* Apparently, this is standard procedure…
Federal authorities used a video camera as part of their cache of tools to investigate Gov. Blagojevich in the final weeks of 2008 before his arrest, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.
The camera, which likely was remote-controlled, was trained on the Friends of Blagojevich offices, 4147 N. Ravenswood, to help FBI agents identify individuals entering and leaving the campaign offices — and to identify who was talking on bugs agents covertly planted inside.
But this is interesting…
In addition, more phone lines and cell phones were tapped in the investigation than the government previously disclosed — including the cell phones of at least three members of the governor’s inner circle and two phones inside the campaign office — capturing dozens of individuals in the days when the governor was pondering a U.S. Senate pick and when horsetrading for the seat was rampant, sources said.
Three members of the inner circle were bugged, eh? Maybe even more folks will now line up to spill their guts to Fitzgerald.
* On a related note, the Daily Herald has some Senate impeachment trial rules today. Here are a few..
•Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas R. Fitzgerald, a Chicago Democrat, presides over the trial. Senators can overrule his procedural decisions with a majority vote, which is 30 votes in the 59-member Senate.
•The Senate can issue subpoenas, writs, and other legal orders, and if a witness refuses to testify he or she can be arrested and forced to testify.
•Evidence is admissible if it is “relevant, material and not redundant.” The Senate is not bound by normal rules of evidence used in Illinois or federal courts.
•Gov. Blagojevich is entitled to appear at the trial himself or be represented by lawyers. However, the trial will proceed even if the governor declines to participate.
•Senators and Senate staff “should” abstain from commenting on testimony and evidence before the trial ends.
•Both sides will have 30 minutes for opening statements. After the Senate hears the evidence, the House prosecutor can make a 60-minute closing argument. Blagojevich’s attorney will then have 90 minutes for a closing argument, followed by 30 minutes for rebuttal by the prosecutor.
* Related…
* The Bigger Picture: Impeachment, At What Cost?
* Rod Blagojevich: Alone with his Money?
* Lawyer, part-time novelist to argue for impeachment in Senate trial
* The Governor’s Next Appointment
* Blago dissed
* Edwin Eisendrath: I took on Blagojevich when it mattered