Blagojevich Left Legal Bills Unpaid ($500,000) [View All]

[Ichingcarpenter]

Source: WSJ

CHICAGO -- The criminal complaint against Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich alleges that he groused about financial troubles. Those problems include more than $500,000 in unpaid legal bills, according to people familiar with the matter.

Earlier this year, when Mr. Blagojevich was strapped for cash and burdened by a yearslong federal investigation into his administration, his political fund stopped paying a portion of the millions of dollars in legal fees owed to the law firm Winston & Strawn LLP, according to these people.

As a result, these people say, Winston & Strawn stopped representing the governor, who is now embroiled in one of the most spectacular public-corruption inquiries in years. In the complaint filed this week, federal prosecutors charged Mr. Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and solicitation of bribery.

Winston & Strawn had been the governor's primary counsel since federal investigators began looking into allegations of corruption five years ago. The governor had relied on the legal representation of Winston partner Bradley Lerman, a former federal prosecutor in Chicago. Mr. Lerman declined to comment.

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122902510885799105.html

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Buddy, Can you spare a dime? For a Senate Seat?