Blagojevich to Rezko: Tell the truth
HOME REHAB | 'Much ado about nothing,' Blagojevich says
With criminal investigations into possible corruption in state government heating up, Gov. Blagojevich pointed Tuesday to an April letter written by his convicted former adviser Tony Rezko as evidence he’s done nothing wrong.
Rezko wrote the previously disclosed letter in April to U.S. District Judge Amy J. St. Eve, as he was trying to win his release from federal custody during his trial on corruption charges. The letter mentioned Blagojevich and another politician for whom Rezko had raised campaign money: Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama.
(Jean Lachat/Sun-Times)
(Tom Cruze/Sun-Times)
"Tony Rezko sent a letter to a federal judge, and in that letter he expressly stated that neither Sen. Obama nor I did anything wrong," the governor said. "It’s filed with the court, and it speaks for itself."
St. Eve released the letter in June, after Rezko was convicted of wide-ranging corruption involving state deals. "They are pressuring me to tell them the ‘wrong’ things that I supposedly know about Gov. Blagojevich and Sen. Obama," Rezko wrote. "I have never been party to any wrongdoing that involved the governor or the senator."
Blagojevich invoked the letter a day after prosecutors asked that Rezko’s scheduled Oct. 28 sentencing be delayed indefinitely because they’re in talks with Rezko — a signal Rezko might cooperate in other investigations.
"It is what it is," the governor said of the latest development involving Rezko. "He, like everybody else, should tell the truth."
Speaking after the dedication of Chicago State University’s Emil & Patricia Jones Convocation Center, Blagojevich also downplayed a Sunday Sun-Times report that the FBI has questioned contractors who worked on a $90,000 rehab of his home that a Rezko company oversaw in 2003.
"Much ado about nothing," Blagojevich said. "The home renovation that we did, Patti and I paid for personally."
The governor repeated he has no plans to release contractor invoices, canceled personal checks or other documents to back up that claim. "The canceled checks are where they belong. They’re at the bank," he said.
If Rezko does make a deal to cooperate, the letter is likely to become an issue in any prosecution he aids. The now-imprisoned Scott Fawell — who was chief of staff to former Gov. George Ryan — wrote a similar letter before he became the star witness in Ryan’s trial and helped send him to prison.