant stream of publicity for himself and his June 3 trial, his co-defendant is much quieter: his older brother and former campaign fundraiser, Robert Blagojevich.
Despite Rod's plea for prosecutors to "play all the tapes," meaning the covertly made (and pretty incriminating) tape recordings of his phone conversations, Robert Blagojevich wants the tapes suppressed due to FBI misconduct, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Rod feels that the tapes will somehow exonerate him, telling reporters: "Play all the tapes. Play all the tapes. Play the truth. And play the whole truth."
Robert does not feel that way.
The Sun-Times reports that the case against Robert Blagojevich is much more narrow than the one being brought against his brother. While the governor is charged with a wide array of wrongdoing, and faces the testimony of a number of alleged co-conspirators, the government's case against Robert hinges largely on the content of the tapes.
Furthermore, his legal team argues that the FBI had no legal right to obtain the wiretaps. From the Sun-Times report:
[Robert] says there was no probable cause for the judge ever to have issued the warrant that allowed the secret FBI wiretaps that resulted in the recordings.
Robert Blagojevich's lawyer, Michael Ettinger, has asked that the FBI recordings be thrown out as evidence.
...
Ettinger is challenging the application that allowed the FBI to set up its wiretaps. That was based on information provided by [John] Wyma, a former Blagojevich friend who agreed to cooperate with prosecutors and was not charged in the case.
"The application fails to set forth an explicit promise to perform an official or not perform an official act or the existence of a quid pro quo for any of the solicitations made by Robert Blagojevich or his knowledge of an explicit promise or quid pro quo," Ettinger wrote in a court filing asking that the tapes be thrown out.
The Blagojevich brothers' trial is set to begin on June 3.