Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich owes more than $500,000 in unpaid bills to the law firm Winston & Strawn, his primary counsel since federal investigators began looking into various allegations of corruption five years ago. It is unclear whether the legal bills are for personal or campaign work, or for both. Campaign filings show Winston & Strawn had charged the governor's campaign fund, Friends of Blagojevich, nearly $2 million in legal fees through the end of 2007.The criminal complaint against the governor repeatedly refers to his family's financial troubles.
Earlier this year, Blagojevich, strapped for cash and burdened by a years-long federal investigation into his administration, stopped paying a portion of the millions in fees owed to Winston & Strawn, according to people familiar with the matter. As a result, Winston & Strawn stopped representing the governor, who is now embroiled in one of the most spectacular public-corruption inquiries in years. In the criminal complaint filed this week, federal prosecutors charged Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and solicitation of bribery.-- WSJ
Posted by guest , Dec 11, 2008 3:33PM
Do it for the childrens....First
Posted by guest , Dec 11, 2008 3:33PM
Keep your butt hole tight!
Posted by guest , Dec 11, 2008 3:42PM
blag luv da kidz
drop tha top an let tha sunshine innn!
Posted by guest , Dec 11, 2008 3:44PM
There was a rather comical discussion by bankers here about cars last week...with folks pontificating on F-150s and the Big-3
This should help
http://www.automobilemag.com/features/news/0812_luxury_car_comparison/index.html
Posted by guest , Dec 11, 2008 3:47PM
The managing partner of Winston and Strawn is...you guessed it, yet another former IL governor, "Big" Jim Thompson. He got Winston and Strawn to give an estimated $20M defense pro bono to George Ryan, our last governor to go on trial and be convicted of corruption charges. Big Jim's partners didn't feel like their "investment" paid off in that case so they want to make sure Blago pays his bills.
Posted by guest , Dec 11, 2008 3:51PM
take a look at who donated (and how much) money to "Friends of Blago" (his campaign fund) over the last few years...
gee... did any of those people donate heavily to that homeboy president elect? yes? interesting, but he has no ties to blago...
Posted by guest , Dec 11, 2008 3:53PM
Hey, here's an idea. Instead of paying lawyers to defend you against federal investigators, how about - NOT DOING ANYTHING THAT MERITS INVESTIGATION, like being honest?
Posted by miami , Dec 11, 2008 3:54PM
7 - He didn't kill his WIFE!
Posted by guest , Dec 11, 2008 3:55PM
What's this: http://mt.dealbreaker.com/ defaults to fashionista?
No better way to generate traffic to the fashionista site?
Posted by Clown Capital , Dec 11, 2008 4:01PM
too Serbian/melting pot America, didn't read...
Posted by guest , Dec 11, 2008 4:02PM
@7 - after her comments, perhaps he should have for as Jon Stewart said "Only 48% of murderers go to jail; for Illinois governors, it would 4 of the last 8 if Blago's convicted." You like those odds?
Posted by guest , Dec 11, 2008 4:06PM
Gov. HairHelmet is dumber than anyone thought possible...only asking 50k donation vs 8mm of funding? Damn low ROI...no wonder he was in politics...oh, better retract that. THAT"S WHY HE WAS IN POLITICS - " to make some money".
Posted by guest , Dec 11, 2008 4:09PM
CORRECTION - @8 - after her comments, perhaps he should have for as Jon Stewart said "Only 48% of murderers go to jail; for Illinois governors, it would 4 of the last 8 if Blago's convicted." You like those odds?
Posted by Clown Capital , Dec 11, 2008 4:33PM
FYI,
WSJ Dec 11, 2008:
Bernard L. Madoff, the 70-year-old founder of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities and a fixture of the Wall Street trading world for decades, was arrested by FBI agents and charged with criminal securities fraud by federal prosecutors in Manhattan. Prosecutors allege that Madoff told senior employees that his business was "a giant Ponzi scheme" involving tens of billions of dollars. The extent of investor losses, though, wasn't immediately clear.
Wow. Crazy...
Posted by guest , Dec 11, 2008 4:44PM
The best thing that could happen here is that Blago spends the next few years taking an ass pounding from the death row inmates whose sentences were commuted by his predecessor, Gov. Ryan. Welcome back to the general population, fellas, check out the cat with the bad hair...
Posted by Harald , Dec 11, 2008 5:20PM
half mil a year...that seems like a lot of money for lawyers, for one individual
Posted by guest , Dec 11, 2008 6:14PM
@16: Not for Winston and Strawn lawyers. That's only about a day and a half of their time.
*cymbals crash*
Thank you. I'll be here all week.
Posted by guest , Dec 11, 2008 8:13PM
16 - $500 and hour on average (conserative estimate including partners and associates) is 1000 hours, which comes out to less than 20 hours a week over a year. Not unrealistic at all.
Posted by guest , Dec 12, 2008 12:21AM
he did it for the lulz
Posted by guest , Dec 13, 2008 1:22AM
The American political climate, which had been so optimistic of late, has started to get ugly again. Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich has likely seen his last payday for a while, along with his chief of staff, John Harris. The FBI on federal corruption charges arrested both on Tuesday morning. This would be the start again of bad image of government officials. Normally, a person in such a high position getting busted for something that big is shocking enough, but it gets worse in that he is the second governor if Illinois in a row to get arrested on federal criminal charges. His predecessor, George Ryan, was arrested a few years ago, on corruption charges as well. Oh! What’s happening to these people? Blagojevich haven’t learning yet from the mistake of the former governor- George Ryan. Blagojevich evidently assumed that he was King of Illinois and did Barack Obama recently vacate trying to literally sell the Senate seat. According to Illinois law, the governor determines who fills the seat, and Blagojevich figured that it was a quick way to make a buck or two. Well, it would be an understatement to say he got a little greedy. The FBI compiled a 76-page indictment against Harris and Blagojevich. He was caught on wiretap last month, and the FBI waited to get even more evidence against him, which they did. He claims that everything he did and said was legal. Residents of the state of Illinois will just have to wait and see. The climate in DC appears to be hopeful for now, but darker clouds are on the horizon for Blagojevich and his buddy, Harris. It's likely they’ve seen their last paydays in office. Click to read more on Blagojevich courtesy of Personal Money Store's Payday Loan News.