CHICAGO – Rod Blagojevich had been jealous of Barack Obama’s rise out of Illinois politics to the White House, one of his former top aides testified Tuesday, but the day after Obama’s victory rally in Chicago’s Grant Park, the governor was on the phone talking about a trump card that might turn his fortunes around.
“I’ve got this thing and it’s (expletive) golden,” Blagojevich said in a conversation secretly recorded by government agents. “I’m not just giving it up for (expletive) nothing.”
Blagojevich was talking to his onetime deputy governor, Doug Scofield, who had been part of his two campaigns for the state’s top office.
“The thing he’s referring to is his ability to appoint a senator,” Scofield testified at Blagojevich’s corruption trial.
The “golden” line has served as a virtual trademark for the government’s case.
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