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SEIU President Testifies at Blago Trial
The president of the Service Employees International Union has testified against ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich in his political corruption trial.

SEIU president Tom Balanoff testified Tuesday that Blagojevich was looking for a cabinet position in exchange for appointing Valerie Jarrett to a vacant U.S. Senate seat. Jarrett, according to earlier testimony, was President Barack Obama's choice to take his old Senate seat after winning the presidential election.

But when asked by defense attorney Sheldon Sorosky to give a yes or no answer, Balanoff implied that Blagojevich never directly asked for a deal.

"The governor did not say to you, 'Tom, we've been friends for a long time. We're all big boys. I'll appoint Valerie Jarrett if the president appoints me?'" Sorosky said.

"No," replied Balanoff.

Balanoff also testified that he reached out to Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias after he couldn't get a hold of Jarrett in a final reaching out to see if she was interested in the seat. Balanoff told jurors that Giannoulias said Jarrett was no longer interested in the seat, but that he might be. At that point Jarrett had already been tapped for a cabinet position with the Obama administration.

Meanwhile, Judge James Zagel again threatened to cut off cross-examination if he deemed it useless. Sorosky was also shut down by the judge after a series of questions directed to Balanoff about campaign contributions to Obama.

(Illinois Radio Network)
06 29 10 by Newsroom
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