Rod Blagojevich: All The Governor’s Men
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Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to scam fluencers early and ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or Apple Podcasts. A heads up to our listeners, the subject of this episode, Rod Blagojevich, has a bit of a dirty mouth. So this episode has a few more F-bombs than usual. Welcome to the messy, macho world of Chicago politics, baby. ♪

Sarah, you know how American politicians are always campaigning on how they come from humble roots? You know, it's like son of a goat doctor, daughter of a boat of immigrants, you know, that kind of thing. Yeah, it's the American dream. They're like, I'm the American dream and so are you. Yes. Well, do you ever buy it? Like, does it make you believe in the politician? Because it makes me much more suspicious. Okay.

Of course I don't. That's why I'm proud to be Canadian, where our leader is the son of a former prime minister. Well, I ask because today I have a story about one of those politicians, a son of Eastern European immigrants who loved the attention he got from campaigning and the money he made as a powerful figure in American politics. But you know what I remember the most about him, Sarah? His hair. His awful, awful hair. ♪

It's October 2009, and Rod Blagojevich is visibly nervous. He's wearing a dark suit with a blue tie, and his signature mop of thick brown hair hangs over his eyes. He's in a boardroom, seated next to celebrity chef Curtis Stone and retired Olympic sprinter Michael Johnson. ♪

TV cameras highlight the sweat dripping down his face. He fidgets with his tie. He seems completely out of his element. For six years, Rod was the governor of Illinois, but not anymore. He's recently been impeached. He's also been charged with racketeering, conspiracy, and lying to public officials. But his anxiety isn't because of the 19-count federal indictment.

No, he's frazzled because he's appearing on The Celebrity Apprentice. And the show's host, Donald Trump, is not happy. I just want to ask this one question. Your Harry Potter facts were not accurate. Who did the research? On this week's episode, Rod's team, which includes Poison frontman Bret Michaels and wrestler Goldberg, was assigned to create a 3D infographic about Universal Studios' Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

But Rod's presentation was a mess. He's uncomfortable, and he's obviously unfamiliar with Harry Potter. Here he is trying to name the houses in the book's fictional school, which he calls Hogwarts. It's Slytherin, and it's Hufflepuff, and it's Ravenclaw.

Rod was a political star, and now he's one of the worst contestants on The Celebrity Apprentice. He naps during assignments. He's bad at delegating tasks and talking with his teammates. He is unable to use a cell phone. At one point, he tries to turn on a MacBook by flipping it upside down. But Rod is desperate to stay on the show.

Not just because he wants to win people over and convince them that he did nothing wrong as governor. It's also because he's broke and he needs the reality TV money. And the longer he stays on the show, the more he gets paid. But the Donald has other ideas. Governor, I have great respect for you. I have great respect for your tenacity, for the fact that you just don't give up. But Rod, you're fired.

As governor, Rod used to handle tens of millions of dollars, and his decisions affected the lives of more than 12 million people. But his political career went about as well as his foray into Harry Potter marketing. Now, his hopes of reality TV redemption have been dashed, and soon he'll face a much harsher judgment in federal court. From Wondery, I'm Saatchi Cole. And I'm Sarah Hagee. And this is Scamfluencers. I've been off you.

Rod Blagojevich was an ambitious son of immigrants who never lost an election and knew how to win over a crowd. But the same things that helped him rise to the top, like his love for fast talking and fundraising, ultimately led to his downfall. You might think you know the strangest things about Rod Blagojevich, but this is a story that includes bears, Elvis, and the most important hairbrush in the state of Illinois. ♪

It's an all-American scam. This is Rod Blagojevich, all the governor's men. It's the summer of 1975, and 18-year-old Rod feels trapped. He's tidying up the offices of the Alaska Oil Pipeline Company where he works as a janitor. It's super dusty, so he decides to open up the doors and the windows. All he wants is a breath of fresh air. It's a long way from his home on Chicago's northwest side.

Growing up, Rod's family was typical of the neighborhood. White, working-class, European immigrants. His dad was a Serbian-born factory worker with expressive eyes and a weathered face. His mother, a ticket taker on public transit, was born in the U.S. to a family from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Rod grew up in the shadow of his older brother, Rob. That's Rob like Robert. In high school, his brother Rob was movie star handsome, star athlete, and a top student.

