Ill. Senate Opens Impeachment Trial

CHICAGO - The Illinois Senate yesterday opened its historic impeachment trial of Gov. Rod Blagojevich as the governor took to the national airwaves in a series of talk-show and news interviews, in which he proclaimed his innocence on corruption charges and argued lawmakers want him out so they can raise taxes.

Lawmakers said the trial could be wrapped up by the end of the week, given the governor's refusal to defend himself either in person or with legal representation. With the state facing a growing budget deficit, lawmakers said they must act so the state can "move beyond the immense challenges we face," Senate Republican Minority Leader Christine Rodogno of Lemont said at the start of the trial.

The impeachment resolution outlines 13 alleged cases of misconduct or abuses of power, including the federal government's pay-to-play charges and accusation that he attempted to auction off President Obama's Senate seat.

Those charges led to his arrest by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in early December and sparked the legislative effort to remove him from office. The charges also accuse the governor of abuses during his six-year tenure involving governing issues, the issuance of state leases, controversial initiatives, and questionable hiring and spending practices.

In his opening statement, lead prosecutor and House Democratic majority attorney David Ellis told senators they would hear evidence that the governor "put his office up for sale" and that the evidence would show "a pattern of abuse of power."

"He is no longer fit to govern. He should be removed from office," Ellis said.

The impeachment documents give significant weight to the financial impact of the governor's corruption scandal, including the recent credit downgrades that were partially attributed to the governor's arrest and the challenges the downgrade poses to the state's resolution of its budget crisis.

Officials have recently warned that what had been estimated to be a $2 billion deficit in the fiscal 2009 and 2010 budgets could double. The governor has not had a comment on the deficit recently and has not said when he would release a 2010 budget.

State revenues continued their downward slide through the end of 2008, according to the quarterly report from Comptroller Daniel Hynes. Illinois closed out the calendar year with a backlog of $1.844 billion in bills, down from $4 billion a few months earlier thanks to the distribution of $1.4 billion from a short-term borrowing last month.

Corporate income tax collections were down 4.1% and sales tax decreased by 2.2% for the first six months of the fiscal year that began July 1. At the same time, expenditures are up 3.3% from last year in the $59 billion budget while the state faces increased pension funding costs and the notes must be repaid before the fiscal year ends.

"Without a dramatic change in the economy or spending, it appears that the state will end the fiscal year in dire circumstances," Hynes' report warned.

Meanwhile, the governor visited television networks in New York City yesterday, where he refused to discuss comments federal authorities attribute to him and assert were caught on tape in which he sought to gain from his authority to make the Senate seat appointment.

Blagojevich also pressed his position that lawmakers want him out so they can raise taxes which he would veto. He has called the trial rules unfair and likened his situation to the Old West where horse thieves were told they would get a fair trial before their hanging.

"Whatever happened to the presumption of innocence?" he asked. "How is it that you can make a couple of allegations, take some conversations completely out of context ... and then ask somebody to admit to something that he didn't do and then to deny that person who's a sitting governor a chance to have due process and witnesses and to defend himself?"

Blagojevich has said the rules don't allow him to call witnesses. In fact, the rules disallow the governor and the lead prosecutor only from calling witnesses tied to the federal charges over concerns that testimony could interfere with the criminal case.

Fitch Ratings downgraded the state to state to AA-minus last month. Standard & Poor's put the state's AA rating on negative CreditWatch. Moody's Investors Services has not acted on the state's Aa3 rating, but did strip it of top short-term credit marks.

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