Carol Felsenthal

The key mistake in the government’s case against Rod Blagojevich happened right at the start of the trial, during jury selection, with the choice of a juror who ultimately became the sole vote siding with the ex-gov on key counts of the indictment. Sources say the holdout juror, an African-American retired state worker who had worked for the Illinois Department of Public Health, should have been dismissed... Read more

The father-and-son defense team that represented Rod Blagojevich in the ex-gov’s corruption case is likely to bow out before the retrial, according to a prominent veteran defense lawyer in town who knows the Adams well. My source, whom I interviewed after closing arguments in the case in late July... Read more

While Illinois is not currently on the most recent list of the 11 states (24 congressional districts) that the right-leaning Americans for Prosperity has targeted with a major ad campaign, an AFP rep for the state said that the group is planning a new project to bring its movement here... Read more

Last March, I met Dan Rostenkowski for lunch at Mitchell’s on Clybourn Avenue. Here, some highlights of our conversation, which covered more than 50 years of local and national politics and included his thoughts on Mayor Daley, John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and more... Read more

Yesterday, I ran excerpts of my conversation with Kirk’s ex-wife, Kimberly Vertolli, in which she discussed the “Svengali figure” behind his campaign, Dodie McCracken. Here, Vertolli offers her take on what would seem to be Kirk’s perplexingly unnecessary exaggerations. She adds that, despite some missteps in his campaign, in the race between Kirk and Giannoulias, she would vote for her ex... Read more