A panel for the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission heard arguments Tuesday over whether the law license for former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich should be revoked.
The closed-door meeting of the three-member panel heard arguments on both sides of the issue. Blagojevich’s lawyer Sheldon Sorosky appeared at the hearing on the former governor’s behalf,
The attorney representing the ARDC, Christopher Heredia, argued that Blagojevich should be disbarred, as the former governor has shown no remorse for the actions that led to his conviction on corruption charges.
“All he cared about was what he needed for himself,” Heredia argued. “He’s not sorry about what he did.”
Sorosky disagrees, echoing the former governor’s arguments that he was the victim of a political witch hunt and that he did nothing wrong.
“All the things he was asked to do were legal,” he said. “President (Barack) Obama asked him to appoint Valerie Jarrett. Children’s Memorial Hospital asked him to contribute $10 million in state money to pay doctors. Those are all legal requests.”
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The former governor did not attend Tuesday’s hearing, and said he wasn’t interested in fighting to keep his law license if it meant making a “dishonest” acknowledgement of wrongdoing.
“They should investigate the investigators,” he said in an interview with NBC 5. “If they look superficially at the unlawful jury instructions that were used to convict an innocent man, then I think they will disbar those people who did that.”
The ARDC could take up to 60 days before making a final determination about the former governor’s law license. Ultimately it will be the Illinois Supreme Court that will decide whether Blagojevich is disbarred.
