Blagojevich On 'Today' Show: Only Guilty Of 'Political Horse Trading' (VIDEO)

CHICAGO -- (AP) Former Ill. Gov. Rod Blagojevich says all he's guilty of is some "political horse trading" and that if that's a crime, prosecutors need to charge every politician in America.

Blagojevich began his post-trial media tour Friday with interviews on Chicago's WLS Radio and NBC's "Today" show.

In both interviews, he characterized the discussions prosecutors called efforts to sell an appointment to President Barack Obama's old Senate seat as legal political discussions. Blagojevich says the conversations recorded by federal investigators were simply brainstorming sessions with his lawyers and advisers.

A federal jury deadlocked Tuesday on all but one of 24 charges against Blagojevich. He was convicted of lying to federal agents.

Prosecutors have pledged to retry the case.

WATCH Blagojevich's "Today" Show interview here:

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Comments

[mysterious sail]

02:34 PM on 08/23/2010

Horse trading, is that what we are calling it now

[SangZe]

06:25 PM on 08/22/2010

Naughty naughty . . . how dare you tell the truth.

[GC1301]

08:44 AM on 08/22/2010

I live in Illinois and think he was a lousy governor. He clearly saw his job as a way to build power and influence and as way to reward his supporters. However, I am not sure if he broke any laws. Don't you think that Obama made a back room deal to give Hillary Clinton a job for her agreement to drop out of the race and support him? Or why did George Bush appoint Roland Arnall (a huge fundraiser of his who happened to make much of his money in the subprime mortgage debacle) to be Ambassador to The Netherlands. This stuff goes on every single day. I think its disgusting. But probably not criminal.

[IfIonlyknew]

09:16 AM on 08/22/2010

Are you nuts.Why is it nowadays that everyone thinks crime is Ok because they think someone else
committed a crime also.And hillary did not drop out because of a deal she did not have the votes
to continue.

[GC1301]

06:54 AM on 08/23/2010

The timing of her dropping out of the race was carefully negotiated in back room deals and meetings. If she had waited and gone to the convention, as many of her supporters wanted, things may not have turned out as they did. I do not think crime is ok; as I said, the behavior is disgusting. We need stronger laws to deter this type of behavior.

[lvogt]

10:49 AM on 08/24/2010

There are deals and then there are deals. Some are legal some are not. It's not the fact of an agreement but how, with whom and for what. All of that actually matters. One can abstract any issue into absurdity.

[bisbeeornotbisbee]

07:30 PM on 08/21/2010

OK, I have never lived in Ill. and I've only seen him on the View, probably 6 mos. ago. But may I just say, he was adorable? I see the post right below mine. That must explain the witch hunt against him. That sounds reasonable to me. Blago, you're a sweetie-pie. I'm glad you didn't give up, and hope you never do. I also agree with what he said about a retrial: all the money problems, and they want to spend tens of millions to retry him? Crazy fools, if it happens.

[unionave]

06:19 PM on 08/21/2010

There are forces out there that it is not prudent to act against . One of the real biggies is Big Pharma . When Blagojevich moved to allow American seniors and low income Americans to buy less expensive needed drugs from across the border his goose was cooked . Many have tried to make up all kinds of reasons for the political assassination of the Illinois Governor but Big Pharma owns that State and the Federal government and they wanted Blagojevich OUT . And so said so done . Big Pharma owns our media also . Blago has been painted by many in the media as a monster . An ogre . So much so by comedians and the rest of the media that the public is ready for a hanging for something every other politician does daily . Including the present Governor . Big corporations will annihilate anything or anybody that gets in their way and buying across the border was outlawed by the members of the U.S.Congress because Big Pharma wants all Americans to buy the high priced stuff they sell here . Blago is an example for other politicians with America first ideas .

[Vanessa Belle]

08:19 PM on 08/21/2010

Well said!
Fanned and faved.

I didn't know about the fact that Blagojevich was helping seniors and low income Americans access cheaper drugs in Canada.
So thank-you for that info:)
That seems like a very decent thing to do.

I am Canadian and live in a border city and for years American seniors have actually been crossing over to obtain cheaper meds at our local pharmacies.

I agree with you regarding the influence and power that Big Pharma holds and the political sway it has on politicians (i.e. Senator Harry Reid's situation).

[unionave]

07:53 AM on 08/22/2010

Many Americans would like to have the type health care system your nation has but as you can see our nation is controlled by the corporatist and we are their cash cows . In 1999 we elected a corporatist as President and gave him a cooperative Congress which he and his father took full advantage of . The peoples representatives ceased to represent the people and became corporatist themselves . Blago would have been reelected but the corporatist did not want him in that position . Watching the members of the Illinois Congress vote against him was a pathetic scene . It was a true demonstration of corporate control .

[naschkatze]

09:04 PM on 08/21/2010

I didn't know that either. I know he had his own No Child Left Behind sort of program in Illinois, one which apparently worked. He also caused free public transportation for seniors and the disabled to come about. He was a strong gun control advocate, and as we all remember, right before he was arrested he stood up for the workers to get their back wages against Bank of America. All in all, he sounds like a true populist on the side of the small people and that is probably why they are against him.

[RocketFan]

11:28 PM on 08/23/2010

The children's healthcare was already in place when he took office. He opened it up to higher income families with no way to pay for it. Free public transportation for the elderly was offered after a mass transit deal was struck, again, with no way to pay for it. Same with the drug deal. The regulators did not allow the drugs to enter the country, lost the state several million dollars. This guy is a disaster and has played the media and everyone else for chumps. Bank of America deal was all about the media attention, too. He doubled Illinois' debt. Never so glad to see a person run out of office in my life. Total disaster from beginning to end.

