Illinois House votes to impeach Gov. Blagojevich
SPRINGFIELD — On what would have been Richard Nixon’s 95th birthday, the Illinois House voted 114-1 today to impeach Gov. Blagojevich, making him the first chief executive in the state’s 190-year history to face such an action.
(AP)
PHOTO GALLERY
• Blago's greatest hits
• Milton Patterson casts lone vote against impeachment
The state Constitution lays out a format for the Legislature to remove statewide officeholders and judges but doesn't provide any road map on what exactly is an impeachable offense.
THE PROCESS: The House has sole power to determine if there is cause for impeachment. A majority of House members -- 60 of the 118 members -- must agree to impeach. That's similar to a criminal indictment: It sets out charges but isn't a conviction. Then, the Senate holds a trial presided over by the Illinois Supreme Court's chief justice. Two-thirds of the Senate -- 40 senators -- must agree to convict.
THE CONSEQUENCES: An officeholder convicted of one or more "articles of impeachment" is removed from office and disqualified to hold any other public office in the state.
STANDARDS TO IMPEACH: The Illinois Constitution is vague on this. It says the House must determine "cause for impeachment" but doesn't define what constitutes such cause. For the Senate to convict, senators must "do justice according to law." In contrast, Congress can remove the president, vice president and "all civil officers" for "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors."
OTHER BURDENS OF PROOF: In civil courts, plaintiffs suing another party must prove their case by a "preponderance of evidence." In criminal trials, prosecutors must prove guilt "beyond a reasonable doubt."
SOURCES: Illinois Constitution; U.S. Constitution; Legislative Research Unit
“We wanted him. We elected him. We supported him. And he’s disgraced us,” said Rep. Monique Davis (D-Chicago).
Blagojevich’s political fate will be decided by the state Senate in a trial set to begin Jan. 26. If 40 of 59 senators vote to convict Blagojevich, he will be removed from office and barred from holding elected position again.
For nearly 90 minutes, House members solemnly laid out a list of transgressions by Blagojevich that they said warranted his impeachment — from his alleged offer to sell the state’s vacant U.S. Senate seat to the highest bidder, to his alleged extortion of a children’s hospital for a campaign contribution from its CEO, to his $2.6 million expenditure for imported flu vaccines that never reached Illinois and had to be thrown out.
“Today, we are taking the first step in taking back our government from the darkness and bringing it back to the light. The plague — it is a plague that has been brought on our state by Rod Blagojevich — will be lifted. This is a new day, a better day,” said Rep. Jack Franks (D-Woodstock).
Republicans, for the most part, were subdued during debate as only House Minority Leader Tom Cross (R-Oswego) and Rep. Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) spoke in favor of the governor’s impeachment.
“That trust he was given by being elected twice has eroded, evaporated, is completely gone,” Cross said. “He’s failed in his responsibility as governor.”
The governor, donning a black jogging suit, ignored the litany of complaints against his performance and his character, opting to go for a jog in his Northwest Side neighborhood as the House prepared to vote to impeach him.
“He went out for a run,” Blagojevich spokesman Lucio Guererro said. “He knew it was a foregone conclusion. There was no drama. They decided what they wanted to do, and they’re going to do it.”
Next Wednesday, the governor and state senators will be in the uncomfortable position of facing one another in Springfield when Blagojevich fulfills his constitutional duty to gavel in the state Senate for the beginning of the 96th General Assembly. On that same day, senators could be sworn in as jurors for his trial later this month.
The only House member to vote against the impeachment resolution was South Side state Rep. Milton Patterson (D-Chicago), who said there “wasn’t enough” evidence against Blagojevich to merit driving him from office.
Rep. Elga Jefferies (D-Chicago), a lame duck, was the chamber’s lone present vote. And Rep. Ken Dunkin (D-Chicago), an ally of the governor’s, was a no-show for today’s vote.
“I went by my own gut feeling, simple as that sir,” Patterson said when asked about his vote. “That’s all I can say. I read the report. If the government is going to indict them, let them do that.
“I think the committee did an excellent job in the report. It's just that there wasn't enough for me to feel comfortable with a decision to do that,” said Patterson, another lame duck who will leave office next week.
But House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie (D-Chicago), chairwoman of the House panel that recommended impeachment, said the evidence to drive Blagojevich from office was overwhelming.
“The evidence we gathered makes it clear this governor tramples on the legislative prerogative. He breaks state and federal laws. In his own words, he expresses a willingness to barter state official acts and state taxpayer money for personal and political gain. This governor has violated his oath of office. This governor has breached the public trust. This governor must be impeached,” she said.
The normally noisy House chamber was uncharacteristically still. Lawmakers, who typically mill around on the floor, were in their seats and spectators jammed into the House galleries as one legislator after another scolded a two-term governor whose political life appears near its end as legislators begin to write his legacy — as one of the state’s most corrupt leaders.
“Rod Blagojevich, you should be ashamed of yourself. But I won’t pretend to think you feel any. You’ve already shown us you have none,” said Rep. Susana Mendoza (D-Chicago). “So take your silly place in history, and I hope your fate serves as a notice for any other public official who even has a fleeting thought of following your example, that they will be held accountable as well.”
