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| Ill. panel nears decision on Blagojevich impeachment |
| 2009-01-08 |
| CHICAGO — An Illinois House committee might decide as soon as Thursday whether to recommend the impeachment of Gov. Rod Blagojevich, says Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie, the panel's chairperson. "The House might act soon after that," Currie, a Democrat, said in an interview Wednesday. If the full House votes to impeach, the Illinois Senate would hold a trial to decide whether Blagojevich should be removed from office. Blagojevich was arrested Dec. 9 on federal bribery and conspiracy charges. He was accused of trying to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama. Roland Burris, who was appointed to the seat by Blagojevich on Dec. 30, is scheduled to appear before the committee today. State Rep. Jim Durkin, the panel's Republican spokesman, said in an interview that he wants to explore the circumstances of Burris' appointment. Burris and Blagojevich are Democrats. "This appointment is tainted," Durkin said. "It's our duty to the people of the state to investigate the circumstances." Burris submitted an affidavit to the committee this week saying he was approached by one of Blagojevich's lawyers on Dec. 26 about taking the Senate post and accepted two days later in a phone call with the governor. Currie said Burris' testimony is not vital to the committee's conclusions about Blagojevich's conduct. "The affidavit says nothing of value exchanged hands," Currie said. Because Burris was appointed after the governor's arrest, she said, "you'd have to be nuts to think that any quids or quos were offered." The timetable for a vote might be affected by a court hearing Thursday on the release of four tape-recorded conversations in which Blagojevich allegedly said he would not sign a bill benefiting the horse-racing industry unless he received $100,000 in campaign contributions. U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald asked Chief U.S. District Judge James Holderman to release the discussions, which were captured by federal wiretaps, to the impeachment committee. If it appears that there will be a long legal fight over the tapes, Currie said, the committee might decide "that we have enough to go forward without them." Durkin said the tapes will be key if there is a Senate trial. "It is a continuing duty upon us to pursue the tapes," he said. "I want the best evidence." On Wednesday, the committee discussed a previously confidential 2004 report by the governor's inspector general outlining alleged hiring irregularities by Blagojevich's administration. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #1 They're in the "haw" stage of hemming and hawing. |
| Posted by: mojo 2009-01-08 16:13 |