FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT
BLAGOJEVICH CAPITULATES TO BGA AFTER TWO YEAR LEGAL BATTLE US Attorney Subpoenas Turned Over, Available on BGA Web Site
CHICAGO, ILL. – December 29, 2008 - After a lengthy legal battle with Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, today the Better Government Association (“BGA”), a member-supported independent government watchdog, received from the Blagojevich Administration copies of federal grand jury subpoenas. The subpoenas seem to be related to the U.S. Attorney’s investigation of Administration hiring practices.
“This is a victory for citizens and the concept of transparency” said Jay Stewart, Executive Director of the BGA. “By releasing the subpoenas, the Governor has finally acknowledged that the Illinois Freedom of Information Act applies to him and his office and that he can’t simply hide a criminal investigation from the public or pretend it doesn’t exist,” said Stewart.
In late 2006, the BGA sent an Illinois Freedom of Information Act request seeking copies of federal grand jury subpoenas that had been served upon the Blagojevich administration in the first half of 2006. The request was denied as was the appeal.
In response, the BGA filed suit in 2007 to force the Administration to abide by the law. The BGA won convincingly at both the trial and appellate court levels. Those courts found no merit in the Governor’s legal argument that he was prohibited from disclosing the subpoenas. After almost two years of litigation, the subpoenas were finally mailed to the BGA on December 23, according to the envelope’s postmark.
“It would have been nice if the Governor had displayed a modicum of concern about the public’s right to know and saved the taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorneys fees by complying with our legitimate request in the first place,” continued Stewart. “As a watchdog organization, the BGA and our attorney, Don Craven, thought it appropriate to fight on until the Governor finally capitulated. Perhaps this belated acceptance of reality is a sign of things to come. We renew our call on the governor to do the right thing for the people of Illinois and resign now,” said Stewart.
The BGA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit civic watchdog group. Since 1923 the BGA has combated waste, corruption and inefficiency in state and local government. The BGA is a membership supported organization that relies on private funding for its operations. To learn more about the BGA and how to support it please visit www.bettergov.org/Join.html