Analysis: Protecting Obama Cost Prosecution Blago Case

Federal prosecutors' decision to "protect" Obama administration officials by not calling them to testify against former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is "absolutely" responsible for the prosecution's stunning failure to get convictions on 23 of 24 counts, a Fox News legal analyst who closely followed the trial tells Newsmax.

Not obtaining a guilty verdict on any of the primary counts leveled against Blagojevich was viewed as a serious setback for prosecutors, especially given the federal conviction rate of over 95 percent.

"They should be so embarrassed," Fox news legal commentator Tamara Holder, a Chicago-area attorney, tells Newsmax.

Holder blamed the outcome on the lack of compelling testimony.

"I think that this is a very interesting issue, because I think that [White House Chief of Staff Rahm] Emanuel was not called [to testify], Axelrod, whomever else, Obama himself, in an effort to protect the administration," Holder says. "You know once you open the door and you put these guys on the stand, well, the cat's out of the bag and you open them to cross-examination and whatnot."

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