Governor Rod Blagojevich did not testify in his own defense when the Illinois Senate put him on trial and eventually threw him out of office. The man who never passed up a camera or microphone while in office decided to refrain from testifying before the Illinois Senate, and then showed up to speak before that same Illinois Senate just before they tossed him out.
Now, after his lawyers promised he would testify and would set the record straight, Blago has decided to snub the court once again.
Rod Blagojevich, now former governor, will not testify in his own defense.
Why? The best we can gather comes from the Chicago Tribune:
A defiant Rod Blagojevich defended his decision Wednesday not to take the witness stand at his corruption trial by declaring the government had not only failed to present a strong case against him, but actually proved his innocence.
But like many things the former governor has said over the years, the choice was more complicated.
While his lawyers publicly backed Blagojevich’s view that he didn’t need to respond to the government’s case, sources said the defense team was worried the former governor could be headed toward a beating on the stand that would only undermine his case and weaken his standing with the jury.
I’m going with the beating-on-the-stand-would-undermine-his-case explanation. This is my favorite:
The sources said the former governor had difficulty wrapping words around the concepts he wanted to use to defend himself.
After all this time, the former governor was at a loss for words? After showing up on The View?
I don’t think so.