SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -
The Illinois Senate voted to remove Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich from office yesterday, marking the first time in the state's long history of political corruption that a chief executive has been impeached and convicted.
The 59-0 vote followed several hours of public deliberation in which senator after senator stood up to blast Blagojevich, whose tenure lasted six years. And it came after a four-day impeachment trial on allegations that Blagojevich abused his power and sold his office for personal and political benefit.
The conviction on a sweeping article of impeachment means the governor was immediately removed from office. The Senate also unanimously voted to impose the "political death penalty" on Blagojevich, banning him from ever again holding office in Illinois. Lt. Gov. Patrick Quinn, Blagojevich's two-time running mate, has become the state's 41st governor.
Highlighting the day's serious nature, Blagojevich offered his own sprawling, passionate closing argument after ignoring a Senate impeachment trial all week to take his case to the nation on the talk-show circuit.
Alternately praising and upbraiding those who will decide his political fate, Blagojevich urged the senators not to remove him from office, saying he has "done absolutely nothing wrong" and "never, ever intended to violate the law."
"There hasn't been a single piece of information that proves any wrongdoing," Blagojevich said to senators who were mostly stoic. "How can you throw a governor out of office with insufficient and incomplete evidence?" Blagojevich warned senators against setting a "dangerous precedent" that would thwart the will of an electorate that twice voted for him.
"Imagine what future governors will face if I'm thrown out of office for this," Blagojevich said.
Senators dismissed the governor's plea, saying Blagojevich violated the public trust and paralyzed state government.
"He reminded us today in real detail that he is an unusually good liar," state Sen. Matt Murphy said. "We bent over backwards to make sure that this process was fair." Others took issue with Blagojevich's criticism of the impeachment trial rules, saying the governor could have asked for a vote on witnesses he wanted to call or evidence he wanted to present.
"At its core, it is dishonest, and it must be rejected by the members of this Senate," Sen. Bill Haine said.
"We must find him unfit for this great office."
