Ill. Gov's Lawyer Comes Out Swinging; State's Top Court Nixes 'Unfit' Argument
An attorney representing the embattled governor of Illinois came out swinging today at a bipartisan legislative committee hearing on possible impeachment, calling the process “unfair and quite frankly illegal.”
Meanwhile, the state supreme court has rejected a motion by state Attorney General Lisa Madigan seeking a determination that Gov. Rod Blagojevich is unfit for office because of the federal political corruption case filed against him earlier this month by the U.S. attorney in Chicago, reports the Washington Post.
Today’s comments by attorney Ed Genson signal that the governor will aggressively defend himself, the newspaper writes. “The issue in this case is the evidence you have. The evidence you have is nil, zero, nothing,” the lawyer told 21 members of a state House of Representatives impeachment committee.
“Genson attacked the impeachment proceedings on multiple fronts Wednesday, assailing the wiretaps, questioning the committee’s impartiality and complaining that the panel had not given the governor enough time to mount a defense,” reports the Associated Press.
But the committee, which is headed by Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie of Chicago—who, like the governor and Madigan, is a Democrat—rejected all of these arguments.
As predicted in an earlier New York Times article discussed in a previous ABAJournal.com post, the governor’s counsel is contending that because no money changed hands—in fact, no appointment has even been made concerning the U.S. Senate seat Blagojevich is accused of trying to sell—there is no case.
However, the government is expected to focus on alleged theft of honest services, as it did in its successful prosecution of former Illinois Gov. George Ryan, according to the Times and ABC7. Such statutes require evidence that a public official sought something of value in exchange for an official act, and proof of a bribe payment is not required.
