Judge: Move to oust Ryan campaign’s lawyers 'very strong'

From The Chicago Tribune:

Judge: Move to oust Ryan campaign’s lawyers 'very strong'

By Mike Robinson
Associated Press Writer
Published April 23, 2002, 11:49 AM CDT

A federal judge in Chicago today said she thinks prosecutors have a ``very strong’’ case in trying to force the replacement of the Chicago law firm representing Gov. George Ryan’s campaign fund in a racketeering case.

U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer made the statement at a hearing as attorneys for the firm of Altheimer & Gray tried to get copies of grand jury testimony by three current and former clients. They hope to use the testimony to bolster their efforts to stay on the case.

``I think the government’s motion is very strong,’’ Pallmeyer told attorneys for the firm, which has represented dozens of Ryan campaign workers and state employees involved in the bribes-for-licenses scandal.

But she also said she didn’t want to deliver a ruling based on material that Altheimer & Gray attorneys were given no chance to see.

Prosecutors say Altheimer & Gray has represented so many individuals involved in the scandal that it would be awash in conflicts of interest if Citizens for Ryan went to trial on racketeering charges.

Forty-eight individuals have been charged in the 4-year-old scandal that began as a federal investigation into bribes paid in exchange for Illinois drivers licenses when Ryan was secretary of state. Thirty-nine have pleaded guilty; three have been convicted following trials. Six cases are pending. Ryan has been accused of no wrongdoing, although he declined to run for a second four-year term as governor.

But Ryan’s campaign has been charged along with campaign manager Scott Fawell in a federal racketeering indictment that says they secretly used state employees and public money to do political work.

Altheimer & Gray has until next Monday to answer the government’s motion to disqualify it as counsel for Citizens for Ryan. In preparation for its brief, the firm sought transcripts of testimony by three individuals named only as Witnesses A, B and C.

Prosecutors said all three had been represented at one time or another by the law firm.

All three would be government witnesses if a trial were held in the case, the prosecutors also said. Among other things, prosecutors told Pallmeyer that Witness C is an Altheimer & Gray employee.

Prosecutors also said the law firm already has the portions of the grand jury testimony that involve potential conflicts of interest. But they said a substantial portion of Witness A’s testimony would tip off the firm to an ongoing investigation.

Pallmeyer said prosecutors could either withdraw from their motion the portions of the testimony that Altheimer & Gray hasn’t seen or provide the law firm with transcripts in which parts that must remain secret are redacted, or blocked out.