Rod, on the other hand, was baby-faced with chubby cheeks. He got cut from the high school baseball team, and instead of studying, he spent his time memorizing baseball cards and presidential trivia. But even at a young age, Rod knows how to work a room. He's the shrimpy little brother who doesn't mind being the butt of a joke if it makes people like him. He also loves Elvis Presley, his rags-to-riches story, his dance moves, and of course, how much he loved his mama. ♪

Rod is also a mama's boy. That's really sweet. Good for Rod. Well, this summer, Rod has joined his dad in Alaska to help pay for college.

He didn't get a job on the actual pipeline like his father, so he's doing graveyard shifts, scrubbing pots and pans, and cleaning up the offices. He lives in a dingy, cramped trailer. He'll later describe this time as being in a minimum security prison. He's lonely and overworked. And Sarah, remember that door he opened to let in a little fresh air while he was cleaning?

A few hours later, one of his co-workers rushes in and asks Rod if he's seen the office security guards. Rod says no, and he asks why. And the co-worker then says, "'Some fucking idiot left the doors open at the offices and there are two bears in there.'" And sure enough, two bears are wreaking havoc, turning over desks and knocking down lamps. Rod cleaned the place just hours ago, but who could tell anymore? He is the fucking idiot who left the door open."

Even so, he lets the security guard take the fall. And over the next decade, Rod grows up. He moves back to Chicago to finish college at Northwestern and works as a court interpreter to pay his way through law school in Malibu. By the late 80s, he's a lawyer in Chicago. And while he'd rather forget his time in Alaska, he's learned a lesson that will stick with him for the rest of his career. Lying can get him out of trouble. ♪

It's March 1988, over a decade after the incident with the Bears. At a fancy political event in Chicago, Patti Mel is the belle of the ball. She's 22 years old and dressed up in a sleek red dress that complements her auburn hair and dark eyes. This is a glitzy fundraiser for her dad, Dick Mel, a longtime alderman who wields a ton of influence.

Dick looks exactly like what you'd expect from Googling old school Chicago politician. White hair, no chin, bulldog face. You've heard of Chicago politics being called the machine, right? Well, Dick is the machine. The event is at a German restaurant on the city's north side. It's a gorgeous two-story Tudor-style space with oak walls, old world paintings, and a huge dining area.

But instead of feasting on sauerbraten and spetzel, Patty is schmoozing. She's introduced to a 31-year-old lawyer named Rod. He's cute enough with nice hair, but she really responds to his mile-a-minute conversation.

Patty's impressed with his charisma and his charm. She spent her life around colorful Chicago characters thanks to her father. But Rod sticks out, and he says something that makes a lasting impression. He tells her, if you go out with me, I'm going to show you the time of your life. Would that work on you, Sachi? 100% it would work on me. Might not work forever, but it would work on me for the night. I would be like, Rod.

What's that gonna mean for me? I'm open to hearing more. Well, over the next two years, they fall in love. On drives together, Rod sings Elvis songs to Patty because his sports car radio keeps getting stolen. By the time they get married in 1990, Patty's dad Dick has already hired Rod to work for him. Rod likes the job, and he respects the way Dick gets things done through deals and maneuvering. Rod begins to see a future for himself. Political office.

One day in January 1992, Rod and Patty arrive at Dick's house and see him on his hands and knees on the living room floor.

He's surrounded by maps and a list of names. Thanks to redistricting, there's a state representative seat that's wide open. Dick doesn't like any of the politicians who might run to fill it. But there is someone who Dick likes. Rod. Even though Rod has no experience, Dick asks him to run for state representative. Rod says yes immediately. He just has one question. If he wins, could he vote however he wanted? Or would he have to listen to Dick?

And Dick says, I don't give a fuck about that. All it takes is one guy to start the trajectory of someone like Rod's career. As long as one guy named Dick Mel believes in you, you can have anything you want. Dick Mel gave me my start. You know, I can't make fun of his name for that reason. Grateful to Dick.

