Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

Reform and Renewal - Big bucks for lawyers

Posted in:

Illinois

The governor’s legal bills continue to climb.

Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich spent more than $750,000 in legal fees from July to December last year as he battles a wide-ranging federal probe into his administration’s dealings.

Nearly all of the money went to Winston & Strawn, the firm that represented Blagojevich’s predecessor, George Ryan, who was convicted last year of political corruption. And all but $200,000 of the money to that firm was paid after the Nov. 7 election, which saw Blagojevich win a second term with slightly less than 50 percent of the vote.

The flurry of spending on lawyers means Blagojevich now has paid nearly $1 million in legal fees from his campaign fund since January 2005.

U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgeraldâ€™s office is looking into what heâ€™s said are credible allegations of â€œendemic hiring fraudâ€ in the Blagojevich administration. Federal authorities also are investigating whether state appointments and contracts were traded for campaign contributions to Friends of Blagojevich.

And…

Doug Scofield, spokesman for the Friends of Blagojevich campaign, declined to say if any of the law firm’s work was connected to the probes.

“We’re not going to give more detail regarding that,” Scofield said. “We disclose everything that we have to on the report. It’s fair to say it was for a range of legal services related to running a campaign.”

A review of state campaign finance records shows that between 2002 and 2005, Blagojevich’s campaign spent $127,809 on legal fees to various legal firms. In 2006, the records show, the campaign spent $912,199 on legal fees to Winston & Strawn and other firms.

Most of the money was spent on legal work done in the first half of 2006 that was paid in the second half of the year, Scofield said

The governor’s total spending in the last six months of 2006 was $16.4 million. Judy Baar Topinka spent $6.3 million during the same time period.

Speaking of reform and renewal, the governor’s office will be auditing a firm that’s under federal and county investigation.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s office has ordered an audit of no-bid state contracts dating to 1990 with a Chicago drug-testing firm under criminal investigation for alleged billing fraud.

The administration outlined its actions involving K.K. Bio-Science Inc. on Wednesday, a day after Cook County investigators and the FBI searched the company’s offices for evidence of fraud, money laundering and a continuing criminal enterprise, according to the search warrant. […]

A three-page search warrant served at the company’s headquarters in downtown Chicago on Tuesday sought “any items or documents which have been used in the commission of, or which constitute evidence of the offenses,” including forgery, theft, money laundering, mail fraud, wire fraud and a continuing financial crimes enterprise, according to the warrant.

The company, founded in 1985 by Mahajan’s father, abruptly closed down Jan. 19 with no warning to employees. It officially terminated its $739,000 state contract on Jan. 9 amid an inquiry by the child welfare agency’s office of inspector general.

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Feb 1, 07 @ 8:26 am

Comments

“Weâ€™re not going to give more detail regarding that,â€ Scofield said. â€œWe disclose everything that we have to on the report.

These people are our elected officials, it is the right of all Illinoisans to be given ALL THE FACTS REGARDING ALL COSTS.
This is our money, not their personal bank account.

Can the Governor of Illinois be impeached?

Comment by Snakes In Suits Thursday, Feb 1, 07 @ 9:03 am
The legal fee information is not very helpful without some context. Presumably, all governors
have to pay out some legal fees, so we would need to know the what previous governors paid, adjusted for inflation and also what governors across the country are paying. We also need a breakdown of the reasons for the legal services. We may find a pattern of corruption and we may find a pattern of frivolous lawsuits or public interest lawsuits masquerading as suits against the governor. We don’t have enough information here.

Comment by Cassandra Thursday, Feb 1, 07 @ 9:07 am
The governor and his office and many long time associates are under countless federal and state investigations.
They shouldn’t be permitted to audit or investigate anything, talk about the fox watching the hen house.
Patrick F. and Lisa M. what gives?

Comment by Off the map Thursday, Feb 1, 07 @ 9:22 am
With GFR they froze his campaign $$$. When are they going to do that to this campaign fund. If it was indeed pay to play then the money should be frozen.

One other point, Cassandra, you don’t spend 1 million dollars on legal fees for frivilous lawsuits. For those you use state council. This guy is in TROUBLE. It is a matter of time.

Comment by Where's the Leadership??? Thursday, Feb 1, 07 @ 10:07 am
Perhaps the lack of evidence of wrong doing has prevented “them” from freezing any funds.
Just because “Off” and “Where’s” make unsubstantiated allegations doesn’t mean anybody’s guilty of anything. Just more wishful thinking from the haters.
Snake,
Show us where it says that every citizen has these rights.
Oh, I didn’t think so!

