Marathon Pundit: SEIU day at the Blago retrial

Monday, May 09, 2011

SEIU day at the Blago retrial

"So I owe those unions. When their leaders call, I do my best to call them back right away." Barack Obama, The Audacity of Hope.

And one of those leaders is Tom Balanoff, president of SEIU Local 1. Balanoff testified in the Blago retrial earlier today.

From AP:

Prosecutors at Rod Blagojevich's retrial called a union leader Monday to address allegations that the ousted Illinois governor sought to sell or trade President Barack Obama's vacated U.S. Senate seat, maintaining their focus on the most serious charge against him.

Tom Balanoff, a top official in the Service Employees International Union and a close ally of Obama's, took stand after defense attorneys finished cross-examining the government's first major witness, former Blagojevich chief of staff John Harris. Most of Harris' testimony also concerned the Senate allegation.

Balanoff told jurors Obama had called him the day before the November 2008 presidential election [emphasis mine] to say he wanted his friend Valerie Jarrett as a White House adviser — but that she wanted to be a senator.

After the election, Balanoff said he tried to convince Blagojevich to name Jarrett to the seat. But he said he was taken aback when Blagojevich suggested he would like to become U.S. health and human services secretary.