CINCINNATI (WKRC) — Hamilton County Prosecutor Connie Pillich Friday doubled down on her decision to dismiss the county’s long-standing legal firm, Frost Brown Todd, from negotiations with the Bengals and the Reds, and that the Bengals have not been negotiating in good faith.

Pillich got county commissioners to fire Frost Brown in a surprise move on Thursday, opting instead to hire two other high-powered firms. This decision comes just weeks before the Bengals must decide whether to extend their current lease by two years or let it expire in June 2026.

Pillich accused the Bengals of not negotiating in good faith with the county’s lead consultant Thursday.

“I don’t see the Bengals coming faithfully to the negotiating table,” she said then.

While appearing on Bill Cunningham’s 700 WLW show on Friday, Pillich addressed claims made by the Bengals regarding the county’s consultant, with the team alleging conflict of interest because his firm also works with the Cleveland Browns on that team’s attempt to get a new stadium.

“So for the Bengals to come out and start complaining months later is a little disingenuous to me. And they have no, absolutely no business telling us who we can have on our negotiating team. I would never tell them who they can have on theirs,” Pillich said.

Bengals lead lawyer Aaron Herzig, while declining to be recorded, stated that the team has made several offers dating back to last year and even reached a memorandum of understanding earlier this year, saying that is a sign the Bengals are negotiating in good faith.

As to whether it could hold up a deal before the June 30 deadline?

“This to us feels like a step backwards,” Herzig said. “It’s too soon to tell but it certainly feels like a new complication.”

In a release Friday afternoon, Pillich emphasized the county’s commitment to reaching an agreement.

“Our interest is in what the team says at the negotiating table, not in the media. The county remains fully committed to reaching an agreement that benefits the team and taxpayers,” she said.

The Bengals’ lease for Paycor Stadium expires next summer, but the team can extend the current deal for two years, with the deadline for that decision coming on June 30.

Then-Paul Brown Stadium opened up in august of 2000 at an initial cost of $455 million. Most of that was paid with an additional half-cent of sales tax approved by county voters for both Paul Brown and Great American Ball Park.

The stadium currently seats more than 65,000, and the team sold the naming rights to Paycor in 2022.