House panel unanimously recommends impeachment

Illinois lawmakers will vote today on whether to impeach Gov. Rod Blagojevich for what a key committee called "a pattern of abuse of power."

"I think that the House will vote in favor of impeachment," predicted House Speaker Michael Madigan, a Chicago Democrat.

In a state that has a long history of corrupt governors, Blagojevich is the first governor to face such a fate.

Thursday's vote by the 21-member impeachment panel to present the case to the full House was unanimous and came after weeks of evidence and witness testimony that spanned the holiday season.

If the House votes in favor of impeachment today, the Senate is set to take up an official impeachment trial later this month. If the Senate convicts Blagojevich - whom the FBI arrested exactly a month ago on sweeping political corruption charges - he could be ousted by early next month.

Howls of condemnation of the two-term governor - "liar" and "thief" - came from lawmakers as they pressed forward to remove him and install Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn. Statements by committee members before the vote were resoundingly critical.

"We have seen a pattern of an abuse of power," said state Rep. Susan Bassi, a Palatine Republican, in recounting the lengthy list of allegations and echoing the panel's official conclusion.

While it was the early-morning arrest of Blagojevich on Dec. 9 that sparked the landslide push toward impeachment, the official charges by lawmakers allege years of failed leadership, reports of corruption and efforts to skirt the state's constitution.

"It has been a long time coming," said State Rep. Jack Franks, a Marengo Democrat and longtime Blagojevich critic.

State Rep. Jim Durkin, a Western Springs Republican who co-chaired the impeachment panel, said Blagojevich had "run amok."

"We are not going to tolerate it here in the state of Illinois," he said.

In fact, Madigan had lawyers looking into impeachment months before Blagojevich's arrest.

Republican party officials said Thursday that Democrats had waited too long and should have opposed Blagojevich for re-election in 2006.

"Blagojevich Democrats have enabled Rod Blagojevich every step of the way for the last six years and are now trying to pretend they had nothing (to do) with the mismanagement of this state," said Illinois Republican Party Chairman Andy McKenna.

Ironically, some of the charges include efforts by the governor over the years to broaden state health-care coverage despite the legislature's refusal to grant him such power.

The governor had hoped to run for president on a record of expanding health care.

But it was the federal charges that stoked the most anger.

Investigators say they caught Blagojevich on wiretaps in the fall plotting to trade an appointment to President-elect Barack Obama's former U.S. Senate seat for a high-paying job, as well as wringing campaign contributions from a racetrack lobbyist, a highway contractor and the CEO of a children's hospital in exchange for state business or grants.

Meanwhile, Blagojevich and his attorneys continue to fight.

Blagojevich has said he is innocent of the charges against him and has refused to step down.

On the impeachment front, Blagojevich is hanging his hopes on the Senate trial, where the chief judge of the Illinois Supreme Court would oversee the proceedings. Blagojevich's attorneys argued he didn't get a fair hearing by House lawmakers on the impeachment panel.

"The governor believes that the impeachment proceedings were flawed, biased and did not follow the rules of law," his spokesman said in a statement to the news media.

The statement said the Senate trial outcome "will be much different."

Blagojevich refused to appear before the impeachment panel.

Meanwhile, Blagojevich lead attorney Ed Genson filed a motion Thursday asking a federal judge to stop an ongoing grand jury investigation of Blagojevich and force the U.S. attorney's local office, led by Patrick Fitzgerald, to recuse themselves.

Genson's motion says Fitzgerald's news conference the day of Blagojevich's arrest was overly prejudicial.

A federal prosecutor called the motion "meritless."

Impeach: GOP says Democrats enabled Blagojevich

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Video</h2> <ul class="video"> <li><a href="javascript:void(window.open('http://video.ap.org/?t=By%20Section/U.S.&g=0108dv_pol_blago_burris&f=ILARL','_blank','width=788,height=598,status=1,scrollbars=1,resizable=1'));">Raw Video: Burris Arrives at Blagojevich Hearing </a></li> </ul> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=263058">Burris denies Blago quid pro quo for Senate seat <span class="date">[01/08/09]</span></a></li> </ul> <h2>Related documents</h2> <ul class="morePdf"> <li><a href="/pdf/burrisaffidavit.pdf">Roland Burris affidavit to impeachment committee </a></li> <li><a href="/pdf/impeachmentreport.pdf">The committee's report </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> <li> <a href="http://www.ilga.gov/house/committees/reports.asp?CommitteeID=758&GA=95">General Assembly's Special Investigative Committee</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.dailyherald.com/js/swfobject/swfobject.js"></script> <div id="flashcontent"> This text is replaced by the Flash movie. </div> <script type="text/javascript"> var so = new SWFObject("/graphics/impeach/dh_impeachday.swf", "dh_impeachday", "250", "482", "8", "#ffffff"); so.addParam("base", "/dev/tbroderick/dh_impeachday/"); so.write("flashcontent"); </script> </div>