Reply #47: Nothing in complaint confirms candidate 5 would pay anything or was even aware of Blago's shakedown [View All]

[goodhue]

Here is full text of the relevant paragraphs:

a. On December 4, 2008, ROD BLAGOJEVICH spoke to Advisor B and
informed Advisor B that he was giving Senate Candidate 5 greater consideration for the
Senate seat because, among other reasons, if ROD BLAGOJEVICH ran for re-election
Senate Candidate 5 would “raise[] money” for ROD BLAGOJEVICH, although ROD
BLAGOJEVICH said he might “get some (money) up front, maybe” from Senate Candidate
5 to insure Senate Candidate 5 kept his promise about raising money for ROD
BLAGOJEVICH. (In a recorded conversation on October 31, 2008, ROD BLAGOJEVICH
described an earlier approach by an associate of Senate Candidate Five as follows: “We were
approached ‘pay to play.’ That, you know, he’d raise me 500 grand. An emissary came.
Then the other guy would raise a million, if I made him (Senate Candidate 5) a Senator.”)

b. Later on December 4, 2008, ROD BLAGOJEVICH spoke to Fundraiser
A. ROD BLAGOJEVICH stated he was “elevating” Senate Candidate 5 on the list of
candidates for the open Senate seat. ROD BLAGOJEVICH stated he might be able to cut
a deal with Senate Candidate 5 that provided ROD BLAGOJEVICH with something
“tangible up front.” ROD BLAGOJEVICH noted he was going to meet with Senate
Candidate 5 in the next few days. ROD BLAGOJEVICH told Fundraiser A to reach out to
Individual D, an individual who ROD BLAGOJEVICH is attempting to obtain campaign
contributions from and who, based on intercepted phone calls, ROD BLAGOJEVICH
believes to be close to Senate Candidate 5. ROD BLAGOJEVICH told Fundraiser A to tell
Individual D that Senate Candidate 5 was very much a realistic candidate for the open Senate
seat, but that ROD BLAGOJEVICH was getting “a lot of pressure” not to appoint Senate
Candidate 5. ROD BLAGOJEVICH told Fundraiser A to tell Individual D that ROD
BLAGOJEVICH had a problem with Senate Candidate 5 just promising to help ROD
BLAGOJEVICH because ROD BLAGOJEVICH had a prior bad experience with Senate
Candidate 5 not keeping his word. ROD BLAGOJEVICH told Fundraiser A to tell
Individual D that if Senate Candidate 5 is going to be chosen to fill the Senate seat “some of
this stuffs gotta start happening now . . .right now. . . and we gotta see it. You understand?”
ROD BLAGOJEVICH told Fundraiser A that “you gotta be careful how you express that and
assume everybody’s listening, the whole world is listening. You hear me?” ROD
BLAGOJEVICH told Fundraiser A to tell Individual D if there is “tangible political support
(campaign contributions) like you’ve said, start showing us now.” Fundraiser A stated he
will call Individual D on the phone to communicate ROD BLAGOJEVICH’s message. ROD
BLAGOJEVICH responded that “I would do it in person. I would not do it on the phone.”
ROD BLAGOJEVICH told Fundraiser A to communicate the “urgency” of the situation to
Individual D.