[knightoftheroundtable]

04:28 PM on 08/21/2010

Why didn't the judge order Blago gagged? I just hope this next trial he is found guilty and gets 60 or 70 years. Tired of his blithering, he acted against the people who voted for him.

[DawnK]

11:28 AM on 08/21/2010

The only thing Peter Fitzgerald suceeded in doing is embarrassing the President, the state of IL, the Democratic Party and making Blago look like a brat. Although he can be jerky, Blago never got a fair trial. Fitzgerald tried him in the media because he never had evidence. I thought that from the beginning. I knew he would get away with whatever he has done. That being said Fitzgerald should take his loss and not waste the taxpayers money any further with this. They made him out to be the worst governor when our last one is actually sitting in jail partially because his corruption caused the death of a family. And honestly, I'm not trying to defend Blago's actions but Fitzgerald and his team failed as prosocuters.

[naschkatze]

12:28 PM on 08/21/2010

It doesn't seem "fair" to give a prosecution which failed miserably another chance.

[Ozarks]

06:29 PM on 08/21/2010

"He was convicted of lying to federal agents". That's a 1-5 year in jail felony conviction.

[meowser]

09:12 PM on 08/20/2010

Sigh.

I live in suburban Chicago, and I'm so tired of hearing about Rod and his many failings.

That being said, from what I heard and read about the trial, the only thing the government proved was that he's a whiny, petulant idiot who talks WAY too much, and has an incredibly overblown opinion of himself. I didn't hear anything overtly illegal....but then again, I didn't attend the trial.

Truthfully, they way he's demeaned himself and his family since his arrest have been even worse than anything he was accused of doing while in office. It made interesting theater in the beginning, but now it's just pathetic.

Time to go away, Rod.

[naschkatze]

06:11 PM on 08/21/2010

(I call my cats meowser sometimes so I like your name.) I think if Rod just goes away, he would be throwing his chances away too. Out of sight, out of mind, and the prosecution will roll right over him. Between Fitzgerald, The Tribune, and Judge Zagel I don't think he got a fair trial. I don't watch the antics, but I can see why he does them. And, incidentally, I have no opinion re his guilt or innocence.

[meowser]

07:23 PM on 08/21/2010

Glad you like my name!

I don't know what kind of chances he'd have. According to a radio report I heard, he spent today at the Chiago Comic-Con, selling his autograph for $50; $80 if you wanted your picture with him. Sad and degrading, again.

He'll never practice law again, unless his one conviction is overturned. He's barred from holding public office in Illinois again. He's already written a book; I don't know how well it sold.

Maybe I'm just plain tired of hearing about him. Maybe I'm just disappointed in him - I did vote for him. Maybe the whole thing is just giving me a headache. Maybe all of the above. I don't know.

[JDShipley]

07:05 PM on 08/20/2010

Oh, that he was bad at it isn't a factor. You can be a bad bank robber but you're still a bank robber.

[JDShipley]

07:04 PM on 08/20/2010

Does this go on "everywhere?" It goes on too frequently and one would hop cases like this would ultimately serve as a deterrent (hah!). I've actually no basic qualms about political horsetrading so long as it serves the constitutency. That's the difference here: Blago the Clown traded for his own account and not the people of Illinois. In reserve: Federal warrants for Patty?

[mariusvinchi]

04:23 PM on 08/20/2010

Blago is going to learn a tough lesson should he continue taunting Federal Prosecutors. A lesson the "Teflon Don" learned the hard way.

[Reality now]

03:59 PM on 08/20/2010

Like it or not, anyone who thinks this kind of political dealing doesn't go on elsewhere is kidding themselves. It is ALWAYS about money and power. Both Party's politicians do it all over the country. From local Sheriff to State School Board (see Texas) to Congressmen and Senators DEALS are made all the time. Sensationalizing one in the media does not make it the only one.

[dnpvd51]

03:56 PM on 08/20/2010

Blago's biggest problem now is the people that rushed to judgement don't want to eat crow.

[naschkatze]

04:25 PM on 08/20/2010

Yep.

[bisbeeornotbisbee]

07:32 PM on 08/21/2010

Yeah, that sounds like you hit the nail on the head.

[ItAintNoRocketScience]

02:44 PM on 08/20/2010

I heard Blago on WLS this morning. He is a squawky, whiny, thing to be sure. But, I have to admit, there is some validity to what he's saying. And as much as I hate to admit it, I'm beginning to think he's right. His notion that this was just discussions about horse trading and how everyone does it has a certain ring of truth to it...

[ebroadcast]

02:57 PM on 08/20/2010

Don't be duped. They were in dire financial straits, and everything was equated to how it could make him (not the state) money. We've seen all this fraud of his come to fruition every since he took over as governor of our state.

[dnpvd51]

03:54 PM on 08/20/2010

Right,

He didn't have any money because he was stealing from government. I believe it. I believe it.

Well maybe That makes like zero sense, but I believe it.

[ItAintNoRocketScience]

07:45 PM on 08/20/2010

Perhaps you're correct. A friend of mine is a waiter in a restaurant near Blago's residence. Says that when the come in to eat, Blago is actually a very kind, polite person; and his wife was actually the nasty, rude one... Lady Macbeth, I guess.

[NOV42008]

02:38 PM on 08/20/2010

Why didn't Sarah get this kind of scrutny when she was charged?