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http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/blagojevich/1337160,fed-freeze-blagojevich-funds-121708.article
Feds seek to freeze Blago campaign fund, sources say
Chicago Sun-Times
December 18, 2008
Natasha Korecki
Federal authorities plan to freeze Gov. Blagojevich’s campaign fund,
crippling the governor’s ability to use the money for his legal bills.
In a letter this week, they put the Blagojevich camp on notice they intend to
freeze the money, sources told the Chicago Sun-Times.
That disclosure comes a week after the governor was hit with federal charges
including scheming to sell the U.S. Senate seat given up by President-elect
Barack Obama.
Today in Springfield, the governor’s lawyer, Ed Genson, appeared before a
House panel investigating whether to impeach Blagojevich. Genson asked to be
appointed a special attorney general to represent the governor in the
impeachment process.
The “Friends of Blagojevich” fund hasn’t been frozen yet, but sources said
the letter alone will have a crippling effect on the governor’s ability to move
money out of the fund because of the possibility that prosecutors would later
seize the money.
As of June 30, the date of his latest campaign-finance report, Blagojevich
had about $3.6 million in his campaign war chest. He’s been on a major
fund-raising swing since then, though any money he’s raised might already have
been spent on legal fees or other expenses.
There’s precedent for freezing Blagojevich’s fund. In 2002, prosecutors got a
judge to freeze $1 million in then-Gov. George Ryan’s campaign fund before Ryan
was indicted. They charged that the Ryan fund was a criminal enterprise and said
they wanted to make sure it had money available to pay possible restitution
costs. Ryan was convicted of corruption charges and is serving six and a half
years in prison.
Contributing: Chris Fusco, Dave McKinney
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