Video: Madigan says impeachment will take longer than expected
posted at 4:14 pm on December 16, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
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Fox News interviewed Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan today after the lower body voted unanimously to pursue impeachment. Madigan explains the process at length in this clip, and includes a few surprises:
Apparently, the impeachment process in Illinois does not require a showing of “high crimes and misdemeanors.” It’s a purely political process, which still requires supermajorities in both chambers for impeachment and removal. All their constitution says is that the House will be the sole judge of the causes for impeachment, which allows the House to take up the argument — offered by Madigan’s daughter, the Attorney General — that his arrest incapacitates Blagojevich politically to the point requiring removal.
Will Blagojevich back down? It doesn’t look like it. His high-powered attorney, Ed Genson, wants to appear before the impeachment committee to challenge their standing as well as their procedures. Madigan thinks that will delay the process considerably, although I’m not sure how. The state constitution gives the House the widest possible latitude in determining cause, and they have plenary standing to consider the question. But if Blagojevich had any thoughts about resigning, he wouldn’t be sending Genson to Springfield to gum up the works.
Madigan once again tries to distance himself from Blagojevich in this interview, claiming now that he refused to meet with the governor for a year after learning what kind of person he is. That seems mighty convenient, considering (a) Blagojevich had been governor for the five years previous, (b) Madigan served as a co-chair on his re-election campaign, and (c) Madigan hadn’t bothered to tell anyone that story until after Blagojevich’s arrest.
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Blago is telling all his buddies from top to bottom, I will burn you all with a flamethrower if you think I am your patsy.
rob verdi on December 16, 2008 at 4:18 PM
Most Obama-voters will be incapable of connecting the dots between this cesspit of corruption and their messiah.
LimeyGeek on December 16, 2008 at 4:23 PM
I’m sure the coverup, arrangements for diverting the payoffs and for hushing up any witnesses to Obama’s connection to this will take some time, agreed.
NoDonkey on December 16, 2008 at 4:26 PM
Madigan and his power-hungry daughter…it sounds like political incest…
Blago should stick a big finger in their eyes and at any moment appoint a senatorial replacement for Obama, with whom they’d totally disagree, just because he can.
Entelechy on December 16, 2008 at 4:26 PM
Maybe now the rest of the country will understand the type of out of control corrupt nonsense we of Illinois have to tolerate from these lunkheaded elected officials.
Madigan likes to paint himself as The Most Powerful Politician In The State.
I will be willing to bet that up until the time you read this story here, you never heard of this clown!
pilamaye on December 16, 2008 at 4:27 PM
Democrats really hate that “need for evidence” stuff.
drjohn on December 16, 2008 at 4:32 PM
The daughter is protecting daddy.
drjohn on December 16, 2008 at 4:32 PM
I’m holding my breath….
/ thud >
Mazztek on December 16, 2008 at 4:32 PM
Phantom collie of the opera says to Blago:
CyberCipher on December 16, 2008 at 4:34 PM
pilamaye, our speaker, Fabián Núñez, also thought to have been “The Most Powerful Politician In The State“. He, upon having to leave due to term limits, which the people voted in, tried to pass a proposition to allow him to go to the CA senate, so he can rape us some more. We gave him a big finger.
Now this. It looks like the Madigans are in it, together, for more and more power.
The voters of Illinois need to get out from under their beds, or away from the shopping centers, or simply out from their apathy, and send all their politicians a clear message. So far, where’s the outrage?
Entelechy on December 16, 2008 at 4:36 PM
What’s funny is Blago ran for two terms on…
you guessed it “change”
Firebird on December 16, 2008 at 4:38 PM
Napolitano was talking about this on Fox and Friends this morning. He says that Blago can’t be impeached without evidence, and Fitz is not releasing the evidence to anyone until he’s ready to take this thing to trial.
What will the impeachment charge be? That he’s accused of a crime and that a prosecutor has made assertions that there exist tapes of him conspiring to sell a seat?
Not defending Blago here, but this is pretty thin for impeachment. What would prevent the unseating of another governor simply by accusing him of a crime? No, this is going to drag on for a while if Blago doesn’t want to go peacefully.
The only thing that can really stop him is an inability to pay for lawyers. But there are probably shysters who would defend him for free, just for the publicity.
Jim62sch on December 16, 2008 at 4:40 PM
This reminds me of a slow-motion film of a train wreck. Sweet.
Vashta.Nerada on December 16, 2008 at 4:40 PM
The longer it drags out, the worse it is for the Dems.
pt on December 16, 2008 at 4:42 PM
I’m going out on a limb here.
1. It’s Illinois.
2. The quote stands for itself.
Here it goes for the showcase prize-o-ramo: I am making an educated guess. Uh, I am so nervous {really don’t want to go to re-education camp}.
