Monday morning. Final arguments begin in the Blagojevich trial, and it could go to the jury as early as today.
Blagojevich not testifying after all these months of screaming that he couldn’t wait to, was something of a surprise. But his attorneys presenting no defense at all was, for most trial-watchers, a HUGE surprise.
Chicago journalist Eric Zorn didn’t think so, though. He had predicted it. As we await the verdict, read Zorn’s explanation of how he saw this coming, HERE.
All good points, but I think Zorn missed a very important factor. It’s a chain of three things.
1: If Blagojevich were to go on the witness stand, it would inevitably lead to Rahm Emanuel being called to the witness stand.
2: If Rahm Emanuel were to go on the witness stand, it would inevitably lead to Barack Obama either (2a) being called to the witness stand in turn, or (2b) making some kind of claim of immunity to avoid testifying under oath.
3: The Democratic Party machine cannot allow either 2a or 2b to happen. Ergo, Blagojevich could not be allowed to go on the witness stand.
To which I’ll add (5): Blagojevich’s defense team was well aware of how common it is for defendants to lie to their own lawyers before trial – and thus didn’t believe much he said unless they could verify it independently.
All I know, is if this wasn’t all happening on OUR dime it would be a lot more entertaining.