UPI en Español  |   UPI Asia  |   About UPI  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Blagojevich on Constitution: 'F'n golden'

|
 
Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich
Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich  
License photo
Published: Dec. 9, 2009 at 4:45 PM

CHICAGO, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- Indicted former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed a copy of the U.S. Constitution with a near-profanity that has become his catchphrase, witnesses said.

Blagojevich, while appearing at a book-signing event at the University of Chicago campus Tuesday, accepted a copy of the Constitution offered by a student and autographed it with the phrase "f'n golden," The Chicago Tribune reported.

"Always remember the rule of law is sacrosanct, nay it is more -- it is f'n golden," Blagojevich wrote on the page, the newspaper said.

The phrase originates from the impeached governor's conversations taped by the FBI as they gathered evidence to bring corruption charges against him for allegedly trying to "sell" then-President-elect Barack Obama's vacated Senate seat in return for political and financial favors. In one wiretapped conversation, he allegedly describes his opportunity as "(expletive) golden."

The Tribune said the student asked that Blagojevich inscribe the phrase near the Constitution's 17th Amendment, which empowers governors to make appointment to vacant Senate seats.

"I'm OK with writing it," he told reporters. "I did not write the bad word. I abbreviated it."

U.S. prosecutors reportedly have indicated they plan to bring a revised indictment against Blagojevich next month.

Topics: Rod Blagojevich
© 2009 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
'Star Trek Into Darkness' screening NBC upfronts Met Ball 2013
'Great Gatsby' premieres in New York Spire raised on top of One WTC 2013: Celebrity break ups and divorces
Additional U.S. News Stories
1 of 17
Tornado recover efforts underway in Moore, Oklahoma
View Caption
Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin talks to victims from the May 20 tornado that hit Moore, Oklahoma, May 22, 2013. The EF-5 tornado cut a path of destruction approximately 17 miles by 1.3 miles wide and left 24 people dead. UPI/J.P. Wilson
fark
Stalking a 15-year-old pupil for two straight years will get you banned from teaching for life....
Proof that Heinz sight is 20/20, investors are pouring money into condiment futures instead of bonds...
Man files lawsuit to have President Obama declared Kenyan. The man is currently serving a 17 year...
"But, Grandma, what big fists you have." "The better to deliver a beatdown to your bullying classmate"...
Your neighbor is shooting rabbits with an air gun. Do you C) grab your loaded AK-47 and start threatening...
Man invents engagement ring that glows when he's near