He was hundreds of miles away, no doubt a bundle of nerves, while prosecutors played FBI wiretaps of conversations in which he seems to demand campaign contributions in exchange for signing legislation.

Two harness racetracks - Maywood Park and Balmoral Park, owned by a group controlled by Illinois racing veteran William H. Johnston Jr. and his sons William III and John, gave $95,000 to Mr. Blagojevich from 2002 through 2007.The tracks' lobbying group, Racing Association of Illinois, contributed $65,000 from 2002 through 2007."

When Casinos were allowed into Illinois, the struggling horse industry started lobbying for a share in the profits. The Casinos fought back in court, and while the court debate went on, the $80 million the casinos had put away requiring the state's four top-earning casinos to give 3% of their gross adjusted annual revenues to the horse-racing industry. Blagojevich insists he has done nothing wrong and will be vindicated.

John Johnston, part owner of Illinois harness tracks Maywood Park and Balmoral Park, attempted to get that money and the 3% agreement back on the table in exchange for campaign contributions and the likely alleged bribery.

The tapes are about Blagojevich's meeting with John Johnston to make the deal. Blagojevich's former chief of staff Lon Monk, has told Rob Blagojevich (brother) that Johnston is "good for it".

When Harnesslink.com approached officialdom at Maywood Racetrack, they were unresponsive saying Johnston's lawyer would be in touch. At Balmoral they had the following to say:

"We are not able to comment on a delicate subject like this. I suggest you phone back when the case is over," they said.

Good riddance was how Beecher Illinois horseman Merv Chupp described the fiasco. He works 30 standardbreds and also runs Chupp Equine Transport. He is well aware of goings on in his neighbourhood.

"Blagojevich will be gone by the end of the week. I have talked to a few people about the case and we will all be glad to see the back of him. When you try and extort money you can't expect to get away with it. Even though he hasn't faced a criminal trial yet, we will all be glad to see him gone," Chupp said.

"It doesn't look good for him. Good riddance I say. Mind you the Illinois Government hasn't got a good record over the years," Chupp said.

"As for Johnston, I'm not sure and need to follow the case more closely to comment on him," he added.

The governor was arrested last month on a variety of corruption charges, including scheming to benefit from appointing President Barack Obama's U.S. Senate replacement and demanding campaign contributions in exchange for state services.

He denies any wrong-doing and neither his brother and chief fundraiser Robert, nor former chief of staff Lon Monk has been charged. They do not specifically mention money or any amounts on the tapes.

"I'm here to tell you right off the bat that I am not guilty of any criminal wrongdoing," Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich told reporters last Friday at his Chicago office, adding that "I intend to stay on the job and will fight this every step of the way".

Transcript four (of four) depicts the controversy live. Governor Blagojevich is discussing the casino legislation with an unnamed Lobbiest. In the below, "He" referres to John Johnston, part owner of Illinois harness tracks Balmoral Park and Maywood Park". It reads:

Blagojevich: Hey Lon.

Lobbyist 1: How are ya?

Blagojevich: Good.

Lobbyist 1: Yeah. Ahm, so lemme, ah, so one thing I was thinking about last night is that um, you ought to give, not today, but maybe tomorrow, just give John Johnston a call. And Say, you know, calling just to say hello, um you know, I'm working on the timing of this thing, but it's gonna get done.

Blagojevich: Okay.

Lobbyist 1: It's, it's...

Blagojevich Call him tomorrow?

Lobbyist 1: It's a two, it's a two minute conversation.

Blagojevich: Yeah happy to do it. Call him tomorrow right?

Lobbyist 1: Yeah.

Blagojevich: Okay. Call Johnny Johnston, or should I call - have Harris call him?

Lobbyist 1: Ahm...

Blagojevich: ...I mean you want me to call him directtly, I will, whatever's the best thing. I'm just a little bit...

Lobbyist 1L I think it's better if you do it.

Blagojevich: Okay.

Lobbyist 1: For... It's better if you do it just from a pressure point of view.

Blagojevich Yeah, good. I'll call him and say yeah, we'll, and we want to do an event down sou--, down--. downstate.

Lobbyist 1: Right.

Blagojevich: " We wanna do it and hope, hope to do this so we can get together and start picking some dates to do a bill signing? Right?

Lobbyist 1: "Okay so what are, what are the chances based on my conversation with you yesterday, that this gets done, next week?"

Blagojevich: "You know, they're good."

Lobbyist 1: "Okay."

Blagojevich: "I mean...(pause)"

Lobbyist 1: "He's, I'm telling you, he's gonna be good for it. I got in his face".

Blagojevich" "Okay, good."

Lobbyist 1: (yawns) "Alright."

Blagojevich: "I know it's..."

Lobbyist 1: "Huh?"

Blagojevich: "I feel like there's somebody else who's holding him back."

Lobbyist 1: "No".

Blagojevich: "I believe it's Chris."

Lobbyist 1: "No, no".

Blagojevich: "Well what took, you know a whole year. You know what I mean? Hey Lon..."

Lobbyist 1: No, I don't think he's been talking to Chris... I don't think he's been talking to Chris.

Blagojevich: Okay.

Audio and transcripts of the wiretaps played at trial:

Tapes:

Transcripts:

Duane RANGER (editor)