Illinois Gov's Unique Impeachment Trial Takes a New Turn
After taking a pass on the testimony phase of his own impeachment trial before the Illinois state senate this week—and instead discussing his case on national television shows—Gov. Rod Blagojevich is now planning to deliver a closing argument in the senate trial.
According to the state senate president, John Cullerton, the governor will not take any questions but will make his own closing argument tomorrow morning, reports the Chicago Tribune in a breaking news story.
The request by the governor to speak “came as the Senate neared the end of Mr. Blagojevich’s impeachment trial with state lawmakers hearing testimony from the final witnesses prosecutors said they would present,” reports the New York Times.
As discussed in earlier ABAJournal.com posts, the governor and his legal counsel are boycotting the trial, which began Monday. Blagojevich says the trial procedure being followed by the state senate doesn’t allow him to call the witnesses he needs to refute false allegations made against him.
The chief justice of the state supreme court, who is overseeing the trial, treated the non-appearance as a not-guilty plea, however, and the impeachment trial is proceeding without Blagojevich.
The impeachment followed federal criminal charges shortly after the November U.S. presidential election last year; Blagojevich is accused in that case of bartering official favors—including the appointment to fill President Barack Obama’s vacated U.S. Senate seat—for personal gain.
The criminal case is still pending, and defense lawyers observing from the sidelines have said that the governor’s strategy of discussing his impeachment case on national television could create problems for him in federal court. Prosecutors, they predict, are recording everything he says and will pore over television show transcripts looking for statements to use against him.
“No defense attorney in his right mind would sanction this campaign,” defense attorney Ron Safer tells the Chicago Sun-Times. “It’s a horrible, horrible idea.”
Additional coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Ill. Gov. Takes Case to TV, is a No-Show at His Own Impeachment Trial”
Associated Press: “Gov. Blagojevich’s impeachment trial rolls along”
MSNBC: “Blago Blitzes On Despite Trial”
Politics (Fox News): “Would Blagojevich Have Been Better Off Staying Home?”
