I guess Blag was just emulating a Bush style of entrepreneurship when he tried to sell off the Senate Seat. What a disgusting display of power. Wow....
Did Rahm Emanuel leak info about Blagojevich to the Feds?
Democratic Illinois Sen. Richard Durbin called for a special election to fill the vacancy left by former colleague, President-elect Barack Obama, following the indictment of Gov. Rod Blagojevich over charges he used pay-to-play tactics to appoint Obama’s successor.
Illinois state law provides for the governor to appoint a successor if a Senate vacancy occurs mid-term, but Durbin said today that the process has been tainted. “No appointment by this governor could produce a credible replacement,” he said in a statement.
To hold a special election the general assembly would have to enact a law setting up the terms of a special election. According to The Capitol Fax Blog, retiring Senate President Emil Jones—one of the candidates interested in Obama’s seat—said he would convene a special session to pass legislation to allow for a special election. A spokeswoman for Jones did not immediately return a request for comment.
I saw Jan Schakowsky on CNN before the Fitz Presser and she said she knew nothing about Blagos illegal activities and wants to see him impeached.
However, U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., said the legislature should begin impeachment proceedings if Blagojevich does not resign promptly.
State Representative John Fritchey, one of the dozen or so serious contenders for Blagojevich's (and Rahm Emanuel's) old House seat, claims impeachment proceedings will begin immediately.
Harry Reid joins in:
“The charges against Governor Blagojevich are appalling and represent as serious a breach of the public trust as I have ever heard. It is clear that anyone Governor Blagojevich appoints to the Senate will fairly or unfairly be tainted by questions of impropriety. A different process to select a new Senator must be put in place – and that process should not involve Governor Blagojevich.”
