Blagojevich Could Be Impeached Next Week

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The Illinois House could vote as early as next week on whether to impeach Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

The Illinois House has bumped up its schedule and will meet several days next week. They had been set to reconvene on Jan. 12.

A spokesman for House Speaker Michael Madigan says the chamber may vote on a recommendation from the special committee studying whether Blagojevich should be impeached.

It would take a simple majority vote for the House to impeach _ which basically means accusing him of misconduct.

Then the state Senate would hold a trial to determine if the governor is guilty. A conviction there requires a two-thirds majority.

Blagojevich was arrested Dec. 9 on charges alleging he schemed to swap President-elect Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat for profit.

Comments

[Oonagh]

Impeach this man.... get on with it.... enough already.

[Amennyc]

Yet Bush was never considered for impeachment. USA sux.

[diogenes1967]

Illinois politics is never dull, I'll say that.

I am still wondering what Milosevic passed on to Rod when Rod, JJSr., and Milosevic prayed together during the war in Kosovo. I have run out of rational explanations of the unmitigated gall of this man.

It never fails to amaze me how weird Illinois politics is. In 1998, the Republican runs to the left of the Democrat and wins. Blago actually ran to the left of Burris in 2002.

[totaldisbelief]

screw spending millions on this a-hole...j­ust hang him....Cri­me: violation of the public trust.

[PuddingPop]

please. people living in glass states (and a glass country for that matter) shouldn't throw stones.

[Paulav]

Get rid of this guy now before he does more harm. Deal with the rest later.

[TallyLass]

His move to select Burris to fill O. seat, wasn't that smart after all. It just made the powers that be work faster, harder to impeach him. And then trying to make Burris' selection be about race. And then they didn't get the righteous indignation from blacks, Hmmmm. Black people are smarter than these thugs thought.

[lynettema]

Here, here.

[bitterindependent]

tha brothas and sistas ain't fallin for that ish....and burris should have turned down the position in order to keep his integrity.­.....now he looks like the run of the mill over-ambitious politician with a soul ready for the auction!!!

[maikonen]

While these are busy looking into Blago's impeachment, are there any plans to impreach the architects of the country's current predicament? Hope so. They were willing to drag Bill Clinton through the process, when there was no loss of life as a result of his gallivanting and telling tall tales.

[schicklett3]

Go directly to jail - do not pass go - do not collect $200.00.
Bye-Bye to another corrupt politician­....

[rhondadavis28]

well said

[Palemoon]

So when is Fitzgerald the Neocon coming down to Georgia to investigate our criminal Governor? Sonny Perdue makes Blagojevich look like FDR.

Perdue has violated both State and Federal law on numerous occasions, he's routinely piloted aircraft without liscense in violation of federal FAA regulations and laws. He violated federal and state IRS tax laws in at least 2 of his little known land deals. He has passed at least 2 laws in full violation of the federal ex post facto law written into the US Constitution. He has also skirted export laws in the past, which violated not only federal, but international law. And he, like Bush, has repealed habeus corpus here in Georgia. I am a victim of that, having been accused of a violation of the law by the DMV, but I was prevented by the State government from presenting my case.

[HumeSkeptic]

Going by the record of Patrick Fitzgerald, since he arrested Blagojevich, he has an airtight case. According to those who know Fitzgeral, when he pulls the trigger, bullseye becomes a hole.

There should be little doubt in anyone's mind that Blago is a crook, even under the unlikely scenario that he would not be convicted.

For his own reputation, and to avoid embarrassment for Democrats, Burris should withdraw his name.

[chucky6]

Heh, Heh, Blago pulled a fast one; what the hell did they expect; contrition?

[Butquestioning]

So the botched job at finding the person responsible for outing a CIA operative was what you call Air-tight? Sorry but he ended up with nothing and the CIA leaker is still free!!

Madigan has been after Blagojevich for years and his daughter wants to be Gov. I think Fitzgerald is using Madigan's vendetta against Blago for his own purposes - to stay in his US Attorney position. What would people say if Obama removed the guy investigating the Illinois Gov? Its a bad game they are playing on the people of Illinois and the Democrats in particular!!!

[kellygrrrl]

Burris already blew it, IMO

[anopenmind]

I agree! Burris should withdraw his name for the good of the Country and the Citizens of Chicago!! I have no respect for Burris for accepting, it's shameful, what a Loser!

Rep. Danny Davis deserves credit for turning it Down!!!

[diogenes1967]

OK, I will say this slow so you can get some comprehens­ion...unle­ss this a right wing talking point.

Illinois is a state located in the Great Lakes section of the United States of America. It toal population of 12,852,548 making it the the 5th most populous state in the Union with 102 counties.