Comment by Bill Thursday, Feb 1, 07 @ 10:49 am
KK BioScience - isn’t that the same people that paid the first lady her entire salary from real estate last year? What ‘a child welfare agency inquiry’??

Comment by Belle Thursday, Feb 1, 07 @ 10:59 am
Bill
Arrogant as usual I see, I guess we no longer live within a democracy in the State of Illinois.
What’s wrong with the truth?
Enough said…. Have a nice day Bill.

Comment by Snakes In Suits Thursday, Feb 1, 07 @ 11:15 am
Bill sounds angry.

Comment by Guy Fawkes Thursday, Feb 1, 07 @ 12:46 pm
Snake,
No, we still live in a democracy in Illinois. The people spoke and re-elected Rod Blagojevich by a wide margin. You must ,as usual, be out of the mainstream with your demands.

Comment by Bill Thursday, Feb 1, 07 @ 12:46 pm
Sorry Bill, Chicago re-elected Governor Blagojevich.
Why do you and this administration continue to evade the truth? Answer the question….
If nothings wrong why all the legal posturing?

Comment by Snakes In Suits Thursday, Feb 1, 07 @ 1:01 pm
“Doug Scofield, spokesman for the Friends of Blagojevich campaign, declined to say if any of the law firmâ€™s work was connected to the probes.

â€œWeâ€™re not going to give more detail regarding that,â€ Scofield said. â€œWe disclose everything that we have to on the report. Itâ€™s fair to say it was for a range of legal services related to running a campaign.â€”

The question didn’t ask for more detail. It just asked a logical question. We all know a “no” answer would have sufficed. But Scofield didn’t say “no”, or answer the question.

Spokespeople don’t want to lie. They want to continue being credible sources for reporters and to be used by the organizations that hire them. Sometimes it is what they do not say that says it all.

What is sad is how low Blagojevich’s supporters have had to go to keep defending him. It is wrong for the Governor to keep expecting them to shut up and sing his tunes. No one should be expected to continually talk around questions on a guy who claimed he would reform and clean up government.

We shouldn’t get angry with Bill. He is still hoping there is a pony in that pile o’crap sitting behind the governor’s desk in Chicago.

Comment by VanillaMan Thursday, Feb 1, 07 @ 1:15 pm
“Snakes In Suits” don’t be a jerk. Chicago is in Illinois. Always has been, always will be. The guy won by ten points. Get over yourself already. If you cannot accept that we all live in the same state, I would suggest you move elsewhere because it’s not gonna change just because you don’t like the way city residents vote.

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Feb 1, 07 @ 1:18 pm
Rich

I stand corrected, I’ve lived in Illinois most of my life, probably die here too.
But aren’t the people entitled to the truth?

Comment by Snakes In Suits Thursday, Feb 1, 07 @ 1:40 pm
The truth is that the Chicago vote put him over the top. No doubt. But Chicago didn’t elect him. Illinois did.

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Feb 1, 07 @ 1:41 pm
Here we go again. The fox guarding the henhouse. Perhaps he should audit his wife. Isn’t anyone else getting tired of this day after day. One scandal after another.
Remember when the Clintons left the White House. There was this feeling of thank God that’s over. They had just worn us out with all the scandals. There was always some kind of turmoil. Well with Blago and friends there is that same feeling. Are they never going to just settle down and govern.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Feb 1, 07 @ 1:55 pm
Rich,
The fact is that south of I-80 Blago was toast. He would not have been reelected leaving Chicago out of the picture. The growing population of Chicago proper reelected him. By and large downstate voters had seen enough of the antics and ineptitude of Blago and wanted change. Granted Topinka wasn’t a great option, but it sure beats being stuck with this ego-centric, hasn’t a clue politician another 4 years.

Comment by Downstater Thursday, Feb 1, 07 @ 2:16 pm
Downstater, you can’t leave Chicago out of the picture because Chicago is PART OF THIS STATE.

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Feb 1, 07 @ 2:33 pm
$900K+ is an excessive amount to spend on legal representation. Blago is in hot water and his D-2 forms clearly show it. Of course, the general public has no real conception of what D-2 forms mean and what the implications of such a large legal tab are.

