Does Rod Blagojevich Believe in his Innocence?
Photo by Jeremy M. Farmer (CC License, Flickr)
Today Rod "Blago" Blagojevich was convicted of 17 out of 20 counts against him for trying to sell Barack Obama's senate seat. He spoke to the media shortly after his conviction saying that he was "stunned."
Why was Blago stunned? Has he convinced himself of his innocence?
While I believe Blago was truly stunned by his conviction, I do not believe that it is because he believes in his innocence.
Back in 2009 when his first impeachment trial started, Blago was on Larry King LIVE, and what he said that day was fascinating. It tells us exactly what Blago really thinks of his involvement.
Blago said about the politicians who were pointing the finger at him, "...it’s not exactly as those who judged me, are uh, you know, exactly acting with clean hands eith…”
What Blago started to say and realized at the time he said it was the word "either". In essence, they--the politicians-- aren't acting with clean hands either--meaning that Blago doesn't think he has clean hands. He stopped mid-sentence because as he said it, he realized the implications of his words.
Most people when they hear obvious clues to deception can't believe it, and often discount them, but they are trustworthy. What happened to Blago here, if you want my opinion as a deception expert, is that he had a subconscious slip that he failed to censor what he was saying until it was too late. His cognitive load was too high.
People leak clues to deception in many forms including cognitive, behavioral, factual and emotional.
If you rely on lack of eye contact, be warned. Liars are more likely to look you in the eye than honest people--just as Blago did. When honest people think, it is common for their eyes to look around as they focus on thoughts.
Eyes for Lies teaches law enforcement how to spot deception and she consults with detectives on criminal cases. She was identified in a University of San Francisco study that identified only 50 people who had an exceptional ability to spot deception after testing more than 15,000 people including people from the FBI, CIA, Secret Service and mixed law enforcement.
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