Tapes Reveal Blagojevich Converations About Appointing Jackson to Senate

There’s stuff from Dec. 4 to support either side of the debate over Blagojevich’s guilt or innocence, including the governor’s insistence to several folks that his first option was to give the Senate seat to Attorney General Lisa Madigan as well as his admonition to his brother to “assume everybody’s listening, the whole world’s listening” in approaching a supporter of Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. to let him know he’s a realistic candidate and to ask for money.
At 9:09 a.m., former Blagojevich chief of staff Lon Monk, at the time a lobbyist, calls the governor from his cell phone to advise him on the status of their ongoing effort to wring campaign contributions from some of Monk’s clients.
This includes a big donation they were seeking from racetrack owner John Johnston while dangling the timing of when Blagojevich would sign legislation of importance to the racing industry.
Monk suggests Blagojevich call Johnston directly. Blagojevich sounds leery and wonders if he should have chief of staff John Harris call instead. Monk tells him: “It’s better if you do it, just from a pressure point of view.”
“Yeah, good,” the governor responds. “I’ll call him and say, yeah, we’ll, and we want to do an event, down, down so-, down-so, downstate.”
At 11:17 a.m., Blagojevich calls from his home to political adviser Fred Yang in Washington, telling him he has decided he needs to have an open mind about “something I would never have considered and that’s Jesse Jr.” He asks Yang to “think about the politics of that.”
Yang sounds like he can’t believe Blagojevich would seriously consider Jackson.
“Just between you and me, they’ve offered a whole bunch of different things they want to do for me,” Blago confides.
“Like what?” Yang presses.
“Political stuff,” Blagojevich tells him. “. . . Raises money. You gotta believe ’em . . . I get some up front maybe.”
At 11:23 a.m., Harris calls Blagojevich. The governor also tells Harris he’s now “objectively honestly” looking at naming Jackson to the Senate as a “fall back” if a Madigan deal “doesn’t work out.”
“He’s come to me with, through third parties, you know with offers of campaign contributions and help,” Blagojevich says.
“Right,” says Harris.
“You know what I mean? 1.5 million they’ve, they’re throwin’ numbers around,” adds Blagojevich.
At 2:09 p.m., Blagojevich makes a three-way call to Yang and deputy governor Robert Greenlee to continue the discussion about appointing Jackson.
Yang again presses to learn what Blagojevich is expecting to get from Jackson.
“Concrete tangible stuff from supporters,” the governor says. “. . . Specific amounts and everything.”
Yang and Greenlee debate the idea.
Blagojevich says Madigan is still his “first play’ but that if he can’t work out a deal with her, “Jackson, at least, covers me with my African-American base.”
At 2:36 p.m., Blagojevich (still at home) calls Greenlee again to smooth him over.
At 2:43 p.m., Blagojevich gets a call from brother Robert. From trial testimony, we’re told Robert placed the call from a Starbuck’s where he’d met his wife. Robert testified he was fed up with his brother’s interruption and barely paying attention when the governor explains why he is “elevating” Jackson. It indeed starts that way, but Robert seems to warm to the conversation at it continues, and he offers no objection when Rod instructs him to talk to Jackson supporter Raghu Nayak to tell him that “if there’s tangible political support like you said, start showing us now.”
At 2:57 p.m., Robert calls Nayak to arrange a face-to-face meeting as his brother has suggested.
At 10:29 p.m., the governor’s press secretary calls him at home to alert him to the Tribune story.
“Recordings of me?” a dumbfounded Blagojevich asks.
As it turned out, quite a few of them.

Read more: (Mark Brown, “Listening in on Blago’s Final Day to Chat Freely,” Chicago Sun Times, 08/04/2010)