$500K in Legal Bills May Have Motivated Blago

Disgraced Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich owes a Chicago law firm more than $500,000, the Wall Street Journal reports. In intercepted conversations released as part of the current complaint against him, Blagojevich repeatedly mentions his poor financial situation; earlier this year, he stopped paying Winston & Strawn, which had counseled the governor during an ongoing, 5-year federal investigation into his administration.

“If he asked us to represent him” in his current situation, “we’d say no,” a partner at the firm said; Blagojevich now retains separate counsel. Investigators believe part of Blagojevich’s motive for auctioning off Barack Obama’s vacant Senate seat was to boost his income. “I want to make money,” he said, often referencing financial difficulties. (More Rod Blagojevich stories.)