On the day when jurors in the Rod Blagojevich corruption trial finally heard the infamous "bleeping golden" tape, they also listened in as the governor and his wife speculated about the possibility of sacking the U.S. Attorney, if Blagojevich took the Obama Senate seat himself.
"I've got this thing and it's (EXPLETIVE) golden," Blagojevich tells advisor Doug Scofield, in a conversation secretly recorded November 5, 2008. "And I'm not just giving it up for (EXPLETIVE) nothing! And I'm not going to do it! And I can always use it and parachute me there!"
[Justice.gov: Call Transcripts]
On that topic, Blagojevich speculates with wife Patti in a conversation recorded by the FBI November 12th, about what life might be like if he drew his own name for the Senate job. As the call opens, Blagojevich informs his wife that it appears Valerie Jarrett has officially pulled out of the running.
"Right. So what do you get from that then?" Patti asks. "So you're not getting anything for this appointment. So you're free to cut your own deal."
As Blagojevich speculates about making himself Senator, he discusses the possibility of firing a shot across the bow of his political enemies. "I don't want to spite them," he says, "but I almost want to send me there to (EXPLETIVE) spite them!"
"You know, and from a criminal standpoint," he adds, "a law standpoint, am I better off there? You've got a voice in that U.S. Attorney. I don't know."
Patti advises caution. "Would he have to stay because you were there?" she asks. "You couldn't look like you were eliminating him."
Blagojevich concedes the publicity would be bad. "National news, you know! Under federal investigation. He appoints himself. Blah blah blah, you know. That's a big fear, you know."
In court Tuesday, jurors heard Blagojevich express anger about an election night appearance on NBC 5, where Political Editor Carol Marin asked point blank how he got up in the morning and faced his mounting legal troubles.
"Of that whole pack, I like her the least. I hate her. I hate her!"
Marin was in the courtroom as the tape was played, and after court, a rather sheepish looking Blagojevich offered his apologies.
"I was just frustrated," he said. "I hope they play the tape where I say I have a crush on you!"
Elsewhere in the case Tuesday:
* Blagojevich was heard on one tape, explaining that he couldn't appoint Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky to the Senate post because he needed to give it to an African American. "If Jan could show me she had ancestors who came over on a slave ship, she would be fine."
* The governor unleashes an expletive-laden tirade at the very thought of giving the Senate job to Treasurer Alexi Giannoulious. "That mother------" he shouts. "I wouldn't do s--- for him! Every chance he got, he took a shot at me!"
* In a conversation with union official Tom Balanoff, he directly asks for a deal to appoint the President's choice, Valerie Jarrett. Blagojevich wanted to create an issues-advocacy non-profit, which he wanted Obama to help him fund. "Then we help our new Senator Valerie Jarrett," he says. Balanoff said he had no intention of pursuing the issue further.
