Blagojevich Impeachment Process: It Isn't Over Yet

by Tina Kells | January 9, 2009 at 04:00 pm

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It has been widely reported that Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich has been removed as the Governor of Illinois but that is not yet true. In Illinois the impeachment process involves a series of steps that government must take before an elected official can be removed from office.

As of January 9, 2009 Rod Blagojevich has not been removed from office; he has only been formally accused of misconduct so severe that he should lose his power. The 142 member Illinois House of Representatives has voted 141-1 in favour of the Blagojevich impeachment. Whether or not he is removed from office now lies in the hands of the Illinois Senate.

An impeachment recommendation by the House of Representatives is the seconds step in the removal process as laid out in the Illinois State Constitution. The first step involves a House investigative committee looking into all allegations and returning a report and recommendation to the House. On January 7, 2009 that Illinois House investigation ended in a unanimous vote to impeach Blagojevich.

The Illinois House has accepted the findings of the investigative committee and has formally "accused" Blagojevich of abuse of power and asked for his removal from office. This does not mean Blagojevich is no longer Governor, it means that the State of Illinois can move to the final stage in the impeachment process - a Senate trial.

In a press conference held shortly after the impeachment vote was returned Blagojevich stated that he would be exonerated during the Senate trial phase of the process and that he was confident he would be found not-guilty of any and all wrongdoings. Meanwhile, the accusations against Governor Blagojevich grow.

Illinois has 59 Senators, 36 of whom must vote for impeachment in order for Blagojevich to officially lose his job. As the situation stands this moment Rod Blagojevich has not yet formally been impeached.

According to the Illinois Constitution, the Illinois House of Representatives has the sole power to conduct investigations “to determine the existence of cause for impeachment” and, by a majority vote, to impeach (accuse) the governor.

Impeachment trials are conducted by the 59-member Illinois Senate.

“No person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the Senators elected,” the Illinois Constitution says, mirroring a provision in the United States Constitution.

The accusations against Blagojevich extend far beyond the initial allegation that he tried to sell the Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama to the highest bidder. Blagojevich is accused of several different instances of misconduct and corruption, all of which will have to be addressed by his defense team during the Senate trial phase of the impeachment process.

The House voted to impeach the governor for what it called “abuse of power” by engaging in “a plot to obtain a personal benefit in exchange for his appointment to fill the vacant seat in the United States Senate.”

That seat that had been held by President-elect Barack Obama until he resigned on Nov. 16, 2008.

The impeachment resolution also accuses him of plotting to award state funds to the Tribune Company only if it fired certain members of the editorial board who had been critical of the governor.

The House also accused him of plotting to divert casino gambling revenues to the horse racing industry in exchange for campaign contributions, among other alleged misdeeds.

“I am not guilty of any criminal wrongdoing,” Blagojevich told reporters at a press conference Friday after the lower house of the legislature impeached him.