FBI seized Blagojevich campaign records

SPRINGFIELD -- Gov. Rod Blagojevich's attorneys said Tuesday that when FBI agents carried out a search warrant at his campaign office, they may have confiscated documents he needed to file complete financial disclosure reports.

The governor had $2.7 million in the bank as of Dec. 31, but Friends of Blagojevich attorney Anthony J. Jacob said in a letter to the Illinois State Board of Elections that paperwork seized on Dec. 9 by the FBI may contain information that still needs to be disclosed.

The committee filed its report "with all of the information in its possession and control," Jacob wrote. "However, there may be information ... not in the possession and control of the committee."

Friends of Blagojevich has requested the information from the FBI and will update the report, which covered the last six months of the year, if it is necessary, Jacob said.

Meanwhile, the man who could be Illinois' next governor has only $83,500 in campaign funds compared to millions of dollars gathered by his potential rivals.

Democratic Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn would take the top spot if Blagojevich is removed from office. But he would have to run for election in 2010 and other Democratic contenders are outpacing him, according to documents filed Tuesday with the Board of Elections.

Blagojevich raised more than $705,000 dollars the final six months of the year, according to the Friends of Blagojevich report. The committee started July 1 with $3.6 million in the bank.

The report shows the governor got nearly $595,000 in "individual contributions" and $79,500 from political action committees, or PACs.

But the report also shows $1.64 million in expenditures, including $750,000 to the Chicago law firm of Winston & Strawn; a $100,000 payment on Dec. 18 -- a week after the governor's arrest -- to the firm of Kaplan & Sorosky; and more than $13,600 to the law firm Hinshaw and Culbertson.

The committee also paid $62,500 to the governor's brother Robert Blagojevich, who chairs the Friends of Blagojevich fund, and about $28,000 to a person named Chrissy Jacobs for "accounting consulting."

The Chicago Democrat's campaign reported raising a little more than $2 million in the last six months of 2007.

Blagojevich was arrested Dec. 9 on fraud conspiracy and bribery solicitation charges. The two-term Democrat says he hasn't done anything wrong. He faces a Senate trial starting Monday over his ouster.

Federal prosecutors served notice last month in a letter to defense attorneys that they will seek to have Blagojevich's campaign fund forfeited if he is convicted of corruption charges. Any withdrawals from the Friends of Blagojevich fund after his arrest would have to be returned if a court ordered the fund forfeited, they said.

Attorney General Lisa Madigan reported having $3.5 million in her campaign account after raising just over $1 million in the second half of 2008, the period the report covers.

Comptroller Dan Hynes raised $644,000 and had $2.9 million in the bank. Another possible hopeful, Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, raised $418,000 and is left with $1.62 million.

Among Republicans mentioned for higher office, state Sen. Bill Brady of Bloomington has $331,000; Sen. Dan Rutherford of Chenoa has $263,000; and DuPage County State's Attorney Joe Birkett has $45,000.

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