Well, with Dick's help, Rod easily wins his first election. After the polls close, he calls his mom. She makes him promise that he'll be honest and won't take bribes. He tells her, of course. And then immediately after that, she asks him to find a job for her sister's son-in-law. It's a story Rod will tell as a joke for the rest of his career. And even though Dick said he didn't care how Rod voted, Rod continuously asks Dick how to vote throughout his time as state representative. ♪

After four unremarkable years in office, Rod decides to run for Congress. He feels bored with state politics, and he wants to be closer to the action. And with his father-in-law's influence, he has a real chance to get there. So here's the thing about Rod. He's a natural campaigner. He's great at meeting voters at train stations, bowling alleys, and diners. He always remembers names and faces. And it doesn't hurt that his father-in-law, Dick, has a lot of money and campaign workers. ♪

Rod wins the election in 1996, the same year Patty gives birth to their first daughter, Amy. But once he gets to Washington, he's bored, and he spends more time jogging around the Capitol than on his committee assignments. He uses this extra time to focus on what he does best, calling campaign contributors to ask for money. And soon, Rod gets an opportunity to debut on the global stage and raise his own political ambitions.

It's 3 a.m. on April 30th, 1999, the middle of the Kosovo War. Rod is in a hotel room in Belgrade, Serbia, watching NATO bombs detonate on the horizon. He's responding appropriately by wearing running shorts and oohing and aahing at the explosions, which he thinks look like special effects. He calls his assistant and says, Are you seeing this, man?

Hours later, accompanied by HBO cameras, Rod jogs through the streets of Belgrade. He later tells Chicago Magazine he's thinking, "'I'm standing probably where my father has stood.'"

Rod is in like a bit of a weird state of mind. His mother has just passed away and he's always been a mama's boy. But now he has to put his grief aside. He has a very serious job to do. He's here on a mission led by the Reverend Jesse Jackson. Since Rod can speak Serbian and he's the only congressman of Serbian heritage, he's helping to negotiate the release of three captured U.S. soldiers.

Okay, so the whole reason why he's there is that he speaks Serbian. Yeah, that's basically it. And that's enough. Well, he was the one in the room. Got it. And in negotiations, Yugoslavian President Slobodan Milosevic is so taken with Rod that Jesse calls him Slobodan's homeboy. It's a term that Rod has to explain to Slobodan, his new war criminal bestie.

Eventually, the prisoners are released. And Rod knows that even though the Reverend will take most of the credit, it's still a huge victory. He's getting sick of D.C. and he wants to be back home with his wife Patty and his daughter Amy. He knows Illinois' Republican governor is mired in a scandal for illegally selling government licenses. And even though the state hasn't elected a Democrat governor in 25 years, Rod smells blood.

Rod announces his campaign in August 2001 at the steel plant where his father once worked. His father died after suffering a stroke a little more than a decade ago. But Rod clings to his blue-collar immigrant origin story. He uses his heritage to position himself as a populist reformer. Take this campaign commercial, which was also filmed at the steel plant. I'm Rod Blagojevich. My name is Eastern European. My story is American.

Rod wants to strike out on his own and get out of Dick's shadow. So he relies on his own people to oversee fundraising, like Chris Kelly. Chris is a sweaty cigar-smoking roofer who loves gambling. Rod likes him because he's fun, a working-class Chicago guy that you can really hang out with.

In the primary, Chris helps Rod out-raise and out-spend his competitors at a rate of almost four to one. Sarah, can you read how a former campaign consultant described Rod's rise to the New Yorker? Yeah, it goes, "'Overnight, Rod went from Dick Mell's schmucko son-in-law congressman with the goofy hairdo to, holy shit, this guy could be governor. And he never forgot that lesson, that the thing that made him real was money.'"

I mean, it is so baffling. And it's like, this is how things happen all the time and not just in America. Yeah. Well, all the money that Chris fundraisers for Rod lets him sail through the primary. But it also gives him the freedom to be his worst self. He yells at staff and donors when one fundraiser ends up being seven grand short of a $300,000 goal. Rod's fundraising tactics seem similar to one of his biggest donors, Tony Rescoe.

Tony's a bald, mild-mannered, and well-dressed Syrian immigrant. He's also extremely well-connected, a killer fundraiser and an early backer of state senator Barack Obama. Rod likes Tony because he gets the job done. And more importantly, Tony's ready to help however he can, like throwing Patty some needed work in her real estate career. After building a healthy war chest, Rod faces his first serious political obstacle, one that puts him at odds with his father-in-law, Dick.

At the Illinois State Fair in August 2002, just weeks before the election, a state leader claims that there are indiscretions in Rod's past. Dick goes on a local radio show to deny the rumors, but he just ends up giving them more publicity.

