Emanuel resurfaces in Blagojevich case

Ousted governor claims prosecutors have withheld recordings of calls between his chief of staff and Emanuel
By John Chase and Annie Sweeney, Tribune reporters


The specter of Rod Blagojevich resurfaced Tuesday in Rahm Emanuel's run for Chicago mayor, thanks to a court filing by the ousted governor, who faces a retrial on federal corruption charges.

Emanuel caught a public relations break when the second trial for Blagojevich, a former political ally, was moved back from its scheduled January start to April 20. That has made it easier for Emanuel to sidestep questions about his role as an intermediary in late 2008 between Blagojevich and then-President-elect Barack Obama over whom the governor should appoint to succeed Obama in the U.S. Senate.

In a court filing late Monday, Blagojevich's legal team claimed prosecutors have withheld recordings of alleged telephone calls that would show the former governor was not trying to sell Obama's seat for personal gain, including at least one call between Emanuel and Blagojevich's former chief of staff, John Harris.

The calls would help prove Blagojevich was simply orchestrating a legal political deal to name Illinois Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan to the post, his attorneys argued. Blagojevich believed Emanuel could help him broker the Madigan deal, according to the filings.

Emanuel and Obama were mentioned repeatedly in the first Blagojevich trial, but evidence suggested they were wary of the former governor and there was no suggestion they did anything wrong. Blagojevich was convicted of lying to federal investigators but the jury deadlocked on more serious corruption charges.

After a campaign speech Tuesday, Emanuel said he wasn't concerned the matter could hurt him in the Fed. 22 election. He noted a widely publicized report by the Obama administration detailed contacts between Emanuel, Blagojevich and Harris and noted nothing improper occurred.

"The report of over two years ago indicates there were about four conversations and it also indicates a conversation about Lisa Madigan," Emanuel said.

The U.S. attorney's office declined to comment

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