With prosecutors aiming to preempt problems that could arise from an expected Supreme Court decision, former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was re-indicted today on corruption charges including that he tried to sell his appointment of Barack Obama’s successor in the Senate, the AP reports.
The new 24-count indictment does not include new allegations of wrongdoing.
Rather, as TPMmuckraker detailed in this post, prosecutors are worried that the Supreme Court will strike down the honest services law, which makes it a crime “to deprive another of the intangible right of honest services.” The original Blagojevich indictment alleged he violated the honest services law.
Prosecutors do not want any Supreme Court decision to delay Blagojevich’s trial, scheduled for June.
You can read the new indictment here.