Thaindian News

August 18, 2010 (Pen Men at Work): Rod Blagojevich happens to be a member of the Democratic Party of America and was also the Governor of the state of Illinois from 2003 to 2009. He has now been found guilty by a federal jury on a solitary count of being dishonest with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of America. Nonetheless, the jury was gridlocked on 23 corruption counts against Blagojevich. This deadlock can certainly be construed as a source of disappointment for the FBI agents and the prosecutors, who have functioned tirelessly over the years unearthing evidence against Blagojevich, who is famous on account of his vociferousness and theatricalness.

Blagojevich has been the recipient of the grave accusation of vending the senatorial seat of the then president-elect, Barack Obama, in return for a fundraising proposal worth USD 6 million from the Indian-American entrepreneur named Raghu Nayak.

Blagojevich happens to be the previous congressman, who had occupied the Governorship of Illinois for two terms. After being convicted on one count, he now encounters the likelihood of up to five years in a penal complex. That is due to the jurors discovering that he had been mendacious in his interactions with the FBI when he mentioned that he did not eyeball campaign contributions and maintained a firewall between political campaigns and bureaucratic work.

The American attorney named Patrick Fitzgerald has articulated that the prosecutors were already gearing themselves up for a fresh trial. Blagojevich has declared his guiltlessness to the reporters and has uttered that the administration has not been able to demonstrate that he has breached any constitutional law except one, which, he mentioned, was a vague charge from 5 years back. He has voiced that he has been truthful and earnest in his dialogue with the FBI.

Nayak came into view as a pivotal figure at the trial. Nayak, a key fundraiser, presented Blagojevich USD 6 million in return for nominating Jesse Jackson Jr. in the senate seat. Nayak has not been charged though.

Judge James B Zagel has announced a mistrial on the deadlocked counts and has bequeathed the prosecution until August 26 to officially pronounce plans to retry Blagojevich.

Blagojevich has, however, promised to initiate an appeal against his conviction on a single count and has expressed buoyancy that he will be on the right side in the verdict. He has confessed his blamelessness on many occasions before the media on entities such as Twitter, Larry King Live and Celebrity Apprentice. His legal representatives had counseled him against declaring that the government had not established its case against him.