Blagojevich's legal team bails on impeachment

To protest what they call a "lynching," members of Gov. Rod Blagojevich's high-profile defense team say they will not represent the governor during his upcoming impeachment trial.

The move is aimed at undercutting the legitimacy of the trial, which is set to start in the state Senate on Jan. 26 and expected to end in early February with the governor's ouster.

Ed Genson, Blagojevich's lead criminal defense attorney, said Friday he will not represent the embattled governor at the trial, though he will continue as the governor's criminal defense attorney. Genson told ABC 7 "the process in the Senate is skewed... We can't get a meaningful hearing."

Meanwhile, Sam Adam Jr., who helped represent the governor with Genson before a state House impeachment panel earlier this month, said he was withdrawing as well.

"We cannot and will not degrade our client, ourselves, our oaths and our profession, as well as the office of the governor, by participating in a Potemkin-like lynching proceeding, thus making it appear that the governor is represented by competent counsel when in fact he is not," he said in a statement with his father, also an attorney, according to media reports quoted by the Associated Press.

Blagojevich's spokesman declined to comment.

The governor has argued that the impeachment process has not been fair, denying him due process and other constitutional rights. This is the first time in Illinois history a governor has faced impeachment.

However, legal experts and lawmakers say the state Constitution gives broad power to the legislature when it comes to impeachment. Rights that apply in criminal court, such as a standard of proof and evidence procedures, don't have to apply to impeachment proceedings, they said.

That is because the governor's freedom is not at stake, only his job.

The state Constitution requires 40 votes in the 59-member state Senate to remove the governor from office. The trial will be overseen by the chief of the Illinois Supreme Court.

Genson said he will stay on as the governor's criminal defense lawyer. Blagojevich was arrested Dec. 9 for allegedly trying to trade state business, including an appointment to the U.S. Senate, for personal gain. Federal prosecutors say they have tape recordings as evidence and that the investigation is ongoing.