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Politics & The Nation


“Am I going to be the new secretary of health and human services? Is that what it’s called? HEW. What’s it


called?” — Rod Blagojevich


M. SPENCER GREEN/ASSOCIATED PRESS The trial is in its sixth week.


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TUESDAY, JULY 13, 2010 Governor’s office? He preferred the restroom. blagojevich from A1


bling along under the guidance of smarter aides. They contend that Blagojevich had neither the in- tent nor the follow-through to shake down businessmen or ped- dle the Senate seat once held by Obama. Hours of secret tape recordings


reveal a governor who felt bored and trapped in a job he detested. He envied Obama as he closed in


on the presidency, a job Blagojev- ich coveted. He lamented his fi- nancial troubles and talked at length about cutting a deal to name Valerie Jarrett, an Obama friend, to the Senate seat. Jarrett decided in the end to work in the White House, but when her name was in the mix, Blagojevich envisioned appoint- ing her in exchange for becoming a member of Obama’s Cabinet — even though he wasn’t sure what


the agency was called. “Am I going to be the new sec-


retary of health and human ser- vices? Is that what it’s called? HEW. What’s it called? What is that thing?” Blagojevich asks aide Robert Greenlee in one conversa- tion.


“HHS,” Greenlee responds. Blagojevich then says, “HHS. I should know . . . health and hu- man services, right?” Investigators say Blagojevich,


who was paid $170,000 a year as governor, had credit-card debt and home equity loans topping $300,000 in 2008. Witnesses said Democratic fundraiser Antoin Rezko, since convicted on corrup- tion charges, funneled tens of thousands of dollars to the gover- nor’s wife, Patti, for little or no work.


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One reason for the debts was the Blagojeviches’ sartorial tastes. In the roughly seven years that Blagojevich was governor, the couple spent about $400,000 on clothes (especially suits, ties and shoes), which was more than they spent on their mortgage, accord- ing to the government’s calcula- tions. Blagojevich has been anything but silent during his trial. Soon after jurors heard that testimony, Blagojevich arrived at the federal courthouse and asked the swarm of news media, “How’s the suit?” One advantage to appointing himself to the Obama seat, he told his wife in one conversation, is the money-making opportunity it would create for her in Illinois. He spoke dismissively of other candidates, including Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., whose supporters lat- er got the governor’s attention by offering to raise at least $1 million for Blagojevich’s campaign trea- sury if Jackson got the job. In a Nov. 21, 2008, conversa- tion, Blagojevich makes clear that he seriously considered offering the job to Oprah Winfrey. His chief of staff, John Harris, calls the idea “crazy” and says, “So . . . you’re trying to shed some grace on thee by picking her?” “What do you mean?” Blagojev- ich asks. “Meaning,” Harris replies, “isn’t it just simply you’re looking for a celebrity to be your friend?” “No, not at all,” Blagojevich continues. “This one, she’s so up there, so high, that nobody can as- sail this pick. This would be huge.” As Blagojevich maneuvered, the FBI listened. And listened. Ju- rors have heard considerable evi- dence that Blagojevich feared that he was being investigated and wiretapped. Yet he seemed dumbfounded when press aide Lucio Guerrero alerted him on Dec. 4, 2008, to a big story about to break. In the next day’s editions, Guer- rero told him, the Chicago Trib- une would report that federal in- vestigators had captured Blago- jevich on tape and that fundraiser John Wyma was cooperating with authorities. “In the Chicago Tribune tomor- row?” Blagojevich asks slowly. “Correct,” Guerrero says. Eleven seconds of silence fol-


low.


“Recordings of me?” Blagojev- ich asks. “Correct,” Guerrero responds. The FBI arrested Blagojevich


five days later. slevinp@washpost.com


3 dead in shooting at N.M. plant


Associated Press


albuquerque — A gunman opened fire at a fiber-optics com- pany Monday, killing two people and wounding four before turn- ing the gun on himself. The 37-year-old gunman was a former employee of Emcore and the incident appeared to involve his girlfriend, Police Chief Ray Schultz said. It was not immediately clear


whether she was among the dead. Schultz did not release the gun- man’s name. The shooting began shortly be- fore 9:30 a.m. Five police officers were inside the building within three minutes, Schultz said. A person who confronted the


shooter was found dead outside the building, Schultz said. Six others, including the gunman, were taken to University of New Mexico Hospital, spokesman Bil- ly Sparks said. One was dead on arrival, one died in the operating room, and one was still in surgery but expected to be transferred to intensive care.


Schultz said the gunman and his girlfriend had children who live outside Albuquerque, adding that the children were taken into custody by “another agency.” The chief said there was at least one previous domestic violence call involving the gunman. Emcore, a manufacturer based in Albuquerque, has about 700 full-time employees. Of the 5,071 workplace fatal- ities in 2008, 517 were homicides, according to Labor Department statistics. That reflects a 52 per- cent drop from 1994, when 1,080 workplace homicides occurred.


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