He says that the rumor about Rod is that he, quote, visited a house of ill repute. Dick calls this kind of rumor gutter stuff, being put out by the opposition, and he repeatedly denies that there's any truth to it. But Dick's flub strains their relationship, and Patty is mad at her father. Even still, Rod manages to avoid a dip in the polls, and he easily wins a governorship thanks to Tony and Chris's help.

He quotes Elvis at his victory rally, saying he's got a hunk of hunk of burning love for his supporters. But do you know what Rod loves even more than his supporters? The power of public office. ♪

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Rod is inaugurated as governor of Illinois on January 13, 2003, flanked by his wife Patty and his father-in-law Dick. It's a real affair, and here's how Rod introduces himself as captured by C-SPAN. I see a state where ethics laws are respected, where doing good is once again honored. I will govern as a reformer, and I will lead this state in accordance with the values I learned.

Does he not sound like Mayor Quimby from The Simpsons? I mean, Mayor Quimby is a little more New England for sure. But the same nonsense tone. The vibe is the same. Yeah, 100%.

Well, after dancing to Eric Clapton's Wonderful Tonight, Rod and Patty stay up late drinking with donors and advisors at the governor's mansion in Springfield. That's where Mayor Quimby lives. Rod sees a bowl of oranges in the kitchen and reportedly tells the party attendees, have a taxpayer orange. It's on me. I mean, yeah, that is kind of a funny joke, but...

But not the kind of joke you should be making at a party when you just got elected. Well, one of the first things Rod does as governor is make an executive order freezing all government hires. He also fires dozens of people, including several appointed by the disgraced former governor. ♪

It's political theater to make Rod look like an anti-corruption crusader. But really, it just gives him and his advisors an opportunity to hand out jobs to their allies. He even keeps some Republicans who are willing to play ball, like Stuart Levine. Stuart might look unassuming with his glasses, his receding hairline, and his dirty gray hair, but he's an absolute shark of a businessman. He's a millionaire who made a fortune working in healthcare and has been knighted by the king of Sweden. ♪

Early on, Rod decides to live at home rather than move into the governor's mansion, almost four hours away. His north side Chicago home is a fortress-like red brick bungalow in an upper middle class neighborhood. The crown jewel of the home is Rod's neoclassical office. Its dark red walls are covered with portraits of Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton. There's a bust of Napoleon on his desk and a floor-to-ceiling library. The whole place is presidential, and there's plenty of room for a family to grow, which

which is perfect because Patty is pregnant with another daughter. Naturally, Rod's a work-from-home king. Instead of talking to his policy team about governing the state, he spends his days on the phone with his, quote, kitchen cabinet of informal, unappointed advisors raising money. When he has to be in the governor's office, he apparently hides in the bathroom to avoid boring meetings with his budget director. He'd

He'd rather be shopping, dropping thousands on fancy ties and Oxford suits. He carries multiple Paul Mitchell brushes wherever he goes. He calls those brushes the football, like the suitcase with the nuclear code that travels with the president. It's like he's playing with Legos or something. It's Sims. He's like in the Sims. It just doesn't make any sense. Well, still, Rod is likable, and he ends his first year with a 55% approval rating. Not bad for a quiet quitting governor.

But there's trouble brewing. By 2005, his relationship with his father-in-law is on the rocks. Dick is already frustrated because Rod pushed him aside for his own fundraisers and advisors. But the thing that really puts him over the edge is when Rod decides to close a landfill run by Dick's distant relative. It becomes an all-out war.

Dick calls several local reporters to vent about his rogue son-in-law. He accuses Rod of destroying his family. He tells The Sun-Times that he feels like a jilted spouse, saying, quote, And in that interview, he drops a bombshell. He accuses Chris of illegally giving out taxpayer-funded jobs in exchange for donations to Rod's campaign. Chris threatens to sue, and Dick retracts his statement. Patty stands by her man, not her father. ♪

I mean, okay, sure, whatever this drama is, go for it. But how insane is it to make that comparison, the Chris Kelly's a new wife, I'm the old wife, about your son-in-law? It's like biblically gross. It's so weird. Yeah, you're right. But when reporters ask Rod why he would risk ruining his relationship with his father-in-law, Rod twists the knife.

