Rod Blagojevich
Digital News Report- The Illinois State Senate has officially impeached and removed Rod Blagojevich from office in a vote of 59-0. The senate also unanimously voted to bar Blagojevich from holding any other office in Illinois. This marks the first time a Governor has been removed from office by impeachment in over 20 years.
His removal comes nearly two months after his arrest on charges of trying to sell Barack Obama’s vacant Senate seat, bullying the Chicago Tribune, and other questionable actions that have been viewed as an abuse of power. Evidence suggested that he also violated the state’s constitution, by evading hiring laws and wasting taxpayer dollars.
Blagojevich came to the hearing after stating many times that he would not show. He pleaded, “How can you throw a governor out of office on a criminal complaint when you haven’t proven any criminal activity?” He reiterated that he had “done nothing wrong.” In the past few days he went on a media blitz to convince the public of his innocence.
Illinois Education Association President Ken Swanson released a statement saying that the Senate, “acted in the best interest of all Illinoisans by removing Rod Blagojevich as governor.” It went on to say, “Blagojevich had proven himself unwilling or unable to govern effectively.”
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