* More trouble for the guv, but there’s something important about this story that the Tribune misses…
Gov. Rod Blagojevich, whose administration has been beset by myriad investigations, disclosed almost $1 million in new legal bills Tuesday, on top of the $1.1 million he’s already paid to a prominent Chicago firm.
The governor’s campaign spokesman reported $965,352 in legal fees for 2007, bringing Blagojevich’s total tab to more than $2 million in billings for Winston & Strawn. The legal spending comes after federal investigators began ramping up their probes into alleged wrongdoing involving state hiring, contracting and board appointments in 2006.
The Trib’s number for 2007 is inaccurate. Blagojevich paid another $163,770 to Winston & Strawn in January of last year, plus a couple of other smaller legal tabs to Hinshaw & Culbertson and Robbins Schwartz Nicholas Lifton & Tay.
* But here’s the rub: Blagojevich didn’t report a half million dollars in legal bills until six months after he was supposed to…
Blagojevich’s campaign did not state $555,255 of the legal tab on campaign records until about six months after the information was legally required to be made public.
Campaign spokesman Doug Scofield said the delay was due to negotiations over the bill and he doesn’t expect to receive penalties for the late filing. The amount is listed in campaign records as an unpaid debt, but Scofield said there is money to cover the bill.
* The trouble with Scofield’s explanation is that it’s the exact same excuse they used when they reported a Winston & Strawn debt back in the summer of 2006…
A campaign spokeswoman said the debt represented charges the campaign is questioning
So, in 2006, they went ahead and reported a legal debt and said the reason they hadn’t paid it was because they disputed the bill.
In 2007, they didn’t report a debt because they say they disputed the legal bill, but then they reported it in 2008 once the bill was straightened out.
One explanation for two completely opposite actions, and it’s all bull.
* I’ve explained what I think happened to subscribers today. But I’ll speculate further here that the governor was also embroiled in a knock-down, drag-out fight with Speaker Madigan last July 31st, when the D-2 was filed. Disclosing his gigantic Winston & Strawn legal tab would’ve been highly disadvantageous to the governor’s position.
* Either way, the guv ought to be severely fined for not reporting a very large bill that was submitted to his campaign fund. The bills come in every month, and whether you agree with them or not, they’re supposed to be reported.
I know he likes to ignore the Constitution and the law and all that, but he needs to be called to account on this one.
But, let’s move along…
$2 million in legal fees? Over a million dollars in the past year alone? What the heck?
I couldn’t agree more with the BGA…
“Despite the governor’s rhetoric of ‘There’s nothing here,’ these [campaign] filings show there is at least $1 million worth of something for somebody to look at,” said Jay Stewart, executive director of the Better Government Association.
* By the way, after subtracting the money he owes Jim Thompson, the governor’s campaign fund is left with about $1 million in cash.
That’s half what Lisa Madigan now has in her account, and $700,000 less than Dan Hynes has in his.