[Rhodes22-list] Blagojevich Impeachment Inquiry Stalls

[Bill Effros]

The New York Times <http://www.nytimes.com/>
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December 17, 2008


  Blagojevich Impeachment Inquiry Stalls

By MONICA DAVEY 
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/d/monica_davey/index.html?inline=nyt-per>

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. --- A committee of the Illinois House considering 
evidence and testimony in an impeachment inquiry against Gov. Rod R. 
Blagojevich 
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/rod_r_blagojevich/index.html?inline=nyt-per> 
adjourned its first day of hearings after about an hour on Tuesday, 
after the governor's lawyer and the federal prosecutor seeking to indict 
him both expressed concerns.

Members of the 21-member committee, appointed Monday, said that United 
States Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald 
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/f/patrick_j_fitzgerald/index.html?inline=nyt-per> 
had asked for them more details about the witnesses the committee 
planned to call in its hearings. Mr. Fitzgerald asked the committee for 
a formal letter outlining its plans, indicating some reluctance about 
having witnesses testify who might harm the federal case.

The lawyer for Mr. Blagojevich, Edward Genson, also objected, saying 
that he wanted to be present at the proceedings. The committee agreed, 
and Mr. Genson, who was not at the hearing on Tuesday, said he would be 
there when the committee reconvenes Wednesday morning.

Mr. Genson, a noted Chicago-based criminal defense attorney who 
confirmed Monday that he had been retained by Mr. Blagojevich, said: 
"He's not guilty, so we're going to go to court. We're not agreeing to 
impeachment. If you read these transcripts closely, you'll find that 
nobody did anything. People are just talking, and that's not against the 
law."

As he put it, "Bad language doesn't make you a criminal." The Associated 
Press reported that Mr. Blagojevich ignored reporters' questions as he 
left his house in Chicago on Tuesday morning, carrying a briefcase and 
gym bag. On Monday, he went to work as usual and signed 11 bills into 
law, including one that increased tax credits to encourage films being 
made in Illinois.

The confusion over the committee's procedures and plans was the latest 
indication that many questions remained as to how state lawmakers will 
pursue impeachment. No Illinois governor has ever been impeached, and 
the state constitution gives little direction. As a result, many 
lawmakers here were wrestling with the dimensions of what the committee 
would be trying to prove and how its work might clash with criminal 
proceedings by federal prosecutors.

In opening statements on Tuesday, members of the committee, which 
consists of 12 Democrats and 9 Republicans, pledged that despite their 
criticisms of the governor, they would examine the evidence surrounding 
him objectively, without preconceptions.

Mr. Blagojevich, a Democrat, was arrested a week ago on federal 
corruption charges that included efforts to make money off his power to 
appoint a successor to the United States Senate 
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/s/senate/index.html?inline=nyt-org> 
seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama 
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/o/barack_obama/index.html?inline=nyt-per>. 


"Let us remember that we are not Alice in Wonderland --- we are not the 
Red Queen," Representative Barbara Flynn Currie, a Democrat who is the 
panel's chairwoman, told her colleagues. "We do not sentence first and 
then do the verdict."

"Frontier justice," she went on, will not carry the day. "We are in a 
crisis of confidence in state government. We are left with no choice but 
to initiate an impeachment inquiry."

Some said they worried that the impeachment work --- which is expected 
to occupy many late nights and many weekends --- might take time from 
what needs to be done to deal with the state's other problems, including 
a budget deficit and what some lawmakers say has been a virtual halt to 
state business since Mr. Blagojevich was arrested a week ago.

"While the work of this committee continues, I would hope that the work 
of the state shall also be able to somehow function and that we do 
whatever is necessary to see to that the services this state is supposed 
to provide" are taken care of, said Representative Bill Black, a 
Republican on the committee.

Representative Mary Flowers, a Democrat, said the impeachment movement 
was being propelled by a cloud that was hanging over the state that must 
be shed so Illinois can reclaim some respect. "It's the land of 
Lincoln," Ms. Flowers said. "It's the land of Barack Obama."

Mr. Blagojevich has not yet been indicted in the criminal investigation, 
and some experts say the inquiry might create problems for federal 
prosecutors' criminal proceedings against him, if witnesses are 
compelled to testify and are granted immunity.

"If you grant people immunity, you can really screw up investigations," 
said Ronald J. Allen, a professor of law at Northwestern, pointing to 
the case of Oliver L. North 
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/n/oliver_l_north/index.html?inline=nyt-per>, 
whose conviction in the Iran-contra affair was thrown out because of 
immunity granted during Congressional hearings. Professor Allen said 
most at risk were potential cases against people who were involved but 
have not yet been charged.

Randall Samborn, a spokesman for Mr. Fitzgerald, the United States 
attorney for the Northern district of Illinois, declined to comment 
Monday on whether prosecutors were concerned that impeachment 
proceedings in Springfield could interfere with their investigation.

Anton R. Valukas, a former United States attorney in Chicago, said Mr. 
Fitzgerald was likely to show a high level of deference to a legislative 
process that was about the people's right to make a judgment about who 
should govern them.

Meanwhile, Mr. Obama said at a news conference on Tuesday in Chicago 
that it was inappropriate for him to comment in detail on the 
Blagojevich investigation. He said he would let the Illinois legislature 
decide whether a special election should be held to choose his successor.

Mr. Obama also reiterated that an internal report by his staff on any 
connections between his staff and the governor's office will be released 
next week.

Sharon Otterman contributed reporting from New York.