Rod Blagojevich, Barack Obama, you're doing it wrong

Blagojevich Judge Calls Emergency Meeting

Blagojevich Judge Calls Emergency Meeting

The judge presiding over former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's corruption trial called an emergency meeting Thursday evening after information that was intended to remain under seal was released to the public in a defense filing to subpoena President Barack Obama.

Judge James B. Zagel scheduled a 6 p.m. hearing in his chambers to question attorneys about why the redacted information was readable, according to reports.

But Blagojevich's attorneys denied that interpretation. When asked whether the meeting concerned the redacted documents, attorney Sheldon Sorosky responded simply "no."

The defense motion, filed Thursday afternoon, request to call President Obama as a corroborating witness and argued that Obama could verify that Blagojevich didn't try to sell his seat.

The filing contained several paragraphs that had been blacked out electronically. However, the underlying text was easily viewable in the electronic cersion of the document if a reader simply copied-and-pasted the paragraphs into another program.

The failure to properly redact is a relatively common one in government circles.

 

 

 

BY Ward Room Staff // Thursday, Apr 22, 2010 at 06:41 CDT

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      About the Authors

      Phil Rogers

      phil.rogers@nbcuni.com

      Emmy Award-winning reporter Phil Rogers joined WMAQ Channel 5 in 1993 and leads the station's coverage of the Rod Blagojevich trial, foreign affairs, and aviation news. His in-depth knowledge of local issues and trenchant insight into Chicago's political machinations make him an indispensable member of the our team. Read full bio.

      Mary Ann Ahern

      MaryAnn.Ahern@nbcuni.com

      Mary Ann Ahern joined WMAQ Channel 5 in 1989 and was named Political Reporter in 2006, after becoming widely known for her coverage of religion. Over the years, she has covered countless breaking stories, including the disclosure of the priest sex abuse crisis, the death of Pope John Paul II and one of the last interviews with actor Christopher Reeve. Read full bio .

      Edward McClelland

      tedmcclelland@gmail.com
      Edward McClelland is the author of Young Mr. Obama: Chicago and the Making of a Black President, which will be published in October by Bloomsbury Press. His writing has also appeared in The New York Times, The Nation, and on the websites Salon and Slate, among others. A graduate of Michigan State University, he lives in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood.

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