What’s worse than your Governor trying to sell a Senate seat? Making you pay for his defense.
Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich (yes, I can now write “former”) has run out of cash. His campaign funds were frozen at the request of prosecutors. And his legal bills are mounting. So, what’s a politician to do?
It appears that Blagojevich may now turn to taxpayers to pay for his defense if he cannot persuade the court to release some of his campaign funds, held as Friends of Blagojevich, to pay for his lawyers. It’s widely believed, however, that even if the funds are released, they are not enough to pay the entire legal tab for a trial that is expected to be lengthy.
Blagojevich was, of course, impeached and thrown out of office in January of this year on charges of political corruption. He is now charged with 16 felony counts, including racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud, extortion conspiracy, attempted extortion and making false statements to federal agents. His unpredictable (or maybe it really was kind of predictable in an odd sort of way) behavior has lead to a number of defections from his high profile legal team.
And what’s Blagojevich doing to raise money for his defense? When word of the indictment caught up with him this week, he was on vacation – at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa. Nice! I could see how the stress of being forced out of your job and being charged with a number of felonies could really stress a person out.
Illinois taxpayers were spared further plundering earlier in the year when Blagojevich announced that he would pay out of pocket for his public relations firm, Publicity Agency, to represent him on his bizarre “media tour.” Traditionally, the state would have paid for those fees. Taxpayers did, however, pick up the cost of state troopers which accompanied him to New York to make the talk show circuit.
