Blagojevich: Musings of ex-governor included Bleep the public, Oprah for senator

CHICAGO -- Former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich may or may not have broken the law, but he sure did hate his job. He reviled his political enemies, mocked many of the candidates for a vacant U.S. Senate seat and disparaged the voters who failed to appreciate his talents.

"Only 13 percent of you all out there think I'm doing a good job. So [expletive] all of you," the salty-tongued Blagojevich (D), referring to poll numbers, said in a secretly taped conversation played at his federal corruption trial.

By the time Democrat Barack Obama had won the White House in 2008, the two-term governor was deeply in debt and obsessed with finding a new job that paid well. He spent as few as two hours a week in the office, sometimes hiding in the restroom to avoid his budget director.

A former deputy governor testified that he once was so desperate to get work done, he tracked his boss to a bowling alley, forcing the elusive Blagojevich to focus on 20 important legislative measures while finishing a meal with his wife and two young daughters. Another aide said he cornered Blagojevich at his tailor's.

Prosecutors pressing a 24-count racketeering, extortion and fraud case expect to rest their case in the next day or two, then wait to see whether the voluble Blagojevich makes good on his vow to testify in his own defense. Among other charges, prosecutors have accused the former governor of trying to shake down a racetrack operator and a road contractor. He is accused of seeking a $50,000 campaign contribution from a Chicago children's hospital executive in return for releasing $8 million in Medicaid payments owed to the hospital.

Already six weeks into the trial, prosecutors are now preparing for a cross-examination that could stretch weeks more. Defense attorneys, meanwhile, worked Monday to suggest that Blagojevich was a dim bulb, stumbling along under the guidance of smarter aides. They contend that Blagojevich had neither the intent nor the follow-through to shake down businessmen or peddle the Senate seat once held by Obama.

Hours of secret tape recordings reveal a governor who felt bored and trapped in a job he detested. He envied Obama as he closed in on the presidency, a job Blagojevich coveted. He lamented his financial troubles and talked at length about cutting a deal to name Valerie Jarrett, an Obama friend, to the Senate seat.

Jarrett decided in the end to work in the White House, but when her name was in the mix, Blagojevich envisioned appointing her in exchange for becoming a member of Obama's Cabinet -- even though he wasn't sure what the agency was called.

"Am I going to be the new secretary of health and human services? Is that what it's called? HEW. What's it called? What is that thing?" Blagojevich asks aide Robert Greenlee in one conversation.

"HHS," Greenlee responds.

Blagojevich then says, "HHS. I should know . . . health and human services, right?"

Investigators say Blagojevich, who was paid $170,000 a year as governor, had credit-card debt and home equity loans topping $300,000 in 2008. Witnesses said Democratic fundraiser Antoin Rezko, since convicted on corruption charges, funneled tens of thousands of dollars to the governor's wife, Patti, for little or no work.