Monica Conyers's Lawyer to Be Paid by Taxpayers Despite Husband's $170K Income

Defying all odds, former Detroit City Councilwoman and wife of Rep. John Conyers became even more loathsome this week when it was announced she would be using a taxpayer-funded lawyer to overturn a guilty plea she herself made to cut a deal with the FBI.

Conyers plead guilty to taking bribes in exchange for— I kid you not— a sludge contract with the city. Conyers was a vocal opponent of awarding Synagro Technologies a sludge-hauling deal in Detroit in 2007 before unexpectedly becoming the deciding vote in favor of the contract at the last minute.

After pleading guilty, Conyers had a change of heart. Despite her husband's $170,000 income, she has been declared indigent:

The former Detroit City Council president and wife of U.S. Rep. John Conyers Jr., D-Detroit, needs public assistance in her effort to overturn a deal she made to avoid trial on federal charges related to allegations of city contractor bribes...

"The information available to the judge established an inability to pay for an attorney by Mrs. Conyers," said a statement issued today by the court's media information officer, Rod Hansen. "This information included a detailed description of her financial resources in the presentence investigation report. And that Mrs. Conyers was on her own, so to speak, as to such resources. Further inquiry was not appropriate and would have intruded on private matters."

So, John Conyers won't pony up to defend his piece-of-work bride, and the taxpayers get stuck with the bill. Maybe she called him "Shrek."

Conyers is free on bond until July 1. Presumably, if she's unable to overturn the plea deal, she'll be in jail after that.