Under mounting public criticism and pressure to end his conflict of interest involving two bodybuilding magazines, Gov. Schwarzenegger Friday afternoon announced he would cancel his contract with American Media, Inc.
Dan Weintraub’s blog has the Governor’s statement and notes that Schwarzenegger intends to keep the money he has collected so far from the company, which is estimated to be about $1.5 million.
So it is clear that this story is far from over, particularly since the Legislature is out of session and it is unlikely that the press will be focused on anything else for the next week or so. At the very least, Schwarzenegger still needs to explain his veto of Sen. Speier’s bill last year in this new and interesting context. And if he isn’t giving the money back, doesn’t he still have a conflict of interest problem?
The good folks over at Arnold Watch have laid out a course of action that involves revisiting the Speier law immediately, and calls for the Legislature to get involved if necessary.
Schwarzenegger may be getting some of the backlask that has whipped through the journalism community as a result of the Rove scandal currently embroiling the White House. The political press is simply in no mood to be lied to right now.