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| Blagojevich to appear before Illinois Senate |
| 2009-01-29 |
| Reporting from Springfield, Ill. -- Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich will come to Springfield to make the closing argument in his impeachment trial Thursday, state Senate President John J. Cullerton said. Blagojevich, who has boycotted the impeachment trial so far, will not take questions from senators, Cullerton said. Cullerton broke the news to the Senate as he was going over scheduling. The Senate had been expecting final witnesses today and a single closing argument Thursday morning from House prosecutor David Ellis. Now, they expect the governor to appear before the Senate. Under the trial rules, he has to ask for permission to speak. It's a motion the Senate is expected to approve. "I've been informed that the governor would like to come here tomorrow," Cullerton told the Senate. "We would have to give him permission to do that -- I would urge us all to give him that leave so he can argue as his own attorney." Blagojevich spokeswoman Katie Ridgway said she "can confirm the governor will be down in Springfield to speak before the Senate" to make the closing argument. The announcement came several hours after Cullerton challenged Blagojevich to stop giving national television interviews and to take questions directly from lawmakers at his impeachment trial. In "hiding out in New York and having Larry King asking questions instead of the senators, I think he's making a mistake," Cullerton said outside Senate chambers. "He should come here and answer the questions and provide the context that he claims these statements are being taken out of." Cullerton also took issue with Blagojevich's complaints that the trial is unfairly stacked against him. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #4 Typo - primary. |
| Posted by: Halliburton - Mysterious Conspiracy Division 2009-01-29 22:34 |
| #3 Kass is a promary source, but don't forget Kjellander - the RNC member from the state. He's a friend of Rove and thoroughly enmeshed with the bi-partisan machine here. |
| Posted by: Halliburton - Mysterious Conspiracy Division 2009-01-29 22:34 |
| #2 Actually, BP, everybody knows Blago's a Democrat. The crook that Obama named for Sec'y of Transportation is a sort of Republican. In Chicago, the crooks are the Daley Machine, which is Democrat; Downstate the crooks are the Republican Combine (I don't know if "Combine" is a common term or a John Kass coinage). They all come from the same cesspool. Party titles are for convenience only. For your edification and entertainment, here is a link to John Kass's column. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists |
| Posted by: mom 2009-01-29 14:21 |
| #1 Play the guess the Party game |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles the flatulent 2009-01-29 14:09 |