O.K., my answer is that the Madigans are from the same democratic political machine that
polishedObama escaped and unscathed and remains, forever,p.s. Did I get to avoid re-education camp?
Branch Rickey on December 16, 2008 at 4:48 PM
Clinton personal secretary, Betty Currie, now answers phones at Obama headquarters… Developing…on Drudge.
Talk about inbreeding. I told you, repeatedly, E pluribus tres: Bill, Hillary, and Barack, a.k.a. King Tut
Entelechy on December 16, 2008 at 4:48 PM
I am for whatever course of action leads to a special election for the vacant Senate seat. I hate Blago with a passion, but if his obstinence forces the legislature to pursue a special election than I’m for Blago hanging on. As pitiful as the Illinois Rep. Party is, this is a chance to pick up a seat.
Muletrain on December 16, 2008 at 4:51 PM
Instructions for the next occupant of the Illinois Executive Mansion.
Dear New Governor:
1 Please do not throw chicken bones and other waste products out the windows.
2 Please do not extinguish lit cigarette butts on the expensive Persian rugs.
3 Guest bedrooms will henceforth no longer be used for prostitution purposes.
4 Please refrain from smashing whiskey bottles against decorative mirrors.
5 The bidet is NOT a drinking fountain.
MaiDee on December 16, 2008 at 4:52 PM
As an Illinois resident I can tell you that there is bad blood between Blagojevich and Madigan and has been for several years.
Sheerq on December 16, 2008 at 4:52 PM
Branch Rickey on December 16, 2008 at 4:53 PM
Good. The longer the fight the better. The bloodier the better too.
There. Is that bi-partisan enough?
petefrt on December 16, 2008 at 4:54 PM
I read that Madigan’s daughter, the IL attorney general, is the person who Lt. Governor Quinn was considering appointing to the Senate seat if Blago is impeached. The following doesn’t prove that, but both Madigan’s have a conflict of interest, although perhaps that’s unavoidable in a one-party state.
JiangxiDad on December 16, 2008 at 4:55 PM
“Mr. Obama, Ms. Barker is on line 2. She will be bringing a pizza and your Christmas gift later.”
Brat on December 16, 2008 at 4:56 PM
Whew! Thought it was just me!
Branch Rickey on December 16, 2008 at 4:56 PM
The whole state of Illinois government seems to be one big conflict of interest … their self interests conflict with the people who elected them.
Done That on December 16, 2008 at 5:01 PM
Maybe President-Elect could send some Illinois rappers et al like he did for Doofus Martin here. Oh yeah, Saxby Chambliss won that one….
Branch Rickey on December 16, 2008 at 5:01 PM
ROFLMAO
Branch Rickey on December 16, 2008 at 5:05 PM
I thought that was state senator Jimmy DeLeo. (Who, btw, is both Rahm Emanuel and Blago’s local Democratic committee man, if you want connections.)
irishspy on December 16, 2008 at 5:05 PM
Blago should stick a big finger in their eyes and at any moment appoint a senatorial replacement for Obama, with whom they’d totally disagree, just because he can.
Entelechy on December 16, 2008 at 4:26 PM
+1
Hoist The Jolly Roger
Caststeel on December 16, 2008 at 5:06 PM
Who’d have thunk, with Obama’s electoral coronation, that we would all become impossibly entangled and embroiled in Chicago thug chicanery? Hmmmmm? This is truly a revoltingly vomitous development. Whoopee, we are all Chicagoans now whether we like it or not.
marybel on December 16, 2008 at 5:08 PM
Hmmmmm….
I’m still leaning towards Fitz knowing where all the bodies are buried and giving The Black Caesar time to cremate them before too much gets out. Meanwhile, Blago and his attorney know they only have a fighting chance if he remains Governor. History is full of cases of ex-politicians that are left to die once they are out of the statehouse.
Obama is going to have to sacrifice Rahm and put this bitch Madigan in his Senate seat to move past this issue. She played the loyal soldier by embarassing herself in front of the state supreme court and daddy has his finger on the political trigger that will either make her Senator or Governor.
I’d say Obama blinks first and throws Rahm under the bus (”Have a Kwazy Kwanza, motherf*^ker.”), pleads ignorance and claims it is a local issue for Illinois to handle. Madigan, the vader, pulls the trigger on Blago quickly and they all vote the kid into the Senate.
One side benefit is that if this all occurs around the time Hillary is confirmed it will make that former cokehead, NY Governor Patterson see the writing on the wall and go with some upstate Latina he wanted before Princess Caroline stuck her nose into NY politics.
grdred944 on December 16, 2008 at 5:15 PM
Schadenfreude is so sweet especially in this case. Usually it takes financial disaster, famine, war or pestilence to
oustdisturb a fascist. Now we have the best of the worst all at once. A fascist too busy with his own problems to be effective at increasing the people’s pain. The codepends media is still covering but that blanket now has a lot of singular motion.The recently anointed, er, appointed are in the Dick Cheney place and even Bambi is redeveloping his speech patterns and echo chamber.