Bill, please admit that Blago is not a saint. I love Jim Edgar and think he is the model Republican in Illinois but I can denigrate him and get angry at him from time-to-time. Can’t you ease up on the Blago praise/defense?

Comment by Team Sleep Thursday, Feb 1, 07 @ 2:34 pm
Team Sleep,
I never said that Rod was a saint and, in fact, I am not too happy with him right now. I just think that unproven,unfounded accusations,innuendoes,Civil Service hearings and legal fees do not mean that he is some sort of criminal.
As far as the election is concerned,
Madison,Perry,Franklin, etc.are all way “south of I80″ and all went for the governor. It is true he lost the great unpopulated middle of the state along with Sangamon and a couple others. So what? Why talk about democracy rules and in the same paragraph split the state by region to make some point about the governor’s popularity.
If you leave the states south of the Mason-Dixon line out of the election Al Gore would be President today.

Comment by Bill Thursday, Feb 1, 07 @ 2:49 pm
Bill, care to elaborate on why you’re “not too happy” with the guv?

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Feb 1, 07 @ 2:50 pm
No

Comment by Bill Thursday, Feb 1, 07 @ 2:53 pm
C’mon, Bill. I’d rather keep this quiet in the comments rather than have to call you out on the front page… just sayin’. lol

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Feb 1, 07 @ 2:54 pm
Show you are human too, Bill!

Comment by VanillaMan Thursday, Feb 1, 07 @ 2:56 pm
Let it out Bill, remember, it’s not your fault.

Comment by Tom B. Thursday, Feb 1, 07 @ 3:08 pm
Bill, this topic could be tomorrow’s QOTD. Just sayin’

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Feb 1, 07 @ 3:43 pm
you guys are brutal! lmao

Comment by Bill Thursday, Feb 1, 07 @ 3:43 pm
Well, pony up, dude. Let’s hear it.

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Feb 1, 07 @ 3:44 pm
Rich,
Its nothin’, really. I just felt like he was spending a little too much time in Springfield lately.
An old newshound like youself should be able to figure it out.

Comment by Bill Thursday, Feb 1, 07 @ 3:53 pm
I don’t think we can let it go at that, Billy boy.

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Feb 1, 07 @ 3:56 pm
You all just wanna say I told you so and make fun of me.

Comment by Bill Thursday, Feb 1, 07 @ 4:02 pm
We won’t make fun of you, Bill. Honest. I’ll delete the bad ones. We just want to know that you’re human.

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Feb 1, 07 @ 4:06 pm
O man! Im in for it.

Comment by Bill Thursday, Feb 1, 07 @ 4:10 pm
You are if you don’t spill, I’m afraid.

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Feb 1, 07 @ 4:12 pm
Just an inquiring mind thought: Just what is Winston and Strawn’s hourly rate if they got most of the $750,000 legal bills that developed in 6 months. Cheap follow-up: I guess legal services were not put out for bid through CMS?

Comment by zatoichi Thursday, Feb 1, 07 @ 4:43 pm
That would be Schiff Hardin’s fees that should have been put out for bid.
Another CMS chargeback to agencies without asking first.

Comment by Know em when I see em Thursday, Feb 1, 07 @ 7:18 pm
Bill, admitting you have a problem is the first step towards recovery:-)

Rich, much as I love to see Bill squirm, I ask you to let him go this time. We only post here because we trust your ethics not to out anybody just for having an opinion. To roast Bill too much would just put a chill on comments in general.

Bill is different from the posters you once outed; those that pretended to be average joes but who were posting from a campaign H.Q. with disinformation campaigns. Bill has pretty much admitted all along who butters his bread, so in his case, he merits a pass, unless he goes over the line. He’s delusional regarding the Governor, but that’s not a crime.

Comment by let him off this time Thursday, Feb 1, 07 @ 9:00 pm
Can’t do it. We’ll have some fun tomorrow.

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Feb 1, 07 @ 9:34 pm
One of the Illinois papers today had an article about one of the First Lady’s clients who purged their location, using four big dumpsters and just tossing everything in. This is according to a legal group that operated in the same building. Reportedly, the dumpster had office equipment in it, along with checks and other office papers. No comment from the admin or the First Lady.

Ah, things that may you go “hummmmmmm”! I hear the train acoming. Sorry, Bill.

Comment by Disgusted Thursday, Feb 1, 07 @ 10:51 pm