[Bumped up for visibility because of the Genson & tapes stories]
*** 5:58 PM *** Oy…
What about a double dose of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich?
ABC provides it Monday. The governor visits “Good Morning America,” then stops by “The View” with his wife, Patricia.
*** 5:35 PM *** Senate President John Cullerton explains the Senate impeachment trial rules in a very rational, intelligent way over at Zorn’s site. Go read the whole thing. Here’s an excerpt…
As a witness, Rahm would have minimal value. He would be able to say only that Blagojevich didn’t try to sell the senate seat to him. That tells us very little about what he did or didn’t say to other people.
These rules are fair. And the governor is right when he says that they set a precedent. That’s why we were being so careful when we drafted them. Theoretically they could apply to any one of us (in the Senate) someday if we were ever impeached. So in one sense it was a selfish thing.
The public will see that, even with [Blagojevich] not showing up, the senators are going to take this trial very, very seriously and consider the evidence carefully.
* Just a though here, but Ed Genson’s resignation announcement revealed that he’s leaving because the governor doesn’t listen to him. That announcement came right on the heels of Blagojevich’s goofy press conference. So, Genson pretty much undercut everything the governor said today.
Good for you, Ed.
*** 4:55 PM *** This ought to be a whole lot of fun…
A federal judge today ordered that four undercover recordings from the criminal investigation of Gov. Rod Blagojevich be released to the state Legislature.
The decision by U.S. District Chief Judge James Holderman this afternoon clears the way for the Illinois Senate to consider the tapes as evidence in its impeachment trial of the governor.
*** 4:46 PM *** I told subscribers about this today…
Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s lead attorney says he plans to resign from his criminal case. Genson’s decision Friday comes one day after Blagojevich’s defense team sent mixed signals over whether the governor would file a lawsuit to block his impeachment trial in the state Senate.
Saying today the governor has not taken his advice, Genson said, “I wish the governor good luck and Godspeed.”
This is a huge mess. You don’t know the half of it unless you subscribe.
* 4:40 pm - The WVON website appears to have been swamped by listeners. I can’t hear a thing. If you’re listening on the radio, please tell us what’s going on in comments. Thanks.
*** 4:18 PM *** The governor is now on WVON, which has always been a safe haven for him. Expect softball questions and supportive callers.
Once again, he’s lying about Rule 8(b). He could have contested the House impeachment report by filing a motion to dismiss the report under a different rule claiming that the impeachment article itself was not sufficient.
* Cliff Kelly asked the governor how he felt about the feds coming to his home at 6 in the morning and placing him in handcuffs, rather than just calling his lawyer and asking that Blagojevich surrender himself. Blagojevich politely refused to answer.
The governor said that while Speaker Madigan was his campaign co-chair, he wasn’t really supportive. Understatement.
* The guv said that when everything comes out about the Senate appointment (for which he was arrested) they’ll find it was “all about the people.” From the criminal complaint…
Rod Blagojevich stated that his decision about the open Senate seat will be based on three criteria in the following order of importance: “our legal situation, our personal situation, my political situation. This decision, like every other one, needs to be based upon
on that. Legal. Personal. Political.”
[John Harris] said, “legal is the hardest one to satisfy.” Rod Blagojevich said that his legal problems could be solved by naming himself to the
Senate seat.
* Two stories during the news break have to be making the guv a bit uneasy. The first was about Daley’s latest “cuckoo” comment regarding the governor. The second was a story featuring Rep. John Fritchey, one of the governor’s harshest critics.
[ *** End of Update *** ]
* Stick around, cowboys and cowgirls. The governor is scheduled to appear on Cliff Kelly’s WVON radio program today at four o’clock. Listen here.
Also at 4…
Federal prosecutors [in Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s criminal case] this afternoon filed a new request with the chief judge asking that he allow the release of four tapes to the Senate as it prepares to start the governor’s impeachment trial Monday.
A decision could come at a 4 p.m. hearing in federal court later today.
Defense lawyers said the tapes shouldn’t be released now, arguing the issue was moot since the house already voted to impeach Blagojevich.
But prosecutors disagreed, saying they are authorized by law to disclose the four tapes that contain edited conversations of alleged dealmaking by the governor and others.
The House did already vote to impeach Blagojevich, but that won’t necessarily prevent the Senate from hearing additional evidence. Literally, in this case.
*** 3:18 pm *** Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn responds to the governor’s press conference…
“He can try to delude people outside of Illinois that somehow he is standing at the barracks in a heroic stance. The people of Illinois know much better. Our governor has let us down. He’s disgraced himself. He’s disgraced our state. As a result he’s going to be removed from office.”
Still, Quinn wouldn’t say whether he would raise taxes or not if he were the next governor. He says he doesn’t know enough about the state’s financial situation to make that call. Quinn blames the Blagojevich administration for keeping that information from him.
* Meanwhile, in the real world…
Illinois companies cut their payrolls for a seventh straight month and state unemployment jumped to 15-year high in December, government figures show.
Employers in the state cut 36,000 jobs last month, according to figures released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and Illinois Department of Employment Security. In the last two months of 2008, Illinois lost a total of 73,600 jobs. That’s the largest two-month decline since 1990, reflecting the devastating impact of the economic slowdown.
The governor needs to go now so this state can start dealing with its very real problems.
* Reaction of the day…
Several legal experts said they could see some benefit to participating in the trial or resigning office. But refusing to do either makes little sense, they said.
“There’s no benefit at all, except to make himself look ridiculous. In addition, anything he says can be used against him later” in court,” said Leonard Cavise, a law professor at DePaul University.