Chicago is the largest city in the state of Illinois which is located in the county of Cook. Close to 2.9 million people live in Chicago. The city of Chicago has the distinction of being the home of President-Elect Barack Obama and will be the site of the 2016 Olympics.

Got it?

[lynettema]

Too bad he didn't pull the trigger on Cheney and Rove when he had the chance.

[gmmonko]

Impeached, perhaps. Indicted - no chance. This system of replacing representatives needs to be changed: elections.

[lynettema]

The Democrats won this seat (Obama's Senate seat). The Democrats have the right to hold it until the term is up. Therefore, appointment versus election. Besides elections are very expensive. I am sure there are some rich Republicans that would pay for a special election. The same rules would hold true if this seat belonged to Republicans.

[iblog]

Excellent excellent points!

[SF13]

Fitzgerald needs to go ! After several years of investigating Blago there either IS a case or there is NOT. After Fitz's flamboyant press conference and arrest of Blago ... why the H does he need another 3 months on a case he's been working on for years ?

Meantime, 57 senators in the Senate is NOT ENOUGH TO PASS OBAMA's agenda

[chucky6]

Oh yes it is or we'll hit the streets; Enough Bullshit

[Rainman]

Nobody has been found guilty of ANY crime yet.
An arrest has been made based on internal conversati­ons.....if anyone had taped any of the conversations that go on in the white house the same would have been noticed...­How else do you explain the gross incompetence in New Orleans, the Bail Out etc?

Just like California every state needs a recall provision rather than this irrational and absurd process of making the morally corrupt House and Senate impeach another ethically challenged clown....

Thanks for the entertainment ILLINOIS

[lynettema]

imo, Fitzgerald could be dragging this out for the GOP. The GOPPers think they have a real winner here in this case against Blago..

[tombot]

Impeachment is a political process. The Senate dems unanimously condemned Blogo the day after he was accused. Can you think of any case where all the evidence is out after only one day? So obviously enormous pressure was put on the dems to do that. The same people who got the dems to condemn one of their own after Bush's stooge Fitzgerald arrested him, are the same people who got the dems to hand them 1/2 trillion of our tax dollars with no strings attached. Remember, Blogo attacked Bank of America just 24 hours before he was arrested. He told Bank of America they could no longer do business in his state if they didn't help some poor lay'd off workers. If you want to know who owns our government, look no further than the bankers.

[fusionfan]

Actually, I think a much bigger threat to our democracy than the garden variety minor corruption (of which Ryan, and perhaps Blago) have been guilty of, is the wiretapping of elected officials by federal prosecutors, many of whom have been politically appointed and have an agenda directing them with regard to whom to investigate and prosecute. This type of prosecutorial power can be easily misused.

Ryan did nothing that was that bad, and the family that died in the expressway accident died not because an improperly certified truck driver was driving badly, but because a piece of junk fell off of his truck and pierced the following van's gas tank. It could of happened to a driver with the proper certification.

With regard to Blago, so far, it's just talk of requesting favors, and wanting favors in return for an appointment. How do most of our ambassadors get appointed?

All the meanwhile the real criminals, who steal billions, if not trillions, from the U.S. taxpayer, who profit from unnecessary and immoral wars, or who are responsible for the death of 1,000,000 Iraqis, go unpunished and unexamined.

[Elderlady]

This man has been under investigation for what...... three years.

Super prosecutor has yet to take a case to the Grand Jury.

After all, if a prosecutor holds a news conference, arrests somebody, they have to be guilty --- right???

Initially Blagojevich looked petty. Now the Illinois State Legislature looks petty. One Madigan (Attorney General) tried to have him removed --- stating he was not fit to serve. Courts threw that out.

Now another Madigan is started an impeachment process.

This doesn't reflect well on anybody in Illinois politics.

Burris is beginning to look like a Saint.

[diogenes1967]

Ah yes, Illinois politics..­..

[Palemoon]

Thank you for bringing alot of this to people's attention. As I have said before, this is nothing but a Republican political hitjob meant to suckerpunch Obama before he ever takes office.

The so-called press conference that Fitzgerald & Co gave was shameful, if not outright disgraceful to the justice system. Where else have you heard grown, educated men acting like kindergarteners, or behaving as if they were wrestlers on WWE??

And the one guy, going well out of his way and jurisdiction to slander everyone in Illinois by saying that if it wasn't the most corrupt State in the Nation, then it was one of the most corrupt.

That is unbelievable. Completely irresponsible and not even the majority of Bush's public statements haven't been that idiotic. And what's more, he presented absolutely no evidence to support his accusation.

I think Georgia, Texas, New York and Louisiana are possibly the most corrupt States in the Union. I mean, just look at what they produce.

[kellygrrrl]

personally, I'm thinking Burris looks like a fool. But that's just my opinion

[Mellenbal]

[Burris is beginning to look like a Saint.]

Well, he's already got the monument to himself built.