Whitehouse: Justice?

A Nashville man was freed from Chicago last week.

He was being held hostage by a promise he made to his parents, a sense of duty to his only sibling and a federal prosecutor who overreached.

His name is Robert Blagojevich, brother of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

U.S. Attorney Pat Fitzgerald charged Robert with allegedly conspiring to sell the U.S. Senate seat that was vacated by President Obama two years ago. Earlier this month a hung jury came from the case.

Last week, the feds basically told him, “never mind.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Reid Schar said the government was dropping two counts of extortion conspiracy and one count each of wire fraud and extortion because of “the disparity in the roles” of the two brothers and “in the interests of justice.”

Justice? There is no justice here. The Nashville Blagojevich family exhausted untold financial resources and was on the verge of selling their home to clear the local man’s name and pay for his defense.

The feds drained him of much of his life savings, and they call that “in the interests of justice.” Fitzgerald grudgingly dropped the charges. Robert got justice, in large part, because he had the resources and the mental toughness to present an effective defense.

A man who was just as innocent but not as wealthy or strong would have been steamrolled.

In a sense, Robert Blagojevich was guilty, but not of the crimes charged by the feds, but rather of following through on a vow to his parents.

When the Blagojeviches’ mother was dying, she reminded Robert that he and his brother were all the family that each had left, and made him promise he would always look after his little brother.

When the younger Blagojevich was campaigning for re-election as governor of Illinois, he asked his brother to take over fundraising for four months after his inner circle was indicted on federal charges.

Remembering the promise, Robert agreed without truly understanding what he was getting into. This was perhaps his biggest mistake.

His brother told him that the investigation and indictments had ended and that he would not be exposing himself to legal wrangling; the governor just needed a trusted person to help him raise money.

Naively, Robert did just that. Any seasoned political veteran would have likely told him the feds don’t stop prosecuting until they get the big fish — in this case his brother.

So why was he indicted? The government claimed he had tried to shake down organizations for his own and his brother’s financial gain, influence and power.

If Robert really had wanted those things, then why had he waited until his brother was in his last term as governor of Illinois before reconnecting? Why hadn’t he gotten involved and moved north when his brother was serving in the U.S. Congress or when he was elected governor the first time?

As for money, Robert was making a great living here, where his influence as a Blagojevich couldn’t have gotten him a free doughnut at the Donut Den.

The reality is more likely that the feds saw a family member as a bargaining chip, not the successful businessman who had had a strained relationship with his brother.

Prosecutors knew the governor idolized his brother and likely thought prosecuting the brother would force the governor to take a plea.

Well, it didn’t happen. Rod Blagojevich’s head is apparently thicker than his hair, the feds went for a conviction with a damn-the-innocent mentality, and Robert suffered the consequences.

The late Supreme Court judge and Nuremberg Trials prosecutor Robert H. Jackson once said that trials fulfill “humanity’s aspirations to do justice.”

There is obviously much to aspire to in Chicago today.