Prosecutors had to show that Blagojevich had mentioned the legal bills on the tapes. He did, they said, on Nov. 10, 2008.

"I still have to raise money for lawyers and all of that," the ex-governor said on tape.

With that, Zagel is allowing the fees in: "It's an issue of motive," he said.

Blagojevich put off paying his legal bills for more than a year, prosecutors said yesterday, eventually settling the bill for $750,000. That's because he didn't want to report the payments on campaign contribution statements, witnesses have testified, where such a financial hit would be seen as a political weakness.