Guilty on just 1 count, Rod Blagojevich taunts U.S. attorney

Chicago Breaking News 08/17/2010 15:54

Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich leaves the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse after the verdict in his corruption trial

After a federal jury convicted him of just one count -- lying to the FBI -- and deadlocked on 23 other counts, Rod Blagojevich declared his innocence today and defiantly taunted prosecutors.

"The government threw everything but the kitchen sink at me, and on every charge but one, they could not prove that I broke any laws except one, a nebulous charge from five years ago," he told a crush of reporters at the Dirksen Federal Building this afternoon. "I did not lie to the FBI. I told the truth from the very beginning."

"We have a prosecutor who has wasted and wanted to spend tens of millions of dollars of taxpayer money to take me away from my family and my home," he continued, accusing the government of persecuting him.

In a theatrical burst of emotion, Blagojevich attorney Sam Adam Sr. went after U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald.

"This guy Fitzgerald is a master at indicting people for noncriminal activity," he said. "This guy is nuts."

"Lincoln is rolling over in his grave," Adam Sr. continued, his voice rising. "[Fitzgerald] set the press against this man and, for 1 1/2 years, we have had to contend with the press.

"This is one of those situations where he villified the defendant so bad in the press that when the case started...[we] had to go to Ace Hardware and find a ladder to climb up to the bottom," he yelled.

Another Blagojevich attorney, Sam Adam Jr. implored reporters to ask Fitzgerald one question: "Why are we spending $25 to $30 million on a retrial when they couldn't prove it the first time?"

"We didn't even put a defense on, and the government couldn't prove his case," he said, adding that prosecutors "have to ask themselves, 'Is this worth it?' "