A lawyer for embattled former governor Rod Blagojevich has quit the defense team.
Allan Ackerman has asked to withdraw from the case, after just a few months on the job.
Ackerman, who made a name for himself defending reputed mob hit man Harry Aleman, among other mob-types, came on board the Blago team in August to help with discovery documents and to sort through hundreds of hours of secretly taped conversations recorded by the feds.
There was no reason given for why Ackerman stepped down, but sources told the Chicago Tribune that Ackerman was at loggerheads with the rest of the legal team over the defense strategy.
The Tribune reports that Michael Gillespie, the son of veteran lawyer Terrence Gillespie, may replace him.
Meanwhile, the writer who put quoted Blagojevich as saying he was "blacker than Barack Obama" says he feels sorry for embarrassing the guy --- if that's possible.
Esquire writer Scott Raab told the Sun-Times' Michael Sneed that he thought Blago was a nice guy who didn't need the extra headache.
Blago said he was "stupid, stupid, stupid," for uttering the quip.
