Should the House explore impeachment?

SPRINGFIELD - State lawmakers voted Monday to begin an investigation of whether Gov. Rod Blagojevich should be removed from office while the embattled governor hired a high-profile defense attorney and continued signing laws.

This morning, a select Illinois House panel starts the impeachment process and plans to continue meeting daily to make the case against the governor with breaks only for the holidays.

Committee proceedings can be watched online at www.ilga.gov

But the work is expected to take weeks, and those involved said the governor's rights would be honored despite the growing sentiment that he should leave office now.

"We're not going to trample anybody's constitutional rights in the process," said House Speaker Michael Madigan, a Chicago Democrat who co-chaired the governor's 2006 re-election bid but has continually been at odds with Blagojevich.

The impeachment panel, approved 113-0, will have subpoena power and plans to seek the cooperation of the U.S. attorney in providing evidence and witnesses related to charges against Blagojevich. The second-term Chicago Democrat and his chief of staff were arrested by federal authorities last week on corruption charges including trying to sell off President-elect Barack Obama's Senate seat for Blagojevich's personal and political gain.

A spokesman for the U.S. attorney had no comment on the impeachment investigation.

McHenry County Democratic state Rep. Jack Franks, a flamboyant critic of the governor, is among the 12 Democrats named to the impeachment panel. Palatine Republican Suzie Bassi is among the nine GOP members.

Meanwhile, Chicago defense attorney Ed Genson, who successfully defended singer R. Kelly on child pornography charges, said Monday he is taking the governor's case and declared Blagojevich is "not stepping aside."

"He hasn't done anything wrong," he said.

Genson immediately tried to blame the media for the governor's problems.

"The case is not what it seems. And when it comes to pass you'll see that it's not what it seems and you'll find that he's not guilty," Genson told reporters who waited outside his office late Monday after Blagojevich left with his wife.

But those standing up for the governor remain few. Two members of his inner circle, including chief of staff John Harris, who was arrested with the governor, have resigned.

And in responding to reports that top staffers have been drafting letters of resignation, spokesman Lucio Guerrero conceded, "there is a lot of stress on the staff during this time and I'd imagine a lot of people are thinking about their futures."

But he emphasized the need for the state to keep running under Blagojevich, which is what he contends the governor has tried to facilitate by showing up to his downtown office since his arrest last week.

"What's important, however, is that we (the staff) try to keep things running smoothly and make sure that those who depend on us for service continue to get those services," Guerrero said.

To that effect, Blagojevich acted on several proposed laws sent to his desk, raising vehicle registration fees by $1 to finance new state police vehicles and extending a tax credit for film companies that shoot in Illinois. But he rejected an economic development deal Hoffman Estates officials sought in an effort to lure a hotel.

The governor even signed into law a measure that funnels riverboat casino taxes to racetracks such as Arlington Park that's a central focus of the federal charges against him. He is accused of strong-arming a racetrack industry insider into providing campaign cash for his approval of the legislation.

As for the impeachment investigation, this is new territory for Illinois politics. The state constitution provides for impeachment but offers few specifics on how to proceed.

"You can impeach on the basis of anything. You can impeach because you don't like the way he combs his hair," said state Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie, a Chicago Democrat who'll head the investigation and promised a thorough and fair process.

Her panel is responsible for compiling an impeachment report that will then go to the full Illinois House for a vote on whether to send the case on to the state Senate for a full-blown trial and potential vote to kick the governor out of office.

However, lawmakers did not take action on stripping Blagojevich of his ability to name the next U.S. senator, which is what many members thought they'd been brought back to the Capitol to do.

House Republicans bristled at the lack of action, saying Democrats feared losing the seat to GOP hands and would rather leave it open until Blagojevich is removed from office and Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn, a Democrat, takes over.

Democrats denied such motivations, arguing they weren't going to change laws that work just because of this governor.

• Daily Herald news services and staff writer Nicole Milstead contributed to this report.

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