http://cbs2chicago.com/governor/blag...2.1650066.html
Unredacted documents at link below. Redacted sections in bold
http://static.cbslocal.com/station/w...UNREDACTED.doc
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
The judge presiding over the corruption case against former Gov. Rod Blagojevich summoned attorneys to his courtroom Thursday evening after information in the case that was supposed to remain under seal was released to the public in a defense filing seeking to subpoena President Barack Obama.
Blagojevich's attorneys had filed a motion Thursday asking to have the president give testimony for the upcoming trial.
The filing contained several paragraphs that had been blacked out -- or redacted -- because the information had been sealed by court order. However, in the electronic version of the motion, computer users have been able to copy and paste the blacked out portions into a separate document and read the passages as an unredacted version.
Zagel scheduled a 6 p.m. hearing to meet with attorneys. Assistant U.S. attorneys handling the case and defense attorney Sheldon Sorosky appeared in court Thursday evening, but Zagel held the hearing in out of public view.
Parties in the case declined to comment on the matter afterward.
Blagojevich has pleaded not guilty to charges that accuse him of scheming to sell or trade the Senate seat left vacant by Obama's election as president.
The motion filed Thursday says Obama was interviewed for two hours by prosecutors and FBI agents regarding the Blagojevich case, and the defense filed a motion asking for all transcripts, notes and reports from that interview. But the defense never received the documents, the motion said.
The motion also claims that prosecutors say Blagojevich met a labor union official whom he believed to be in contact with President Obama, and told the official he would appoint a certain candidate to the vacant Senate seat. In exchange, Blagojevich expected to be named secretary of Health and Human Services, the motion says prosecutors claim.
But Obama has said he was "confident that no representatives of mine would have any part of any deals related to this seat," the motion says.
"President Obama has direct knowledge to allegations made in the indictment. In addition, President Obama's public statements contradict other witness statements, specifically those made by labor union official and Senate Candidate B," the motion said.
At one point, White House adviser Valerie Jarrett was interested in filling Obama's former seat, and prosecutors allege Blagojevich tried to leverage that interest into campaign cash, or a job for himself. Blagojevich has denied the charge.
Jarrett, who has been indentified in various media reports as Senate Candidate B, also was interviewed by the FBI in December 2008.
The labor union official is expected to be a prosecution witness, and since his story is contradicted by Obama's public statement, Blagojevich's defense team wants to subpoena Obama.
"They think he could say something that will bolster the former governor's position that he did nothing wrong," CBS 2 Legal Analyst Irv Miller said.
That's the simple reason behind the motion filed today, less than two months before Blagojevich is set to stand trial for allegedly trying to sell then-Senator Obama's Senate seat for political and monetary gain.
One item in the motion reads: "There are two conflicting stories and the defense has the right to admit evidence that contradicts the government's claims. Only President Obama can do this."
No one answered the door at the ex-Governor's Northwest side home and his attorneys did not return calls for comment.
But the motion states that, in December 2009, the defense asked prosecutors for all notes, transcripts and information pertaining to the F.B.I.'s interview of Mr. Obama. Blagojevich's team still hasn't received it, prompting Thursday's filing.
"The defense is saying the president knows what was going on, the president knows that this was just typical horse-trading, typical politics as usual," Miller said. "And that's why they want him on the stand, to tell the jury that."
It would be unusual, but not unprecedented, for a sitting president to testify in a court case.
"History is replete with cases in which presidents have been subpoenaed or have provided evidence in federal cases," the motion said, followed by a list of presidents who had been deposed or testified in civil or criminal cases.
Miller cited a U.S. Supreme Court ruling from Paula Jones' case against then-president Bill Clinton. In that opinion, justices stated, "the president, like other officials, is subject to the same laws that apply to all citizens."
Miller said that ultimately, it will be up to the judge to decide whether the president must provide testimony in the Blagojevich case.
"The justice department is going to oppose it," Miller said.
If Zagel allows Obama's testimony, don't expect to see him in a Chicago courtroom during the Blagojevich trial. The president's deposition would be taken, under oath, in the White House, according to Miller. So, at the very most, the jury would see his statement on video
Blagojevich's trial is set to begin in about six weeks.
A pretrial hearing in the Blagojevich case has been scheduled for next week. It's not known if the judge will rule on this then or at a later date.
A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office, Randall Samborn, had no comment on the 11-page motion. A White House spokesperson also declined comment on the filing.
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Originally Posted by angelatc
tricky dick nixon?
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