Blago Lawyer's Closing: My Client's an Idiot

Prosecutor rejects 'not the sharpest knife in drawer' defense
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 28, 2010 9:06 AM CDT
Blago Lawyer's Closing: My Client's an Idiot
Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich signs autographs as he departs the Federal Court building after the last day of closing arguments in his federal corruption trial, July 27, 2010 in Chicago.   (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Rod Blagojevich’s defense attorney took an odd tack in his closing argument yesterday, arguing, basically, that the governor had been too stupid to do anything but follow the advice of his staff. “He ain’t corrupt,” and he “never intended to bribe or extort anyone,” Sam Adam Jr. told the jury. But “no one’s going to say that he’s the sharpest knife in the drawer.”

The prosecutor disagreed. “He is not stupid. He is very smart,” he protested, calling the argument “desperate and ridiculous.” Blagojevich, he pointed out, had plenty of ethics training, “yet somehow he is the accidentally corrupt governor.” The judge will give the jury their instructions today, the Washington Post reports. He faces 24 felony charges, including extortion, bribery, and lying to the FBI. (More Blagojevich trial stories.)

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