Let’s stipulate at the get-go that until his corruption trial resumes Wednesday, none of us knows what Rod Blagojevich and his legal team have up their tailored sleeves. Lawyers in high-profile cases routinely toy with public expectations. Our first reaction to Tuesday’s news that the defense might rest without calling any witnesses: Who knew that, after 19 months of Rod Blagojevich yammering that he’s innocent, buttoned-down Rob Blagojevich turns out to be the loquacious brother while — we never thought we’d type this phrase — Rod is speechless?
Our second reaction: Imagine the relief in Washington, Springfield and Chicago if this defendant reneges on his ceaseless promises to testify. Nobody in politics or government wants to hear his or her name coming out of Rod Blagojevich’s mouth. And not just because of all the other things that have come out of it. The defrocked governor could sit in the dock for days, trying to frame the context of his own acts by telling jurors about the less than noble acts of others.
He stands accused of trying to sell, for personal gain, a seat in the U.S. Senate. We know from prior testimony that he was surrounded by supplicants who wanted the job or who wanted someone specific to get it. What might Blagojevich tell all of us about the temptations those supplicants offered — or the pressures they exerted? He plainly hasn’t cooperated with federal prosecutors by telling them whatever he knows about the blood-lust competition for that Senate seat. What if he now is unleashed, sworn to tell the truth under penalty of perjury, with the possibility of sparing himself many years in prison?
Or maybe Rod Blagojevich, defendant, wants jurors to determine his fate after hearing only from Rod Blagojevich, FBI recording artist. We’ve heard many lawyers offer the conventional wisdom that he shouldn’t testify. But in essence he already has testified, in dozens of conversations boomed over courtroom speakers.
As Wednesday dawns, none of us knows which Rod Blagojevich the jurors will judge: the one who exercises his right to stay silent, or the one who can’t wait for a verdict without having tried to steer it.
