Blagojevich’s memoir recounts old feuds
Happy Thursday, Illinois. Keep the umbrella handy — rain is headed our way. TOP TALKER FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Rod Blagojevich’s memoir is a page-turner about his eight years behind bars, with plenty of political score-settling mixed in. In the book , “Framed, F*cked, & Freed,” Blagojevich lays out his belief that former President Barack Obama helped pave the way for his imprisonment. “I have a theory. I cannot prove it,” he writes, suggesting Obama made a deal with prosecutors in the Tony Rezko case: U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald could keep his job and concentrate on Blagojevich if he stopped pressing Obama on Rezko, a political insider who served time on corruption charges. Rezko also was a Democratic fundraiser and friend to Blagojevich and Obama. Obama’s team did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Blagojevich drops names throughout the book, noting he would communicate with former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and describing how he relished being on the red carpet to promote “The Break-Up,” a comedy-drama filmed in Chicago that starred Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn. Fallout with a friend: Blagojevich introduces the friendship he once had with Gov. JB Pritzker and alludes to their controversial conversations that were