He says the decision to close the landfill is the kind of action that separates the men from the boys. Listen to what he tells a reporter from NPR. Do you have the testicular virility to make a decision like that, knowing what's coming your way, and then stick to it? Rod has torched his relationship with a man who is both his father-in-law and a major source of political power. Rod is his own man now, and he'll have to deal with the consequences. ♪

Stewart's got it made. Under Rod, he's been allowed to maintain his powerful positions on two major state boards. One of them controls which hospitals get built and by which companies. The other doles out and invests $30 billion in teachers' pension funds. The lifelong Republican might disagree with Rod about taxes, but he agrees with him on the power of money. But Stewart is corrupt.

He uses his influence to help appoint his own contractors for big hospital projects. And once his contractors get the job, he siphons millions of dollars in kickbacks and finders fees. This usually works out great. Until it doesn't. When the CEO of a suburban hospital decides not to work with Stewart's chosen contractors, Stewart decides to apply a little pressure.

He orchestrates a run-in with the hospital CEO at a diner so that he can hype up his contractors. But he also has no idea that she's wearing a wire in her bra and working with the FBI. And because of this recorded conversation, which sure sounds a lot like a shakedown, the feds are now secretly tapping Stewart's phone. They record him talking explicitly about the frauds he's committing and gloating about getting away with them.

Later that year, Stewart is approached by federal prosecutors who convince him to resign from the board that controls the hospitals. And if the crimes weren't enough, it turns out Stewart has been living a double life. Despite his family man image, he's been flying to parties on private jets and going on benders using meth, ketamine, and cocaine. ♪

How does one find the time to do all this? Like, all this work for what? So you can fly around doing meth and ketamine? I mean, when you put it like that, it sounds amazing. But it's like, you can just do that.

It's just so crazy. It's like, you're making your life so hard, dude. I know, I know. Well, by the end of 2005, Stewart isn't the only one under federal investigation. So are Rod's other right-hand men, Tony and Chris. And it's all thanks to Stewart's tapped phone. Rumors swirl that Rod is under federal investigation too, but he's unfazed. He denies having anything to do with these scandals.

Sarah, can you read what he says during a press conference in September 2005? Yeah, he says,

When Stewart learns just how damning the tapes of him are, he realizes he can't play it cool anymore. So he starts wearing a wire, and he turns on Tony and anyone else he can to help him get a lighter sentence. Rod's political career depends on a vast network of corruption in Illinois, maintained by a lot of guys who, like Stewart, decide to flip. Stewart has been at the center of this network for years, and if he's going to unravel, he'll take everyone down with him.

Even amid all of the scandal of his administration, Rod is poised to win re-election. And then comes another scandal. The Chicago Tribune reports that Patty has received $38,000 in real estate commissions from working with Tony and over $100,000 in commissions from a woman who had a lucrative state contract.

None of this seems to faze Illinois voters. They re-elect Rod in 2006. But there are signs that he's losing his edge. He takes the oath of office the following January to a half-empty arena. And even though it seems like Rod is already bored with the gig, he still has FOMO when Senator Barack Obama announces his run for president about a month later.

Rod feels like it should have been him running for president, or at least making an announcement in front of all those adoring fans. I mean, here's the thing. Rod, you easily can run for president. He could. He just didn't. He could. He actually could, and that's the scary part. Yeah. While Rod has multiple swords hanging over him, in December 2007, his chief campaign fundraiser, Chris, is indicted on charges of tax evasion and misusing corporate funds to pay off gambling debts.

Then, a month later, Rod's major donor, Tony, gets arrested for corruption and illegal kickbacks. And as a part of the case against Tony, the government gets another associate of Rod's to flip. To make matters worse, a new bill is set to grind Rod's entire operation to a halt. If passed, it would prevent any company that has a sizable contract with the state of Illinois from donating to the politicians who gave them the contract.

These kinds of donations are Rod's bread and butter. He attempts to veto the bill, but the state Senate overturns his veto, and it becomes law. Rod doesn't know who he can trust anymore. So he brings on a new person to handle fundraising, his older brother Rob, a banker and retired Army lieutenant colonel in Nashville.

They'd grown apart, but Rod remembers how much his mother wanted them to be close. With their parents dead, his brother is all he has left. He's going to need all the help he can get because the FBI is closing in. The feds are looking for run-of-the-mill extortion, but they're about to find something even bigger. It's the fall of 2008, and Barack Obama is about to win the U.S. presidential election. It'll be a historic moment for the country and a huge moment of pride for the city of Chicago.

But Rod isn't looking to the future. He's thinking about the Senate seat Obama will leave behind. As governor, Rod gets to decide who fills that Senate seat. So he starts testing the waters, finding out who wants it and what he could get for it, which is, of course, completely illegal.

