*** Comments are reopened ***

* 12:22 pm - The House impeachment committee is in Springfield today to review a draft impeachment report that will eventually be submitted to the House this week. They’re not having an official “meeting.” Instead, they’re avoiding the open hearing requirement by keeping their numbers at a low level in the room at one time. More later.

* Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says the governor’s accusations that Reid didn’t want any black people appointed to the Senate seat is fantasy…

“He’s [Blagojevich] making this up to divert attention,” Reid said on Meet the Press. “Jesse Jackson Jr. is someone I think would be a good senator. … Anyone to suggest anything racial is part of the Blagojevich spin.”

Reid also hinted there may be some room for negotiation over the Burris situation, although where that middle ground exists is unclear. He also said the Senate might very well accept a Burris appointment if it were made by a new Illinois governor or by the lieutenant governor Pat Quinn.

“I’m an old trial lawyer,” Reid said. “There’s always room to negotiate.”

…Adding… The exact quote from the transcript…

SEN. REID: This is part of Blagojevich’s cloud. He’s making all this up. I had a conversation with him. I don’t remember what was in the conversation, other than the generalities that I just talked about. I didn’t tell him who not to appoint. He’s making all this up to divert attention…

MR. GREGORY: Don’t you think these conversations are on tape?

SEN. REID: Of course.

MR. GREGORY: For the U.S. attorney’s investigation?

SEN. REID: I’m, I’m sure they are. But–that’s right. And that’s why what he’s saying, he’s making it up.

MR. GREGORY: So he’s wrong, Jesse Jackson Jr. was always acceptable to you?

SEN. REID: Jesse Jackson Jr. is somebody that I think would be a good senator. And for Blagojevich to start throwing out these names of people who I wanted and didn’t want…

MR. GREGORY: Mm-hmm.

SEN. REID: …he’s making it up.

* Background…

Days before Gov. Blagojevich was charged with trying to sell President-elect Barack Obama’s U.S. Senate seat to the highest bidder, top Senate Democrat Harry Reid made it clear who he didn’t want in the post: Jesse Jackson, Jr., Danny Davis or Emil Jones.

Rather, Reid called Blagojevich to argue he appoint either state Veterans Affairs chief Tammy Duckworth or Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, sources told the Chicago Sun-Times.

* More background…

Illinois’s embattled governor said through his spokesman Saturday that Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) has a conflict of interest regarding the Senate seat being vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.

Reid telephoned Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) in early December to discuss the seat, said Lucio Guerrero, a gubernatorial spokesman. Guerrero said he did not know firsthand which candidates Reid supported during the call, but added that he knows Reid’s candidates did not include Roland W. Burris, the man Blagojevich picked. […]

“I think the governor believes there is a conflict of interest — that Reid showed he has a horse in the race and Roland Burris wasn’t one of them,” Guerrero said.

* Reid also seeks a compromise with Republicans…

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid plans to meet with the chamber’s top Republican to see if they can come to a bipartisan solution on what to do about Senate appointee Roland Burris.

* Burris skipped the DC circuit today…

Burris was a no-show on “This Week” where he had been scheduled to appear.

* But Burris does have plans for tonight…

Before heading to Washington, Burris plans to speak Sunday evening to Chicago ministers and his supporters.

* Senator-Designate Burris will be invited to testify to the impeachment committee, but he’ll be out of town, so it’s not clear whether it’ll happen…

Also Friday, the House panel considering impeachment will invite Burris to testify, said a spokesman for Speaker Michael Madigan. It’s unclear, however, when that would take place.

* And the governor’s security clearance has been revoked…

Gov. Blagojevich’s access to classified federal security information was revoked by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security after he was charged last month with trying to sell a Senate seat to the highest bidder, officials confirmed Friday.

Every governor is given such a clearance by Homeland Security to receive briefings on sensitive security information from Homeland Security and other federal agencies such as the FBI, said Amy Kudwa, spokeswoman for Homeland Security. […]

State Police Director Larry Trent and Illinois Emergency Management Agency Director Andrew Velasquez — as well as other top state officials — have access to such federal security intelligence and could relay it to the governor, said Patti Thompson, spokeswoman for the Illinois Emergency Management Agency.

* Related…

* ABC News “This week” transcript (Dick Durbin)

* NBC News “Meet the Press” transcript (Harry Reid)

* Fox News Sunday transcript

* Sweet: Burris proclaims, “We are the senator.” Wants to avoid media circus over Obama seat.

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