Blago Blitzes TV Again Tomorrow

(NEWSER) - Rod Blagojevich remained unapologetic after the Illinois Senate added him to the ranks of the unemployed today, MSNBC reports. "I'm obviously saddened and disappointed by what's happened, but not surprised," said the impeached governor. "It's a very dangerous precedent to set because a whole bunch of politicians have their own agenda." He vowed to clear his name. "I love the people of Illinois today more than I ever have before," he said. More»

(NEWSER) - The Illinois Senate voted unanimously today to impeach Gov. Rod Blagojevich and remove him from office, the Chicago Tribune reports. Senators also barred him from holding any future office in the state. Blagojevich, accused of essentially putting a Senate seat up for sale, appeared before the body earlier in the day to assert his innocence. "You haven't proved a crime, and you can't because it didn't happen," he said. More»

Meanwhile, lawyer complains of a lack of 'standard of proof' in impeachment proceedings

(NEWSER) - Illinois’ top court today rejected the state attorney general’s motion to have Rod Blagojevich declared unfit to be governor due to corruption charges against him, the Chicago Tribune reports, even as his lawyer charged that members of a state House committee looking into impeachment wouldn’t give Blagojevich a fair shake. Attorney Ed Genson also requested a special prosecutor, and that taxpayer money pay for Blagojevich's defense. More»

Ex-gov bashes his trial, his successor; jokes about hair and lack of progress on book

(NEWSER) - Morning drive-time radio could be the future for Rod Blagojevich, if the impeached Illinois’ governor’s fill-in stint today on Chicago’s WLS-AM is anything to go by, Jimmy Orr writes in live-blogging the show for the Christian Science Monitor. Amid Elvis theme music and complaints about his successor’s proposed tax hike, the “natural radio host” responded to jokes about his hair and the book he’s writing. More»

(NEWSER) - John Ruff, a former associate of Roland Burris and his staff, is claiming Burris planned all along to make a trade with then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich for the Senate seat he now holds. The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Ruff, then a participant in the effort to get the seat for Burris, was told by Burris aide Fred Lebed, “We’ll have to do some things for the governor.” More»