One would have to assume that this can't be good for Vince Fumo:

n a surprising move, Richard A. Sprague and his firm asked today for permission to withdraw as lawyers for indicted state Sen. Vincent J. Fumo.

The request comes just three weeks after U.S. District Judge William Yohn ruled that Sprague and his firm, Sprague & Sprague, can represent Fumo, despite conflicts of interests alleged by prosecutors, as long as Fumo waives and acknowledges any such conflicts in court. Yohn had set such a hearing for later this month.

Instead, Sprague and colleagues Mark Sheppard and Geoffrey Johnson filed a motion this morning, seeking to withdraw.

Withdrawing from a case is pretty unusual. Not that it doesn't happen, but, considering that these guys were just fighting the government's request to remove them as Fumo's lawyers, this is pretty weird. I have no idea why (and as the article notes, we will probably never know), but Sprague is a Philly super-lawyer, feared by many. Losing him has to hurt.

That said, not to go down this road again, but if Vince did everything that was alleged and is convicted, we will both likely have justice served, and lose quite a lot of clout and state resources coming from from Harrisburg, especially when Rendell hits the road too.