A month before the presidential election, investigators catch Rod's brother Rob on a damning phone call. In it, he explains that Illinois Representative Jesse Jackson Jr., the son of Reverend Jesse Jackson, is interested in Obama's Senate seat. So the feds immediately set up wiretaps on all of Rod's phones. And here's Rod on one of those calls. I got some lady calling my house for Jesse Jr. here a little while ago.

Oh.

Like cartoonish. He's like a mega mind. Just let it all out on the phone. Like, this is the least ambiguous way to say you're doing something like that. And that's absolutely crazy he said it over the phone. After all this has happened to people you know. While on the tapes, Rod sounds desperate. Synthetic.

Since he took office, he and Patty have spent roughly $400,000, more than their mortgage, just on clothing. He's broke, and he has no interest in finishing his term as governor. Can you read this transcript of one of Rod's calls from November? Yeah, he says, I gotta get moving. The whole world's passing me by, and I'm stuck in this fucking job as governor now.

Oh my God, that is so, you know what? This proves so much about why people get into politics. It's like a game to them to see how easily they can get to the top. And then once they're there, they're like, no, this isn't actually fun and having power sucks. Yeah, it does. Well, Rod considers appointing Valerie Jarrett to Obama's old Senate seat. She's a longtime advisor to Obama, his preferred pick, and a Chicago politics mainstay.

But Rod wants something in exchange, like a cabinet position or an ambassadorship, and Obama's camp is not interested in negotiating. In other recorded phone calls, Rod even tries to get Patty a job in exchange for the Senate seat. She's caught on the wiretap suggesting that Rod appoint himself, saying, quote,

It gets so ridiculous that Rob is recorded wondering if he can appoint Oprah. And Rod is saying all the wrong things, too. Can you read this wiretap transcript where he cites his hilariously low approval rating? Yeah, he goes, I gave your fucking baby health care. What do I get for that? Only 13% of you think I'm

I'm doing a good job, so fuck all of you. Okay, I understand the warning at the beginning of this episode now. Mm-hmm. I gave your fucking baby health care. Hard to fight that one, huh? Leave a baby out of this, bro. Well, then Rod himself says the thing that investigators have been waiting to hear. I've got this thing, and it's f***ing golden. And I'm just not giving it up for f***ing nothing.

Before long, the Chicago Tribune breaks the story. The feds have been tapping Rod's phone. And now that their cover's blown, the FBI decides they already have enough evidence to arrest Rod. At 6 a.m. on December 9th, 2008, Rod's phone rings. The person on the phone says they're from the FBI, they're outside of his house, and they have a warrant for his arrest.

At first, he thinks it's a joke. But when he realizes it's not a prank, he tells them that he needs to make some calls, and then he hangs up. He's still on the phone with his lawyer when the FBI agents walk into the room. They tell him that he needs to get dressed. He puts on a navy blue tracksuit, maybe the one he would have worn for his morning jog, and a pair of sneakers. As they're getting ready to go, Rod turns to the agents to ask, how does my hair look?

He leaves out the back door, handcuffed. Patty is pissed. The feds, who are still tapping their phones, catch her on a call with Rod's assistant saying, they just took my husband away. I need to talk to fucking somebody. They took him in his running clothes. Rod is facing some pretty serious charges. He needs to prove his innocence. And now he's going to have to run the campaign of his life.

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A month after Rod's arrest, he stuns everyone by actually appointing someone to Obama's old Senate seat. It's Roland Burris, a longtime Chicago congressman who was caught on the wiretap discussing donation options with Rod's brother, Rob. The appointment does not look good.

A few weeks later, Rod's officially impeached from office. He buys his daughters a poodle mix named Skittles to help them cope with the stress. And then Rod is officially hit with a 19-count federal indictment. It names him and a few other co-defendants, including Chris and Rod's brother, Robb,

One of the 19 counts stems from a call where Rod was caught on tape asking about stopping millions of dollars in state funding for doctors to treat sick kids. All because the CEO of a children's hospital didn't donate to his campaign. Patty isn't charged, but she's mentioned throughout the 75-page complaint for her real estate work with Tony, including getting $12,000 a month to do nothing.

