Rezko Defended By Illinois Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich

The Chicago Sun-Times reports:

Gov. Blagojevich said Friday that his convicted former fund-raiser Antoin ''Tony'' Rezko was ''sucked'' into a system and that lines ''were crossed.''

Blagojevich has been resistant to talk about Rezko, but the Democratic governor made brief comments about him -- even referring to him by name -- during a news conference about changes the governor wants in ethics legislation.

''I have a theory on what happened in the Rezko situation was a system, you know, sucked him in and then some lines were crossed and then that person found himself actually violating some of the rules,'' Blagojevich said.

"Violating rule"? Tony Rezko was convicted of 16 felonies.For more on Rod Blagojevich's troubled past.For how Rod Blagojevich's wife is related to Chicago Mob consigliere Alphonse Torabene.