Quinn: Blagojevich Will Be Impeached By Lincoln's 200th Birthday

CHICAGO — The lieutenant governor of Illinois said Sunday he is certain scandal-plagued Gov. Rod Blagojevich will be out of office in less than two months.

Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn, speaking from Chicago, said on CBS' "Face the Nation" he believes Blagojevich will be impeached and convicted by the Illinois Legislature by Abraham Lincoln's bicentennial birthday celebration on Feb. 12.

Blagojevich was arrested Dec. 9 on charges alleging he schemed to swap President-elect Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat for profit, shaking down a hospital executive for campaign donations and other wrongdoing. The governor has declared his innocence and says he will fight the charges.

Quinn described Blagojevich as "isolated" in his decision-making and surrounded by a "tight palace guard" that "tells him what he wants to hear and not what he needs to know."

He needs to know "he's disgraced himself, he's disgraced the people of Illinois," Quinn said.

The lieutenant governor said he hasn't spoken to Blagojevich since August 2007.

Quinn would become governor if Blagojevich leaves office. He said he would call for a special election to fill Obama's seat.

The Illinois House committee investigating the possibility of impeachment is scheduled to meet again Monday. The panel rejected a request from the governor's lawyer to subpoena two top advisers to Obama, the committee's chairwoman, Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie, a Chicago Democrat, said Saturday.

If the House approves impeaching Blagojevich, the Senate would hold a trial. It would take a two-thirds vote to remove him from office.

Quinn said Sunday that far more than the required two-thirds of the state's senators are ready to vote for impeachment.

Blagojevich has not given any indication that he will resign. He has been going to work and signing legislation since the charges were announced.

On Sunday, Blagojevich approved $2 million in grants for a statewide program that adds ramps and chair lifts for low-income senior and people with disabilities.

Quinn said Blagojevich's daily routine since the charges has been a "pretense by the governor that he's doing his regular business."

Comments

[BarackstarObama]

I really hope Quinn is correct, Blago must go!!!

[gevan]

Can't wait to see the charges in the bill of impeachment.

[barackobama4prez]

still don't understand why folks aren't protesting him in chicago? public opinion matters if done right.

[vjoseph]

Seriously

[Phynx]

Even if that still is a long way off, I hope that is the case. Every day this epitome of human selfishness stays an elected official is an affront to democracy.