Book deal for Blago
By KEVIN P. CRAVER - kcraver@nwherald.com
Rod Blagojevich’s publicist confirmed that the disgraced ex-governor signed a six-figure book deal Monday.
But that deal comes only days after one of Blagojevich’s biggest enemies in the General Assembly filed legislation to bar convicted politicians from profiting from telling the stories of their crimes.
State Rep. Jack Franks, D-Marengo, filed a bill Friday that would force any Illinois elected official convicted of a crime involving a violation of their oath of office to forfeit any profits from book, movie, TV, radio or Internet deals.
Franks said Monday afternoon that he had no advance knowledge of Blagojevich’s book and learned about it when the Northwest Herald called. He said his staff members had been working on the bill since shortly after Blagojevich’s arrest Dec. 9, 2008, on federal corruption charges.
“I’ve been right about this guy on pretty much everything,” Franks said. “I figured that this would be his next move.”
Blagojevich publicist Glenn Selig said in a news release that Blagojevich’s book would expose “the dark side of politics,” and tell the truth behind his arrest, impeachment and removal from office. Selig said the book, with a working title of “The Governor,” would be published by Phoenix Books and would be released in October.
Blagojevich has maintained his innocence and denies that he tried to sell the U.S. Senate seat of President Obama for personal gain. The book, Selig said, would cover how Blagojevich ended up picking Roland Burris to fill the seat.
Michael Viner, president of the Beverly Hills, Calif.-based publishing company, confirmed the company’s deal with Blagojevich.
“I think it’s a unique story, obviously, and he has a story to tell that will be of interest to people,” Viner said.
Selig said the book would “pull no punches,” and would reveal information “that will at times be embarrassing to himself as well as to others.”
That had at least one former prosecutor suggesting that Blagojevich be careful.
Steven Miller, former chief of special prosecutions in the U.S. attorney’s office, said “any potential defendant would be well advised to have his attorney screen the book to make sure there were no admissions that could be used against him at a trial.”
Miller noted “being embarrassed and being incriminated are two different concepts. There can be material that is embarrassing but not incriminating.”
Miller said he “would not automatically say no” if one of his own clients announced plans to write a book, noting that upsides could include improving Blagojevich’s image and raising money that he might need for his defense.
Aside from the “six-figure” description, the terms of Blagojevich’s book deal were not disclosed. But the former governor is facing the prospect of an expensive criminal trial after losing his $177,000-a-year job. His wife also recently was fired from a $100,000-a-year job.
Franks said his bill, House Bill 4078, was modeled off of “son of Sam” laws in place in various states to prevent criminals from profiting from their crimes. It was assigned to the House Rules Committee and had no sponsors as of early Monday evening.
The law, Franks said, also would apply to convicted politicians such as former Gov. George Ryan, who is serving prison time for racketeering and fraud, and former Chicago alderman Ed Vrdolyak, who was sentenced last week to five years of probation and a $50,000 fine for his role in a $1.5 million kickback scheme
“We have to send a very strong message that we’re not going to allow anyone to profit from their crime, especially a disgraced public official,” Franks said.
