* Click here for some background if you need it. The Center Square…

An Illinois lawmaker charged in a federal alleged kickback scheme is asking a judge to dismiss the case against her.

Attorneys for State Rep. Carol Ammons, D-Champaign, filed a motion Friday contending the indictment either fails to allege a crime or doesn’t clearly explain what laws she is accused of violating. […]

“The wire fraud counts fail to specify the Illinois conflict of interest law at issue and fail to allege that Rep. Ammons engaged in deception or had the victims’ money or property as an object of the scheme to defraud,” according to the filing.

It continued by contending that the federal government misrepresented Illinois law defining conflicts of interest as it relates to taxpayer dollars in the Grant Accountability and Transparency Act.

Illinois’ grant rules, the Grant Transparency and Accountability Act, require conflict of interest disclosures only from people who oversee an organization or are a grant recipient. They said Ammons was acting as a state legislator, not in either of those roles.

* Rep. Ammons’ attorneys also cite a separate state contracting provision covering elected officials, their spouses and minor children. From the motion…

To the extent the Indictment references the foregoing conflict-of-interest law, the Indictment misleadingly omits that it applies only to spouses and minor children─not “family members” in general, as alleged. Rep. Ammons’s adult daughter’s employment with HVNT, Bridgewater, or the Independent Media Center, therefore, could not constitute a conflict of interest under Illinois law. […]

Here, the Indictment does not allege that the victims suffered the loss of money or a property right. For instance, there is no indication that Rep. Ammons’s daughter did not perform her job duties for Bridgewater. And any interest in avoiding conflicts of interest is an intangible interest not covered by the wire fraud statute.

* On the alleged kickbacks…

The scheme alleged by the government, however, deprived only the employee paying the kickback of any property. Moreover, the Indictment does not suggest that Rep. Ammons deceived the state and/or taxpayers with the goal of depriving them of property.

* More from the Center Square…

As for the false statement charge, which stems from the representative telling federal investigators that she was unaware of any conflict of interest, her lawyers said that she couldn’t have made a false statement because a conflict of interest doesn’t exist under state law.

* Back to the motion…

Count Ten, charging a conspiracy to obstruct justice, must be dismissed as it fails to allege an agreement to tamper with a witness, fails to identify a witness and/or relevant investigation, and fails to allege that either Rep. Ammons or Aaron Ammons employed “misleading conduct” to tamper with a witness. […]

Here, the Indictment is fatally defective as it fails to allege an agreement to tamper with a witness. Rather, the Indictment alleges that Rep. Ammons was merely present when Aaron Ammons attempted to tamper with the witness. Mere presence, however, is not sufficient to allege a conspiracy.

Thoughts?