Blago's Brother Writing A Book

Now the Blago who beat the rap is writing a book.

Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s brother, Robert, is working on a legal memoir entitled, How I Survived the Federal Justice System.

Robert, a Nashville real estate agent who helped his brother raise funds for his re-election campaign, was tried alongside Rod in federal court. The siblings sat at separate tables, and never talked or even looked at each other. After that trial ended in a hung jury, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald dropped the charges against Robert. Still, his legal ordeal had left him broke.

Despite what he described as a “strained with a capital S” relationship with Rod, Robert cried when he learned his brother had been sentenced to 14 years in prison. Robert believes his brother is innocent and wrote a letter to Judge James Zagel, pleading for leniency. He's also offered to testify in an ongoing ethics investigation against Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., who played a role in the trial of his brother. 

For his part, Rod apologized to Robert at his sentencing, “for getting him involved in this whole thing.”

If Robert thinks that writing a book will help him recoup the money he spent on his defense, he’s going to be disappointed. Rod’s book, The Governor, was not a big seller. Its current Amazon rank is 2,009,209. With Rod in prison until the mid-’20s, the Blagojevich story no longer fascinates Illinoisans. We don’t want to read another book about it. Most of you probably didn’t even want to read this blog post.

Buy this book! Ward Room blogger Edward McClelland's book, Young Mr. Obama: Chicago and the Making of a Black President , is available Amazon. Young Mr. Obama includes reporting on President Obama's earliest days in the Windy City, covering how a presumptuous young man transformed himself into presidential material. Buy it now!

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