Gov. Rod Blagojevich was convicted at his impeachment trial and thrown out of office Thursday, ending a nearly two-month crisis that erupted with his arrest on charges he tried to sell Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat. Blagojevich becomes the first U.S. governor in more than 20 years to be removed by impeachment.
After a four-day trial, the Illinois Senate voted 59-0 to convict him on the broad charge of abuse of power, then again to disqualify him from ever again holding office in Illinois.
Under state law, the verdict instantly removed Blagojevich, a second-term Democrat schooled in the bare-knuckle politics of the Chicago Machine.
Democratic Lt. Gov. Patrick Quinn, one of his critics, automatically became governor.
Senators rose to applaud Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Fitzgerald, who presided over the trial, after he signed the order removing Blagojevich.
Blagojevich's ordeal is far from over. Federal prosecutors are expected to bring a corruption indictment against him by April, after which a trial date will be set.
Blagojevich, 52, had boycotted the first three days of the impeachment trial, calling the proceedings a kangaroo court. But on Thursday, he went before the Senate to beg for his job, delivering a 47-minute plea that was, by turns, defiant, humble and sentimental.
He argued, again, that he did nothing wrong, and warned his impeachment would set a "dangerous and chilling precedent."
"You haven't proved a crime, and you can't because it didn't happen," Blagojevich told the lawmakers. "How can you throw a governor out of office with insufficient and incomplete evidence?"
“Blagojevich’s ordeal is far from over. Federal prosecutors are expected to bring a corruption indictment against him by April, after which a trial date will be set.”
hehe.... yeah, right. This case is over.
It will turn out that all the eveidence will go missing as the dog will have eaten all the files.