Suburban lawmaker says Blago media tour unconvincing

SPRINGFIELD - Since being kicked out of office, Rod Blagojevich may have written a "tell-all" book and been on just about every talk show the cable TV spectrum offers, but one suburban lawmaker who helped oust the former governor says he's yet to hear anything that would make him question his vote.

"Absolutely not," said state Sen. John Millner, a Carol Stream Republican. Millner and his Senate colleagues unanimously voted in January to remove Blagojevich from office and bar him from ever holding elected office again in the state.

The impeachment and removal followed Blagojevich's late 2008 arrest on federal charges he tried to profit from his ability to name the successor to Barack Obama's U.S. Senate seat. While the arrest prompted the impeachment trial, the final charge against Blagojevich was a sweeping abuse of power allegation that included shaking down a children's hospital for campaign cash and ignoring state laws in adding people to state-run health care programs.

Millner was asked about the impeachment during a meeting Thursday with Daily Herald editors. Millner, a former suburban police chief joined the General Assembly in 2003, the same year Blagojevich started as governor.

Millner acknowledged he's not read the book, mostly because he doesn't want to give Blagojevich any money by buying it.

And he said the motivations behind Blagojevich's media onslaught since leaving office are pretty clear.

"I know what he's doing. He just needs one vote on the jury. He has to get out there and do his part," Millner said. "He knows he's guilty, but he does not want to face a lengthy prison term and so he's going to do whatever he can."

An e-mail seeking response from Blagojevich's publicist was not returned Thursday. The former governor is currently awaiting trial on the federal charges.