Senate Candidate 2 appears to be Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan.
From the charging document:
On November 6, 2008, ROD BLAGOJEVICH talked with Spokesman. ROD BLAGOJEVICH told Spokesman to leak to a particular columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, that Senate Candidate 2 is in the running for the vacant Senate seat. According to ROD BLAGOJEVICH, by doing this, he wanted “to send a message to the [President-elect’s] people,” but did not want it known that the message was from ROD BLAGOJEVICH.
Thereafter, ROD BLAGOJEVICH and Spokesman discussed specific language that should be used in the Sun Times column and arguments as to why Senate Candidate 2 made sense for the vacant Senate seat. A review of this particular Sun Times column on November 7, 2008, indicates references to the specific language and arguments regarding Senate Candidate 2 as a potential candidate for the Senate seat, as discussed by ROD BLAGOJEVICH and Spokesman.
So let’s look at that November 7 item. Written by Michael Sneed and headlined: “Tipsville”, it reads (via Nexis):
The latest from Blagoville: Is Gov. Rod Blagojevich toying with tossing Barack Obama’s U.S. Senate seat to Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, who wants Blago’s job?
– It’s his pick . . . and it would get rid of a rival.
– It may endear him to powerful House Speaker Mike Madigan, Lisa’s dad, who is Blago’s political foe.
– It would enable Gov. Blago to choose a new Illinois attorney general.
– Hmmm: Even though this sounds like looneyville . . . stay tuned.
It’s worth making clear: Candidate 2 is not accused of wrongdoing.
