Federal prosecutors are promising to bring a new indictment against former Gov. Rod Blagojevich to avoid issues connected to an appeal before the U.S. Supreme Court on the scope of the federal "honest services" statute under which Blagojevich has been charged.
That would prevent the need to delay Blagojevich’s June trial date, they said.
In a filing today, prosecutors said they would handle the honest services question in the new filing against the former governor. The high court is expected to hear arguments tomorrow related to the limits of the federal statute.
Honest services fraud criminalizes schemes that deprive the public or the government of the right to have public officials perform their duties honestly.
The honest services statute makes up a portion of a number of the charges against Blagojevich, alleging that he violated his official duties while illegally leveraging the powers of his office to benefit himself.
Coming soon to every news channel imaginable, The Summer of Blagojevich.
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