Wow, Patti stays winning. Icon. She is not involved in this. Got her bag. God bless. Good for her. Well, with the trial approaching, Rod needs to prove his case to the public. So he hires a new attorney who's coming off of a high-profile job defending R. Kelly on child pornography charges. And under the advice of his new lawyer, Rod begins a media blitz.

He appears on any talk show that'll have him, even though his interviews keep making things worse. Like when he went on The Late Show with David Letterman. Why exactly are you here? Honest to God. Well, you know, I've been wanting to be on your show in the worst way for the longest time. Well, you're on in the worst way, believe me. That's right.

He's doing everything he shouldn't be doing all the time. That's a really good way of putting it. Well, he's asked by the hosts of The View to do a Richard Nixon impression. And of course, then he gets fired by Donald Trump on Celebrity Apprentice. Sarah, do you remember that?

but it's slithering and it's Ravenclaw. It's weirdly so endearing because it's like when your mom's trying to like, I know, talk about something you're into or one of your friends. Yeah, yeah, it feels like that. Well, Patty, meanwhile, appears on I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here and she gets paid 80 grand a week and has to eat a tarantula. Again,

Again, Patti stays winning. She's not a celebrity. And that show had actual D-list celebrities that you would know. Patti is a celebrity to us because we love Patti. Well, Rod's trial starts in June 2010, and it's a media circus. Fans and reporters flock to see him. And just like he's done his whole life, he plays to the crowd outside of the courthouse. But inside, Rod never actually takes the stand. ♪

Two months later, the jury convicts Rod on one count of lying to the FBI. But they're deadlocked on the other counts, and the judge declares a mistrial. The prosecutors are committed to bringing Rod to justice. A second trial happens almost a year later, and the government's case is simpler this time. They drop the charges against Rod's brother and focus mostly on two things. Rod's attempt to sell the Senate seat and his shaking down the children's hospital.

This time, Rod takes a stand. But it goes about as well as a stint on Celebrity Apprentice. The lead prosecutor's first question to Rod? You are a convicted liar, correct? And Rod says, yes. Yes.

Rod finally found something he can't talk his way out of. In June 2011, a jury finds him guilty of 17 felony counts, including every charge related to selling Obama's Senate seat. He's sentenced to 14 years in prison, far more than anyone expected. Outside the courthouse, Rod appears in a black suit and a thick blue tie, visibly defeated. Patty's crying and looks like she's about to faint.

Rod tells the news cameras. And this is also a time for Patty and me to get home so we can explain to our kids, our babies Amy and Annie, what happened, what all this means, and where we're going from here. So we're going to keep fighting on through this adversity and see you soon.

Rod has finally hit rock bottom. In March 2012, he reports to a federal correctional facility in Colorado. His signature hair immediately turns white. He'll be there for a long, long time. It's been six years since Rod was locked up, and appeals haven't worked. Rod spends his days exercising and reading books, especially the Bible. He even starts a band. They're called the Jailhouse Rockers. Rod mostly uses his TV time to watch the Cubs games.

But one night in 2018, he might have insisted on watching Fox News, where his wife is lobbying for his freedom. Patty goes on Tucker Carlson Tonight. She's a little nervous, but she nails Tucker's softball question. If you could speak to the president, what would be your pitch to pardoning your husband? You know, my husband is probably the only person in the entire history of the United States who is serving any kind of sentence for simply asking for campaign contributions.

Oh my God. Yeah, that's it, Patty. That's why he's in prison. Simply asking for money. I think people do every single day. Oh, and by the way, the president of the United States is Donald Trump, the guy who fired Rod on The Celebrity Apprentice. ♪

Patty makes several appearances on Fox over the next two years, and it seems like Trump is tuning in. In February 2020, he commutes Rod's prison sentence. He tells the press, I don't know him very well. I've met him a couple of times. He was on for a short while of The Apprentice years ago. Seemed like a very nice person. Don't know him.

I can't believe it worked. It worked, man. And it's like, that easy? Yeah, it was, I guess. When Rod arrives back in Chicago, he served nearly eight years, just a little over half of his sentence. He's welcomed by a small crowd of supporters and reporters outside of his house. He signs autographs, including a baseball. And even though his security rushes him to the front door of his home, he stops to greet the people and shake hands.

As a free man, Rod doesn't avoid the spotlight. Though Illinois banned him from ever running for office again, he's got other outlets. He immediately joins Cameo in 2020 and starts selling personalized videos for $100 a pop. So I'm rapping Roddy and I want to wish you a happy birthday.

