Ill. House votes 114-1 to impeach Blago
Posted: Friday, January 09, 2009 11:31 AM by Domenico Montanaro
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
The Illinois House has voted almost unanimously to impeach embattled Gov. Rod Blagojevich -- 114 yes, 1 no, 1 not present, per our producers on the ground.
This triggers a trial in the state senate and would start about a week after Obama is inaugurated, according to NBC's Lee Cowan, who added on MSNBC that the trial is expected to take at least a couple of weeks, so Blagojevich could be impeached by mid-February.
Blagojevich, however, remains defiantly confident and believes he will fair better in the senate. [*** UPDATE 2*** We've learned Blagojevich will hold a 3 p.m. ET press conference. Get ready. So far they haven't disappointed.]
*** UPDATE *** Per NBC's Mark Hudspeth, who is on the ground in Chicago, the lone person voting "No" was retiring member Milton Patterson, a representative from the South Side of Chicago.
Others: Elga Jeffries voted present. (She lost her primary.); Ken Duncan was absent, so didn't vote; Yvetter Young died and hasn't been replaced; That gets you to 118.
NBC's Leo Juarez, of our Chicago bureau, adds that there is a state Senate committee meeting now in Chicago to finalize rules on the governor's impeachment procedures. The Senate will convene next week and will begin the process of setting up a trial, in which each of the 59 state senators act as judge/jurors. A total of 40 senators are needed to convict Blagojevich; that would remove the governor from office and make Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn the state’s new chief executive. The trial is expected to take at least three weeks.
Per NBC's Erika Angulo, the Chicago Tribune breaks down what's next:
* When a new General Assembly takes office next week, the House is expected to repeat its vote.
* If Blagojevich is impeached, the matter goes to the Senate for trial. Details on how and when that trial would be conducted are being worked out.
* It's unclear whether investigators' undercover recordings of Blagojevich would be released in time for a Senate trial. A federal judge gave lawyers until Jan. 23 to file objections to making the tapes public.
Burris appointment:
* U.S. Senate Democratic leaders said Roland Burris' testimony in Springfield was required before they would consider seating him. But they issued non-committal statements after his appearance Thursday.
* Attorneys for Burris are awaiting action by the Illinois Supreme Court on their bid to force Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White to sign the paperwork giving Burris the Senate job.
* Time may be on Burris' side. Senate leaders have been pressed by President-elect Barack Obama to resolve the issue quickly.
*** UPDATE 3 *** More on timing, More, from NBC's Krista Brunson:
Per Cindy Davidsmeyer, spokesperson for the current Illinois Senate President Emil Jones:
Monday and Tuesday are the last two days of the current Illinois State Senate. On Wednesday, the new senate reconvenes under its new president, State Sen. John Cullerton. Davidsmeyer does not expect Cullerton to schedule any trial-related events until the week of Jan. 26th.
The way it works: The Illinois House will be the prosecutor presenting evidence (since they impeached him) against Blago and asking for his conviction. The state senators will be the jury, (out of 59 state senators, 40 have to convict him). This will be presided by the Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court.
It can last weeks or months depending on the witnesses. Obviously Blago as the defendant will have his own witnesses also.
