UPDATE 1/8 9:30 A.M.
The Illinois House committee studying impeachment of Gov. Blagojevich has released a draft of its report that calls for the full chamber to vote on whether to impeach him.
From the AP:
The impeachment committee could vote to accept the report this afternoon. That would probably be followed by a full House vote on the issue on Friday.
No Illinois governor has ever been impeached.
The draft report was released Thursday morning by the impeachment review committee.
It doesn't include a formal article of impeachment laying out the charges against Blagojevich. That could be written separately.
But the report does conclude there's cause to believe the Democratic governor abused his power and engaged in pay-to-play politics.
Blagojevich has denied any wrongdoing.
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CBS 2's Jay Levine reports that the House panel studying the impeachment of Gov. Blagojevich is on the verge of finishing its work and the majority of its report is already complete. Thursday's testimony from Blagojevich Senate appointee Roland Burris is the committee's last big event, Levine reports.
The panel's report, which will likely be expanded beyond the existing 54 pages, is divided evenly between the new allegations contained in the U.S. Attorney's criminal complaint and older legislative complaints against the governor.
At the core of those older complaints are questions about the Blagojevich administration's hiring practices, the Tribune reports:
At the heart of the impeachment committee's look at hiring irregularities is a confidential 2004 report by the governor's handpicked executive inspector general, said House Majority Leader Barbara Currie (D-Chicago), the panel's chairwoman.
The report, which the Tribune disclosed as Blagojevich ran for re-election in 2006, concluded that his patronage office was the "real machine driving hiring" in a state agency for jobs that were supposed to be free of political influence.
"This effort reflects not merely an ignorance of the law, but complete and utter contempt for the law," according to the report written by Zaldwaynaka Scott, who was Blagojevich's first executive inspector general.
The Tribune reaffirmed reports from last week that the governor could be impeached by the end of the week.
Watch CBS video on the impeachment report: