Blagojevich attorney: No reason to impeach

SPRINGFIELD - Denied in his attempts to subpoena key Obama insiders, Gov. Rod Blagojevich's attorney called no witnesses Monday to defend the governor and instead used his closing statements to lambaste lawmakers' impeachment investigation as bogus, biased and possibly illegal.

"We are fighting shadows and that's not right," defense lawyer Ed Genson said, complaining that the governor has been denied legal due process, that the evidence against him is premature at best and that many lawmakers already made up their minds.

But that impeachment process is, at least for now, on hold as lawmakers wait to hear whether a federal judge will give them access to audiotapes of federal wiretaps that allegedly caught the governor shaking down businesses for campaign cash, an allegation the governor and his attorneys deny.

That request goes before a federal judge next Monday. It's uncertain when a decision would be made or how soon lawmakers would get the tapes if permission is granted.

The tapes would add newfound celebrity to impeachment hearings that began with national media coverage of titillating allegations that the governor tried auctioning off President-elect Barack Obama's U.S. Senate seat for personal gain and strong-arming the Chicago Tribune to fire writers if the paper's parent company wanted state help selling Wrigley Field.

Proceedings, however, quickly turned to comparatively staid charges that Blagojevich abused his power and skirted constitutional responsibilities in spending millions in taxpayer money, charges lawmakers already were pondering before the governor's Dec. 9 arrest.

That arrest was secured thanks to profanity-laced excerpts of conversations federal agents caught through wiretaps at the governor's house and political office. Genson argues the tapes reveal no wrongdoing, just a lot of "talk."

"There's nothing in those tapes that says he did anything," said Genson.

Lawmakers in charge of the impeachment investigation adjourned until they get word on the tapes. Chairwoman Barbara Flynn Currie said the timetable for an impeachment report is now uncertain. Before Monday's wiretap tape news, she'd said a report could come as soon as next week.

Meanwhile, in making what could end up being closing arguments to the impeachment panel, Genson argued that if the circumstances surrounding Blagojevich's arrest are stripped away, the impeachment case boils down to a dispute over health-care policy and an ongoing political and personality clash with lawmakers, neither of which rises to an impeachable offense.

"Rod Blagojevich was elected by the people of Illinois," Genson told members of the impeachment investigation panel.

Blagojevich's attorneys wanted to call Obama confidant Valerie Jarrett to testify along with incoming Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. and a Tribune employee. Genson said he expected all would say that there was no quid pro quo.

U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald asked lawmakers not to call those people and others who may be part of federal criminal case against the governor. The members of the impeachment investigation have said they'll honor Fitzgerald's wishes and did not want to "undercut" the federal case.

Genson called Fitzgerald's view "inappropriate" and renewed his request that lawmakers issue subpoenas. At the same time, he said Blagojevich would not address the impeachment panel, something some members said they'll hold against the governor.

The governor's already paltry poll numbers have plummeted to single digits since the arrest. Even Genson acknowledged that lawmakers are under pressure "to do something" because of public outrage.

"What you have to do is follow the law, which is sometimes the hardest thing to do in the light of bad publicity," Genson said.

Asked afterward if she bought any of Genson's defense, impeachment Chairwoman Currie said, "no."

Still, she and others say they've not decided whether to recommend impeachment.

This is all new ground for Illinois. No governor has ever been impeached and the state constitution offers nothing but procedural guidelines for how to do it or on what grounds. If 60 of 118 House members support impeachment, the case goes to the 59-member Illinois Senate for a trial, over which the chief justice of the Illinois Supreme Court would preside. It would take 40 votes in the Senate to remove the governor.

Although he has no role in the process, Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn recently predicted the governor would be removed by early February. In that case, Quinn would become governor.

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=260976">Blago impeachment inquiry shifts to contracts, policies <span class="date">[12/29/08]</span></a></li> </ul> <h2>Related links</h2> <ul class="moreWeb"> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/packages/2008/blagojevich/">Daily Herald's complete Blagojevich coverage</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>