Blagojevich to make Thursday plea at capitol
SPRINGFIELD—Setting the stage for one of the most dramatic political days in state history, Gov. Blagojevich stunned senators today by casting aside his boycott of his impeachment trial and announcing plans to show up at the capitol Thursday to make a personal plea against being thrown out of office.
(AP)
With a vote on whether to oust him possible Thursday, Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago) made the surprise announcement regarding the governor this afternoon, prompting senators to murmur, smile and shake their heads in disbelief.
“I’ve been informed the governor would like to come here tomorrow and ask leave of us to file an appearance. We would have to give him permission to do that. I would urge us to give him that leave, so he can argue as his own attorney,’’ Cullerton told the Senate.
The governor has boycotted the first three days of his impeachment trial, arguing in a national media barnstorming blitz that the rules are stacked against him.
Under those rules, the governor will get 90 minutes to make his case that he should not be convicted of the pending impeachment article against him. House prosecutor David Ellis, meanwhile, will get one hour to argue for Blagojevich to be removed.
The governor will not testify before the Senate, sparing him from having to undergo cross-examination by Ellis or answer questions posed to him by senators, Cullerton said.
Doing so would have posed a significant risk to the governor’s pending criminal case for allegedly scheming to sell the state’s vacant U.S. Senate seat to the highest bidder, among other things.
The governor’s surprise maneuver came after Cullerton accused Blagojevich of “lying’’ about rules governing his impeachment trial, ridiculed his publicity blitz and renewed a call for the governor to show up at the proceedings.
“If he wants to come down here instead of hiding out in New York and having Larry King asking questions instead of the senators, I think he’s making a mistake,’’ Cullerton told reporters during a morning break in day three of the governor’s trial.
“He should come here and answer the questions and provide the context that he claims these statements are being taken out of,’’ the North Side lawmaker said.
Responding to the governor’s repeated claims that trial rules bar him from subpoenaing witnesses of his choice, Cullerton took a harder edge than he had when asked earlier in the week about the governor’s claims.
“Before I suggested that perhaps the governor had just been misreading the rules,’’ he said. “Now, I’m pretty sure he’s lying about the rules. He’s had plenty of time to read these rules. I saw him on television last night. He flat out misrepresented what these rules said.’’
Testimony is expected to wrap up in the impeachment trial today. The final witness, state Auditor General William Holland, is on the stand this afternoon for what is expected to be an hour of testimony.