When I think about the day you were born, it ain't no day to mourn. He stars in a 2020 Hulu docuseries about his life, his conviction, and his release. He does another media blitz where he appears on podcasts like Chapo Trap House and Vlad TV. And he's grown in at least one way since going on The Celebrity Apprentice. He has finally learned how to use a cell phone. He is a prolific tweeter who pays for a blue check and retweets people like Roger Stone and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.,

But in spring 2023, he jumps into another spotlight, performing rock and roll covers on stage at a Northside club called Martyrs, if you could believe it. Rod's sitting in with a band called The Drawers. It's not the jailhouse rockers, but they're tight and they draw a healthy crowd. And on stage, he says, I'm just a former governor of Illinois who went to jail, so don't be cruel. And then he sings the Elvis hit.

He nails it. The audience's cell phone cameras record his dance moves. And when someone shouts from the crowd, sing Jailhouse Rock, Rod replies without missing a beat, I'm sick of that. I lived it for eight years. Well, you're probably wondering what happened to some of Rod's guys. Remember Stewart and his drug and sex parties? Well, his help in bringing down Tony, Chris, and more got him a much smaller five-and-a-half-year term compared to Rod's 14 years.

Tony served seven for money laundering and wire fraud. But Chris had the worst luck. He pled guilty to tax evasion and was indicted again months later on corruption charges related to illegally trading state jobs for campaign donations. In September 2009, months before his prison term was set to begin, he kills himself. His last words to his girlfriend are, "'It's my life. Tell them they won.'"

Rod's brother, Rob, was never charged again and still maintains his innocence. He says so in a book he wrote that's critical of the federal government. In the press cycle for the book, Rob says that he continues to be estranged from Rod. Dick, however, has since reconciled with Patty and Rod. As far as we can tell, the couple still live at the house on Chicago's north side. And to this day, you can still see the former governor going on his daily jogs in the neighborhood. ♪

Well, Sarah, is your faith in the American political system restored? No, not at all. And like, I don't even know where Rod fell policy-wise or like what he cared about. At the end of the day, he just chose what benefited him the most. And I think a lot of politics is just that. It's not really believing in anything. It's just kind of like, how am I going to get to where I need to be? What's the easiest way?

Rod's an interesting scam artist because what he did was bordering on being legal. But then he went insane and he overdid it. And he had a good time all the way down. I don't think he ever cried or frowned. No, he had an amazing time. Like he lived large. His wife ended up being fine in the end.

She wasn't implicated in any criminal sense. He went to prison for eight years, which is bad, but also he got so lucky because Donald Trump was president and he was like, yeah, sure, I'll let him go. That's nuts. The other crazy part is you know that if Illinois had not banned him from running for office again, he would be on the campaign trail immediately. Actually, I...

I'm not 100% sure. It seems like he liked politics up to a certain point, but then he was like, oh my God, like he couldn't run away from certain responsibilities. And I think someone like him is different than Trump in the sense that he kind of didn't want to go so far because he was like, I'm not cut out for this level of responsibility. Like I just wanted my bag, you know? Yeah. So I don't actually know if he would continue. It seems like

Even if he wasn't banned, I'm like, he learned his lesson. I mean, maybe this is what he wanted. He's super famous now. He's got a little bit of name recognition. Maybe he'll end up doing like the reality show circuit a little more. Wouldn't you watch Rod and Patty on like Marriage Boot Camp Celebrity Edition? I would watch that

So much. Yeah, I really think he's meant to be famous. He just picked politics when he should have been like, I don't know, anything else. He would have been one of those kids who are like doing pranks at the mall if he had been born a few decades later. Yeah, he's kind of a victim of the times, you know? That's true. I'm glad you found a way to make Rod Blagojevich the victim. You know, if the internet existed, if YouTube existed, he would have just been pranking his friends and getting canceled for other reasons. What a missed opportunity, Rod. Yeah.

This is Rod Blagojevich, all the governor's men. I'm Sachi Cole. And I'm Sarah Hagee.

Josh Terry, a Chicagoan, wrote this episode.

Thank you.

Kate Young and Olivia Richard are our series producers. Our senior story editor is Rachel B. Doyle. Our senior producer is Ginny Bloom. Our executive producers are Janine Cornelow, Stephanie Jens, Jenny Lauer-Beckman, and Marshall Louis. For Wondery.

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