This was supposed to be the week where we heard testimony from former Governor Rod Blagojevich. But, that's not going to happen now:

From reality TV shows and late-night chat fests to the sidewalk outside the federal courthouse where a jury will decide his fate, former Gov. Rod Blagojevich has spent more than a year telling anyone who would listen that he would testify in his own defense and be vindicated.

But in a stunning twist as his time to take the witness stand came, Blagojevich's attorneys told U.S. District Judge James Zagel on Tuesday that the ex-governor would not testify and that they were prepared to rest their case without calling a single witness, sources told the Tribune. After conferring that message privately to Zagel and prosecutors in a lengthy sidebar, the defense team was told by the judge to mull the decision overnight.

The decision means Blagojevich won't be able to play any undercover recordings that he felt backed up his denials of wrongdoing. Last week, the judge took parts of two days to decide what recordings could be played for the jury by the defense, though he blocked many of the ones it sought to air.

The public corruption trial of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich will be garnering a lot of attention this week. That's because the defendant intends to take the stand in his own defense:

The beleaguered ex-governor is expected to take the stand at his corruption trial early this week, following testimony from his sister-in-law and his estranged brother, Robert, who is also charged with what prosecutors have described as a "political crime spree."

Though Blagojevich is not required to testify in his own defense, legal experts contend that his team had little choice after their often repeated and very public promises for him to do so. His testimony also has been spurred by U.S. District Judge James Zagel, who suggested that the defense strategy based on Blagojevich's good intentions all but requires him to take the stand and explain his state of mind.

But putting Blagojevich on the stand comes with considerable risk. The loquacious ex-governor is notorious for his rambling responses to tough questions, a penchant for quoting Rudyard Kipling in stressful times and a habit of comparing himself to historic figures such as Mahatma Gandhi.

"I should think that the defense will be losing a lot of sleep over this," said Leonard Cavise, a DePaul University law professor who has been attending the trial. "He can't keep his mouth shut, so you worry that he's going to open himself up to things he shouldn't."

And, that's what a lot of pundits in Chicago and DC will be waiting to hear.

Clout Street, the blog covering local politics for the Chicago Tribune, reports on the potential fallout from the Blagojevich corruption trial for Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. The Congressman allegedly wanted to be named U.S. Senator -- and was willing to raise money for Blagojevich to make it happen:

Jackson has spent in excess of $200,000 in legal fees from his federal campaign fund amid the Blagojevich criminal investigation and the resulting congressional inquiry, which was put on hold at the request of the U.S. attorney's office while the criminal case plays out.

In expletive-laced conversations played in court and released publicly, Blagojevich and his inner circle ridiculed Jackson as a political lightweight unworthy of the Senate seat vacated by President Barack Obama. But Blagojevich warmed to the notion that Jackson loyalists could raise $1 million for the governor — an alleged scheme that prosecutors now say Jackson knew about.

Two days after that allegation surfaced in court, Jackson issued a statement Friday saying he "was never part of any improper scheme with Blagojevich or anyone else related to securing" the Senate vacancy. But he said it would be inappropriate "to clear up the misstatements made by some," until the trial ended.

While Jackson once said he had been informed he was "not a target of this investigation," on Friday his statement was worded differently: "I have never been advised that I am a target of this investigation."

But, despite these latest revelations, Melanie Sloan told the Southtown Star, Rep. Jackson has little to fear from the House Ethics Committee:

As far as a censure from his colleagues, the U.S. House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct is unlikely to take action, according to corruption watchdog Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

"The (committee) has never found a member of Congress it can't clear of wrongdoing," she said. "In this case, it's likely they'll say that if his actions didn't rise to the level of anything the Justice Department would prosecute, then there's nothing there."

Jackson's involvement in the Blagojevich matter drew the attention of the committee last year. But prosecutors asked the committee to sideline their review of Jackson until Blagojevich's case concluded.

By Sloan's account, even if the committee reopens its case it's unlikely Jackson will be punished.

"Certainly members of Congress are supposed to avoid even the appearance of impropriety, but the committee lets everybody skate. When nobody holds members responsible for their conduct, it emboldens others to behave badly," she said.

There was a lot of talk about ethics reform in Illinois following the impeachment of the Governor, Rod Blagojevich. His predecessor, George Ryan, served time in prison for public corruption. So, it's not like the state doesn't need reform.

But, it's clear the state has a very loose definition of ethics reform. Not paying for a portrait of an impeached governor doesn't really meet the definition of real reform:

Governor Pat Quinn has signed two new laws to reform ethics in Illinois government.

One law will require elected officials convicted of public corruption to forfeit profits from the corrupt activity.

The other law prohibits the use of state funds to finance a portrait of a governor who has been impeached and removed from office.

The new law means taxpayers will not have to pay for a portrait of Rod Blagojevich.

That's all well and good. But, it's a pretty low standard for defining ethics reform.

The first witness will take the stand in the case against former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. And, that witness is a former aide to the Governor who is cooperating with the prosecution:

The first prosecution witnesses in Rod Blagojevich's corruption trial will take the stand today, and one of them is likely to be Alonzo "Lon" Monk, the former governor's law school roomie who went on to run his campaigns and serve as his chief of staff.

