Jury selection continues in the Anton Rezko jury trial in Chicago.

Here is the witness list. Barack Obama's name is not on the list. This is not surprising, as I wrote yesterday. And, in fact, today Rezko's lawyers denied they intend to call Obama.

Obama does have someone in the courtroom taking notes.

ABC News runs with the headline today, Obama: Witness for the Defense? The article has no facts, and is based on the opinion of one lawyer -- a federal prosecutor who was part of the team that prosecuted former Ill. Gov. George Ryan in 2006. Since the Ryan case, he's left the Government and has been a defense lawyer for a total of one year.

He says,

Sen. Barack Obama could be called as a witness for his longtime friend and accused Illinois fixer Tony Rezko, according to Chicago lawyers following the case.

...."I think it's realistic that that could happen during the trial," said Zach Fardon, a former Chicago federal prosecutor who was part of the team that convicted former Illinois Gov. George Ryan on corruption charges.

His theory: [More...]

The prosecution and conviction of former Alabama Governor Don Siegleman, a Democrat, is believed by many to be a hatchet job that sent Siegleman to prison based on trumped up charges orchestrated by the Republican Party. Adding fuel to that fire is this new revelation:

A Republican "opposition researcher" told CBS former White House aide Karl Rove asked her in 2001 to get compromising pictures of Alabama's Democratic governor. In an interview with "60 Minutes," Jill Simpson suggested there was a campaign to discredit Don Siegelman, the governor at the time who was eventually convicted of bribery. ...

"I haven't seen a case with this many red flags on it that pointed towards a real injustice being done," Grant Woods, a former Arizona attorney general of Arizona and a Republican, told "60 Minutes." "I personally believe that what happened here is that they targeted Don Siegelman because they could not beat him fair and square."

More here.

Italia Federici was sentenced in federal court in Washington today to 2.5 months in a half-way house and four years probation for her role in the Jack Abramoff corruption scandal.

Why no prison? She's cooperating with the feds.

Italia Federici, who pleaded guilty in June to tax evasion and obstructing a Senate investigation, was spared prison only because she has become a key witness in the Justice Department's ongoing corruption investigation.

More....

Sen. Trent Lott's brother-in-law and nephew, both lawyers, were indicted for bribing a state court judge in an effort to obtain a favorable ruling in a case involving Hurricane Katrina claims.

Prominent Mississippi trial attorney Richard "Dickie" Scruggs, the brother-in-law of outgoing GOP Sen. Trent Lott, was indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday on charges that he and four ther men tried to bribe a Mississippi state court judge. According to the 13-page indictment, Scruggs and three other attorneys -- including Lott's nephew Zach -- attempted to bribe Mississippi Third Circuit Court Judge Henry L. Lackey with at least $40,000 in cash.

Lackey was assigned to hear a lawsuit in which Scruggs' firm was named as a defendant in a dispute involving $26.5 million in attorneys' fees stemming from a court settlement with State Farm Insurance over Hurricane Katrina claims. The indictment alleges that the bribe was intended to resolve the case in Scruggs' and his firm's favor.

What does this have to do with Trent Lott? Maybe nothing. Or....[More]

Larisa Alexandrovna and Muriel Kane of Raw Story have the first of a multi-part series today on how Republican heavyweights sent former Alabama Governor Don Siegleman to jail.

RAW STORY Investigates has decided to focus a series of reports, interviews, and investigative pieces over the next several weeks on Siegelman’s case. At the very least, the investigation will illuminate an incestuous pool of corruption in Alabama, with government officials, lobbyists, attorneys, and even judges behaving in ways that breach the public trust.

Their timeline of the prosecution is here. Part One is entitled, Don Siegelman, political prisoner.

The idea that a prominent politician -- a former state governor -- could be tried on charges that many observers consider to be trumped-up, convicted in a trial that involved numerous questionable procedures, and then hauled off to prison in shackles immediately upon sentencing would be almost unbelievable. But there is such a politician: Don Siegelman, Democratic governor of Alabama from 1999 to 2003.

