Joy Behar, we’ve underestimated you. According to Jeff Coen and John Chase’s massive new tome on Rod Blagojevich’s fall, “Golden,” Behar nearly derailed the former Illinois governor’s media strategy in the lead-up to his indictment on corruption charges in 2009.
On the advice of his lawyers, Blagojevich launched a media tour to elevate his celebrity status — the theory being that a jury was less likely to convict a star. Things were going according to plan until Blagojevich appeared on “The View” in January. Co-host Behar asked Blagojevich “to do an impression of Richard Nixon promising, ‘I am not a crook.’ ”
Amazingly, Blagojevich almost complied with the damning request. According to “Golden,” his lawyer, Sam Adam Jr., (who, incidentally, also represented R. Kelly in his child pornography trial) was watching backstage and later said that “he had serious thoughts about charging the set and knocking Blagojevich out of his chair if he started doing his best Nixon.”
