Blagojevich Appearance on MSNBC's 'Rachel Maddow' Show May Come Back to Bite Him in Court

Disgraced former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) may find a January 2009 appearance on Rachel Maddow's program coming back to bite him.

According to the Chicago Tribune's Bob Secter and Jeff Coen, federal prosecutors are hoping to use an excerpt of an interview in Blago's retrial:

---

The snippet in question is from January 2009 during one of the former governor’s early media blitzes. He appeared on The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC that month and made a statement that prosecutors in a new court filing say is "highly probative in rebutting the defendant's anticipated defenses concerning his state of mind at the time of the charged offenses."

 

A little more than six minutes into the show, Maddow asked Blagojevich whether it would be wrong or criminal to trade an appointment to the U.S. Senate for something of value for him. That is, of course, the marquee charge in the case.

 

"Oh, absolutely," Blagojevich answered, according to a transcript in the filing.

 

Maddow went on to ask if Blagojevich did that, and he answered "absolutely not."

 

Prosecutors contend that is an important distinction because Blagojevich attorneys at his first trial argued that the former governor didn't know he was doing anything criminal regarding the Senate appointment because none of his attorneys advised him so at the time.

So I guess it turns out there is some use for MSNBC after all.