A federal jury in San Diego today found contractor Brent Wilkes guilty on all 13 counts.

The Judge told Wilkes to bring his toothbrush when he comes back for sentencing:

Burns set a Jan. 28 sentencing date for Wilkes, warning the defendant that he usually remands convicts directly to prison custody.

Looks like the jury believed the prostitutes over Wilkes, who testified in his own defense. And once again, a laughing jury doesn't bode well for the defense.

Wilkes also faces a second, 30 count federal bribery trial with his childhood friend, former CIA Executive Director Kyle Foggo.

The bribery trial of Brent Wilkes has gone to the jury.

Wilkes surprised everyone by taking the stand in his own defense, particularly prosecutors.

From accounts I've read, Wilkes was credible job on the stand, the jury liked him and laughed at his jokes and Geragos gave a good closing.

Bump and Update: Gov. Ryan has been ordered to report to prison November 7.

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Gov. George Ryan: Supreme Court is His Last Chance

Former Illinios Governor George Ryan lost his federal appeal yesterday, seeking to overturn his conviction and 6 1/2 year jail sentence on corruption charges.

His last hope is the Supreme Court. The 7th Circuit vote was 6 to 3, with Judge Richard Posner writing a stinging dissent. Mostly, they criticized the length of the trial and blamed the trial judge for not exercising more control over the proceedings.

More...

Yesterday, at the corruption trial of contractor Brent Wilkes in California, the Government closed its case with testimony from two prostitutes who testified about their activities with Wilkes and former Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham.

A prostitute whom prosecutors say a defense contractor provided to former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham testified Wednesday that the congressman fed her grapes as she sat naked in a hot tub before they headed to a bedroom at a Hawaiian resort.

....Donna Rosetta said she was chauffeured to a private villa at the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel in Kamelua, Hawaii, in August 2003 by an escort service she worked for. Cunningham and Wilkes invited her and a second woman to undress and slide into a hot tub before Cunningham invited her upstairs, Rosetta said. "They were smoking cigars and talking about some meeting they had earlier," Rosetta said. She and Cunningham went to a bedroom, and he tipped her $50 to $80, she said.

The other woman, Tammy McFadden, testified that Wilkes and Cunningham appeared to be arguing about who would go upstairs with which woman. "The one I ended up with was the one who was running the show," said McFadden, referring to Wilkes. She described Cunningham as "the boisterous one" and said he was overbearing.

I hear Wilkes' lawyer didn't even cross-examine at least one of the women. Probably, of more concern to him was the testimony of Wilkes' nephew, Joel Combs, who found the hookers and described for the jury how Wilkes used free trips and other inducements to get close to Cunningham.

More...

Earlier this week I wrote about former Bob Ney staffer Will Heaton who cooperated with the feds and wore a wire to tape conversations with Ney. Heaton was facing up to five years in jail. His sentencing guidelines were 18 to 24 months.

Heaton was sentenced today to two years probation.

The indirect beneficiary of Heaton's cooperation, of course, will be Jack Abramoff, whose final sentence reduction has not yet been determined.

Bob Ney aide Will Heaton is set for sentencing in federal court on Thursday. The Boston Globe today reports he wore a wire to nab Ney and is proud to have done so.

Will Heaton let FBI agents record his telephone calls and taped a 2 1/2-hour meeting with Ney. He leaked documents and worked late into the night and on weekends to avoid arousing suspicion that he was working with the government.

"The moment I walked into my first meeting with the Justice Department, a huge weight was lifted off my chest," Heaton wrote in a letter to US District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle. "For the first time in years I felt at peace with myself and I knew I was finally making the right choice."

As to Heaton's misconduct:

Heaton pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy. He admitted accepting a golf trip to Scotland, expensive meals, and tickets to sporting events between 2002 and 2004 as payoffs for helping clients of disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Heaton faces up to five years in prison. His guidelines are 18 to 24 months but he's asking for probation due to how hard he worked for the FBI.