Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich Impeached by House
Governor Arrested On Corruption Charges Could Be Removed From Office
Jan 10, 2009
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich had always been just the latest in a long line of Illinois politicians indicted for political corruption. But he finally surpassed all the others in one historic aspect: He is the first governor of the Land of Lincoln to be impeached.
The Illinois House voted 114 to 1 to impeach Blagojevich on Jan. 9, 2008, one month after the governor was arrested by federal authorities for, among other things, trying to enrich himself by auctioning off to the highest bidder the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by President-elect Barack Obama.
First to be Impeached
Four of Illinois’ last eight governors had been convicted and jailed on federal corruption charges, but not until now has the state’s General Assembly stepped in to issue its own reprimand.
The next step is for the state Senate to weigh the evidence against Blagojevich. It will begin deliberations Jan. 26, 2009, on whether the evidence warrants removing Blagojevich, a Democrat, from office, a move virtually all of the state’s political leaders – as well as Senate leaders in Washington – have been urging.
Blagojevich Not Surprised by Vote
Blagojevich appeared dismissive of the House’s action. “I am not at all surprised by it,” he said, according to The Chicago Tribune.
Illinois’ 40th governor insisted that the state legislature was targeting him because he had pushed lawmakers hard to enact programs and policies beneficial to the people of Illinois.
“From the very moment of my re-election, I’ve been engaged in a struggle with the House to try to get things done for the people,” Blagojevich said, according to an account in The Washington Post
Governor Denies Wrongdoing
Federal authorities have hours of tape recordings in which Blagojevich is heard discussing, in profanity-laced conversations, the auctioning off of Obama’s seat and other pay-to-play schemes through which he intended to enrich himself. But Blagojevich remains defiant, insisting again at his Jan. 9, 2009, news conference that “I am not guilty of any criminal wrongdoing.”
Blagojevich is the 16th governor in the country to be impeached, according to an analysis by The Washington Post. Seven of those impeached governors were ultimately removed from office, the Post reported.
Impeachment Cites Federal Indictment
When a special bipartisan House committee voted unanimously Jan. 8, 2009, to recommend Blagojevich’s impeachment to the full House it cited as evidence of wrongdoing several of the federal charges that have been leveled against Blagojevich but also additional claims that the two-term governor had mismanaged the state.
The committee cited federal charges that Blagojevich had threatened to withhold $8 million in Medicaid reimbursement from a children’s hospital unless executives gave him a $50,000 campaign contribution.
It also cited the FBI charge that Blagojevich threatened to withhold about $100 million in tax relief from Tribune Co. unless the company’s flagship newspaper, The Chicago Tribune, fired editorial writers who had been critical of Blagojevich.
Mismanagement Alleged
Among the evidence offered by the committee that was not part of the criminal charges against the governor was Blagojevich’s decision to cope with a flu vaccine shortage by spending millions of state tax dollars to buy doses of the vaccine in Europe despite federal warnings that importing such medicine was illegal. The vaccine was later donated to Pakistan, but the money he spent was never recovered.
Senate Seat in Limbo
Following his arrest Dec. 9, 2008, Blagojevich named former state attorney general Roland Burris to succeed Obama in the Senate despite warnings from lawmakers in Illinois and Washington that no one appointed to the position by Blagojevich would be acceptable.
Burris arrived in Washington for the opening of the 111th Congress on Jan. 6, 2009, but was not immediately seated.
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