On Jan. 14, the 96th General Assembly was organized pursuant tolaw. It was gaveled to order by Gov. Rod Blagojevich. After theelection of the new Senate president, John Cullerton, the Senatereceived from the Illinois House of Representatives a Bill ofImpeachment against Gov. Blagojevich. The Bill of Impeachmentoutlined a pattern of abuse of power by the Governor.The Bill of Impeachment, passed by the House of Representatives114-1 Oakley women, described an unbelievable frenzy of fundraising, the purposeof which was to fund a massive political machine directed by thegovernor.The sworn testimony in the House of Representatives includedallegations that citizens were pressured into paying substantialcontributions to the governor in order to obtain public positionsof service, as well as state contracts.This massive effort of fundraising brought into state governmentmen such as Tony Rezko, Ali Ata, Joseph Cari and others, whosubverted the law in order to reward themselves and to raisemillions of dollars for the governor. All of these individuals wereconvicted in U.S. courts.The House of Representatives also had in its record documentsfiled under oath in the courts of the United States, as well aswarrants issued by U.S. magistrates that were based upon probablecause to believe that Blagojevich was continuing in this effort ofrewarding himself by selling the U.S. Senate seat formerly held byPresident Barack Obama, as well as withholding a signature on apiece of legislation until he received a substantial campaigncontribution. The allegations in the federal complaint also containevidence that he threatened to withhold $8 million from achildren's hospital until he received thousands of dollars incampaign contributions from the hospital's CEO.After the Bill of Impeachment was filed in the House, the Senateadopted rules of procedure, sitting as a tribunal and ordered totry the governor on the Bill of Impeachment.The Rules Committee, of which I was a member, establishedliberal rules of evidence allowing both sides to call any witnessesthat they chose, except those barred from the federalprosecutor.Blagojevich's attack on these rules as being unfair was afurther attempt to deceive the citizens of Illinois and to makehimself into a victim. Neither he nor his lawyers participated inmaking the rules, although he was invited Reebok Running. His attacks on theserules were an attempt to intimidate the Senate and to confuse thecitizens. His conduct on national television showed thatBlagojevich was essentially a dishonest man.Pursuant to our rules, Blagojevich could have called anywitnesses that he desired and they could have testified as toanything including hearsay. He could have called his brother, forexample, to testify that the phone conversations that were recordedby the FBI were not as they seemed. He could have called someone totestify that he did not attempt to trade the U.S. Senate seat forsomething when he talked to Rahm Emanuel (President Barack Obama'schief of staff) He could have called people in his administrationto testify that the testimony of the auditor general was false.But Blagojevich chose not to call any witnesses. He chose not tosubmit evidence under oath contradicting any of the prosecutor'sstatements. Blagojevich failure to act in his own defense made ourverdict of guilty inevitable and inescapable.Auditor General William G. Holland testified under oath in theSenate and described the continuing defiance by Blagojevich and hisadministration to the auditor general's repeated demands to accountfor the apparently illegal expenditures of state money (and evenfederal money). The auditor general testified to millions ofdollars being paid to consultants, lawyers, and many types ofvendors without accounting for them, and in defiance of thelegislature, as well as in violation of the law. The administratorof the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, Vicky Thomastestified similarly.The plea agreements in federal court of Rezko Oakley Sunglasses Online, Ata and Cari wereadmitted into evidence showing the same pattern of corruption. Thegovernor's response to all this sworn testimony and corroboratedevidence was to make a political speech in the well of the Senatesaying that what he did was for the good of the people.This has been the common theme of every demagogue in history.These types of rulers believe that the ends justify the means andthe rule of law takes a back seat to the rule by a benevolentdictator.The Senate of Illinois found the Blagojevich guilty by unanimousvote (59-0) and removed him as governor. The Senate by a similarvote, barred him from holding any public office in Illinois for therest of his life. Chief Justice of Illinois Thomas Fitzgerald, adistinguished career judge, praised the Senate for its decorum andthe thoroughness with which we conducted this trial.The trial was Yves Saint Laurent Slingbacks, in fact Kids North Face Denali, conducted according to the IllinoisConstitution and in an orderly Reebok Classic, lawful manner. It was not reducedto a circus that the governor had made of it while appearing on aNew York City television circuit.At the beginning of the trial, Fitzgerald gave each member ofthe Senate an oath to "do justice according to law in the matter ofthe impeachment of Governor Rod Blagojevich." I can say, in goodconscience, that we fulfilled that oath.Bill Haine is a Democratic state senator from Alton.Related Topics Articles：

• cheap Oakley The north face online Escape from Europe a trip to
• the north face jackets the north face jackets Bush CIA destroyed videos o
• Oakley Sunglasses Online the north face coats WATERLOO 'Whodunnit' ticket w