The political career of Rod Blagojevich came to an end yesterday.
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Senators
voted 59-0 to remove the Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich from public
office. The House’s decision came hours after Blagojevich held a
47-minute closing argument at his impeachment trial, defending his past
actions in office, as well as pleading for a “sense of fairness” in
deciding his fate. Blagojevich was arrested on December 9, 2008, on
charges of corruption in a plot to receive financial gain by selling
then President-elect Barack Obama’s vacant Senate seat.
In what he called a rush of judgment, Blagojevich opened his address,
“I was hopeful I would have that opportunity. I was hopeful I would
have the chance to call every single witness in the criminal
complaint.” He continued, “It would have been nice to have them here
and tell you, under oath, what they know. Unfortunately, these rules
have prevented me from being able to do that.”
Thus, while continuing to insist that he did, “nothing wrong,”
Blagojevich defended his track record while in public office in the
state of Illinois.
“If they can remove a governor elected twice by the people, and a
legislative branch can do it without being required to prove any
wrongdoing, and, conversely, not allowing the governor to prove he
didn’t do anything wrong, if they can do it to me, they can do it to
you and any other citizen; and they can do it to other governors in
other states,” he said.
Blagojevich became the first governor in the history of Illinois to be
impeached. Blagojevich was replaced by Lieutenant Governor Patt Quinn,
his former running mate. Quinn was quickly sworn-in as Illinois’s 41st.
Governor. –gavin philip godfrey
