[Rhodes22-list] Blagojevich Impeachment Inquiry Stalls

[Brad Haslett]

Bill,

Hey, until the Illinois legislature figures out what to do next, maybe
we can help Team Obama.   One of their key players is missing.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_L6pDyjqqsvY/SUfjxSZ7YtI/AAAAAAAAXew/P9I5DJ8m658/s1600-h/rahmbo+milk

The Big Man himself said yesterday they had done an internal review
and declared themselves OK.  Come out of hiding Tiny Dancer, the coast
is clear!

Brad

On Tue, Dec 16, 2008 at 1:34 PM, Bill Effros <bill at effros.com> wrote:
> 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.
>
>
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