Illinois To Blagojevich: Pay For Your Own Defense With Your Own Dime

Can Tran December 18, 2008

So far it looks like that embattled Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is going to have to front up his own dime for his defense. It was not long ago that Blagojevich was arrested on the charges of trying to sell a vacated U.S. Senate seat. The seat was vacated several weeks ago by United States President-elect Barack Obama, who won the US Presidency by a landslide over GOP rival Senator John McCain of Arizona.

Who is going to fill in Obama’s seat? To answer that question: That may have to wait for quite awhile. Blagojevich is in the middle of the controversy amidst charges that he allegedly tried to sell Obama’s seat and favors for the highest bidder. Lisa Madigan, the Illinois State AG had gone to the State Supreme Court to strip Blagojevich of powers. However, that request was recently denied.

So far, Blagojevich has financial woes to deal with. His defense in regards to impeachment is sucking out his funds. His lawyer Edward Genson requested that the State pay for the defense. However, that was denied. While Madigan’s request was denied to have Blagojevich’s powers stripped, she got the next laugh. She denied the request to have the state of Illinois pay for Blagojevich’s defense. On top of that, there is the possibility of prosecutors freezing Blagojevich’s campaign fund.

Blagojevich is going to have to front his own dime in regards to the defense. So far, it was revealed that Obama had nothing to do with this scandal. However, Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell said that Obama made the mistake of turning it into a “three-day” story. Back to Blagojevich, his approval rating had gone down to only eight percent during the time.

In regards to a request for funding, Madigan sent a letter back. The letter said that it was preposterous for the taxpayers to front up the cash for Blagojevich’s defense. It adds that the impeachment was of a legal matter.

On top of that, Genson is looking to have federal wiretaps thrown out of the impeachment proceedings. He explains that they were illegally obtained. So far, it is revealed that the key evidence against Blagojevich would be those wiretaps. Regardless of the odds stacked up against Blagojevich, it looks like that he is fighting tooth and nail as if his very life depended on this battle.

So far Blagojevich said he is not stepping down from office. Obama recently told Blagojevich that he needs to step down from office. However, Blagojevich had brushed that aside. If the wiretaps get thrown out it should do damage for the case against Blagojevich. In a nutshell, the odds are greatly stacked against Blagojevich.