Monk, who has pleaded guilty in the case and is cooperating with prosecutors, is expected to serve as a kind of narrator for the government's case, lending an insider's view of many of the allegedly corrupt deals linked to Blagojevich. (Click HERE for continual updates from the trial.)

Blagojevich's attorney, Sam Adam Jr., was already battering Monk's image during a fiery opening statement on Tuesday.

"He personifies California," Adam said. "His beautiful tanned skin, his beautiful hair."

Blagojevich, a steelworker's son, was awed when he visited the home of Monk's father, a wealthy celebrity doctor, "a gynecologist to the stars," and saw peacocks grazing on the front lawn, according to Adam.

The trial of Rod Blagojevich, the state’s only governor booted from office through impeachment, gets underway today, four years after a federal jury convicted Blagojevich’s predecessor George Ryan of misusing his office for personal gain.

 

One was a Republican, the other a Democrat. One was a seasoned practitioner of backroom politics, the other a self-proclaimed reformer who took every opportunity to loudly decry Ryan’s misdeeds. One seemed perpetually grumpy, the other a perpetual chatterbox and publicity hound. 

The common thread, however, is that both stood accused of spectacular abuses of the public trust in a state where the bar for spectacular abuses is set pretty high.

Jury selection is the first order of business today at the Blagojevich proceedings, and it is likely to stretch on for at least a few days. The real drama begins next week when prosecutors begin to try to make their case that Blagojevich set out from the moment he was elected to personally cash in on the office he had vowed to clean-up.  

We'll provide updates as the trial unfolds.

Believe it or not, last night's speaker was Illinois' ex-governor, Rod Blagojevich. Chicago's ABC News affiliate reports:

The former Illinois governor facing federal corruption charges addressed Northwestern University students Tuesday night on the subject of ethics.

"If I did all the things they said I did, I wouldn't be anywhere near this event," said Blagojevich.

In his opening statements, Blagojevich proclaimed his innocence, accused the federal prosecutor of unethical behavior, and accused legislative leaders Mike Madigan and John Cullerton of practicing what Blagojevich defines as corruption.

Last year, Blagojevich had hoped to travel to Costa Rica so he could be filmed in a TV reality show. But a judge denied his request to leave the country. The people of Illinois probably feel they have already endured one reality show too many from Blagojevich.

Today, federal prosecutors re-indicted former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Why? Prosecutors are reportedly trying to avoid having their case against the ex-governor dismantled by an anticipated U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

In the coming weeks, many observers believe the high court may declare a law key to the original indictment to be unconstitutional. This law is often called the "honest services" fraud law. When this case was argued before the Supreme Court in December, several justices expressed concerns about the law's scope.

Last April, Blagojevich was charged with 17 counts of fraud, racketeering and other criminal activity. Reuters reports:

"The new charges ... are based on the same underlying criminal conduct," said Patrick Fitzgerald, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, in a court filing accompanying the new grand jury indictment in Chicago.

The Illinois legislature impeached and removed Blagojevich, a Democrat, from office in January 2009, during his second term. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is scheduled to go on trial in Chicago in June.

Because of the ethics scandal that resulted in the impeachment of the state's Governor, there was real hope for real ethics reform in Illinois this year.  But, that's not quite what happened:

Patrick Collins knows a thing or two about corruption in Illinois. He was the lead federal prosecutor of George Ryan, the former Republican governor now serving a six-year prison term. He has prosecuted corrupt Chicago aldermen, city, state and county workers, as well as government contractors.

Collins says every case has one thing in common. "Each major public corruption investigation I was involved in had, at its core, a campaign finance problem."

So when Collins, now in private practice, was appointed by Quinn to lead a commission to suggest reforms for Illinois' wayward politics, he and other commissioners zeroed in on the state's almost regulation-free system of campaign finance. They proposed contribution limits to mirror federal regulations and several other restrictions.

"Suffice it to say, what came out of the legislative process did not reflect our core proposals," Collins says.

And that's putting it mildly.

The Illinois General Assembly did approve contribution limits in its campaign finance bill, but set them thousands of dollars higher than Collins' commission recommended. Plus, Collins and other reform advocates say, the limits are riddled with gaping loopholes.

We're learning of another guilty plea with an accompanying commitment to cooperate with federal authorities.  This time, it's the former chief of staff to the impeached Governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich:

John Harris, the last chief of staff to former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, pleaded guilty today to a single count of wire fraud in federal court -- and agreed to cooperate in the federal probe against his former boss in return for a recommended prison term of just under 3 years.

Harris was accused of aiding some of the former governor's efforts to leverage the powers of his office in exchange for favors and campaign contributions.  Among the accusations against Blagojevich is that he attempted to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President Barack Obama.

(Read the guilty plea here)

Harris entered the plea after Assistant U.S. Atty. Carrie Hamilton detailed discussions in which Harris talked with Blagojevich about how the then-governor could personally benefit from naming a successor to Obama in the Senate.