Blagojevich campaign fund almost tapped out by legal bills
Just last week, Judge James Zagel authorized a $408,000 disbursement from the Friends of Blagojevich Campaign Fund to pay legal fees for the disgraced former governor.
If prosecutors prove their case, that will mean the very ill-gotten gains that would have led Rod Blagojevich to be on trial were paying for his defense.
One might rightly assume that Blagojevich campaign contributors never intended for their money to go to such uses.
Several prosecution witnesses testified that the governor himself worked to delay a payment from the Friends of Blagojevich fund to his previous legal firm, Winston & Strawn, so that it wouldn't post on official state financial disclosures until six months later because he feared it would put a damper on fundraising. According to trial testimony, Blagojevich talked the law firm down from a $1.25 million bill to a $750,000 payment. But drawing on his campaign fund for legal fees is nothing new.
Dilkush Bhayani, of Schaumburg, who contributed $3,000 to Blagojevich in the second half of 2008 before the ex-governor's arrest, is philosophical about it.
"When we gave the money, he was a nice guy," Bhayani said. "But you don't know where it will end up. We don't have control. When we give the check, it's cashed the next day."
Nonetheless, as attorneys for Rod Blagojevich and his brother Robert prepare to mount their defense this week, that fund - seized by the government and authorized for use in paying the legal fees - is running out fast.
According to Illinois Board of Elections financial disclosures, Friends of Blagojevich had $2,675,328.75 at the end of 2008, after Rod Blagojevich's arrest, having taken in just over $700,000 in the previous six months. With no contributions made afterward and no expenditures, that fund was transferred to the clerk of the U.S. District Court in June 2009, after Blagojevich had been formally indicted by a grand jury.
Zagel set a flat rate of $110 an hour for the attorneys, well below the top fees commanded by high-profile defense lawyers. (Winston & Strawn provided the defense for Blagojevich's predecessor George Ryan pro bono, on behalf of firm partner and fellow former Gov. Jim Thompson, at a cost estimated at more than $10 million.)
Two months before the trial began, the Blagojevich fund had already been half spent, and the latest disbursement left just $76,281.60, according to the federal court clerk's office.
When the money runs out, the public will pick up the tab, in effect funding both the prosecution and the defense.
The bills will most likely be paid by the federal government, "subject to obtaining court-ordered funding based on proof of eligibility," clarified Randall Samborn, spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office.
What's more, in June, Robert Blagojevich's attorneys, Michael Ettinger and Cheryl Schroeder, appealed to receive $350,000 from that account to pay for his defense. Assistant U.S. Attorney Reid Schar, lead prosecutor in the case, argued against it, and Zagel has yet to rule on the matter, although it would appear to be a moot point with the money almost gone.