Filed under: Breaking, Corruption, Government, Governors, Progressives, Scandal, Senate | Tags: Democrats, Congress, Bill Clinton, Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, John Cullerton, Michael Madigan, Illinois Supreme Court, Illinois House of Representatives, Impeachment, Illinois Senate, Republcians, David Ellis, Thomas Fitzgerald
This time the margin was even bigger:
The 117-1 vote by newly sworn-in House members came after Blagojevich oversaw the swearing-in of an Illinois Senate that will serve as the jury during his impeachment trial.
The second impeachment by the House was necessitated by today’s seating of a new legislature reflecting the results of the Nov. 4 general election. The House voted last Friday to impeach Blagojevich 114-1-1.
Illinois’ Senate also voted 58-0 to approve a set of rules that will guide the impeachment trial; apparently, they’re based on the same rules used by the United States Senate when Bill Clinton was impeached.
Here’s more:
The Senate then got started on what in a court of law might be described as pre-trial motions. David Ellis, the House prosecutor and legal counsel to House Speaker Michael Madigan, read into the Senate record the 13-point article of impeachment against Blagojevich, recounting the criminal charges that resulted in the governor’s arrest on Dec. 9 as well as various allegations of abuse of power.
Ellis then was escorted out of the Senate chamber. [Senate President John] Cullerton swore in Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Fitzgerald, who will preside over the trial, to do “justice according to law.” Fitzgerald has now directed the senators to take an oath to be sworn-in as Blagojevich’s jurors.
I hope the Senate moves swiftly, but with all due diligence and deliberation; the quicker Blagojevich is out of office, the better off the people of Illinois will be.