And The President-in-law-elect still has a month before the coronation.
Playing Mikado
Flying 49 Stars and Stripes
Caststeel on December 16, 2008 at 5:21 PM
if the stool samples were intelligent enough to connect dots they would have voted for the other dem. on the ballot.
thomasaur on December 16, 2008 at 5:26 PM
Blago’s only mistake was trying to extort something from The Obama. Had he not done that, none of this would have happened.
Now The O will make an example of Blago. Don’t mess with the O.
Are you getting this Nancy?
Skandia Recluse on December 16, 2008 at 5:31 PM
All these Democrat Illinois pols (and Madigan is their current spokesperson) are concerned about what happens when the impeachment rock fight really breaks out. Blago has nothing to lose at this point, so he will be likely to heave a rock or two during that process. And, a protracted process will keep the light on the Illinois pols, and the higher probability that that would keep reporters interested in “pay to play” and similar stories.
In that sense, drjohn is correct that the daughter is protecting Daddy. He and the members of the Legislature do not really want to go through an impeachment. But after all the pressure over the weekend, they simply had no choice but to vote to initiate the process. They are all painfully aware that her “removal” petition to the Illinois Supreme Court was woefully inadequate. They must all just be hoping the court will ignore the (lack of) merits of the petition, and just approve it, thus pulling their irons out of the fire.
But the fact that Madigan is out there saying that there are no real impeachment standards, and that it will take a long time, may really be an indirect response to critics of her petition to the Court. Her petition anticipated the state’s Supreme Court arriving at the conclusion that Blago is somehow “otherwise disabled,” with absolutely no suggestion whatsoever of what process or standards the Court would use to somehow arrive at that conclusion! Talk about “first the sentence, then the verdict!”
Whatever conclusion they arrived at would surely not be based on a fundamental presumption of innocence, now would it? Hell, he hasn’t even been indicted yet!
Critics of her position had argued that with impeachment, there would at least be some form of factual aggregation process that would form the basis for a conclusion that he should be impeached. Madigan is now saying that the impeachment process is essentially the same, perhaps wishfully trying to figure out a way to rehabilitate his daughter’s ill-conceived idea. So in that sense, it’s mutual.
What the Democrats definitely do not want is an election to fill the seat, regardless of what BO and Dick Durbin have said.
Imagine the idea of turning to the people to decide who their Senator should be! The nerve!
Trochilus on December 16, 2008 at 5:39 PM
MaiDee
You don’t live in Illinois, I can tell…. our governor’s mansion has been EMPTY since Blago took office. He lives and works in Chicago – coming to Springfield, our capital, only when absolutely necessary….
By the way, Obama came from that same background…..
mkosin on December 16, 2008 at 5:50 PM
The ooze is spreading.
notagool on December 16, 2008 at 5:51 PM
If Alan Keyes suddenly changes residence again, that’ll be our tip off.:)
a capella on December 16, 2008 at 6:14 PM
I’ll bet Gov. Blago is still in office come 4/1/2009.
patch on December 16, 2008 at 7:00 PM
Give them hell Blago. Fight! Fight! Fight!
mindhacker on December 16, 2008 at 7:17 PM
I hope Blago goes completely apeshit before this is over. Stack sandbags outside your office. Declare war on Iowa. Appoint another Kennedy as senator.
alex342 on December 16, 2008 at 7:51 PM
Are there any Kennedy kinfolk living in Illinois?
Red State State of Mind on December 16, 2008 at 9:27 PM
Perfect!!
BigWyo on December 16, 2008 at 9:41 PM
I posted awhile back that Our Savior That is Obama has a whole lot of bills coming due. He has the most slimy POS in history, Axelrod, to sort it all out. And Emanuel to put the gloss on it.
Hope and Change My Ass….the sorry son of a bitch hasn’t even taken office yet…
HEllo????
BigWyo on December 16, 2008 at 9:48 PM
Well now, that’s a BIG surprise, isn’t it? They were working on an investigation of Blago for over a year for other corruption issues. Seems to me they could just pick up where they left off, and get this done before Christmas. What’s the hold up? Bet they’re all trying to cover their own arse’s before they boot his. What a bunch of dogs. There must be a Capone genetic pool in that place and the inbreeding just continues on.
hopefloats on December 17, 2008 at 1:17 AM
Hope and Change My Ass
BigWyo on December 16, 2008
Now that’s a bumper sticker!
SKYFOX on December 17, 2008 at 5:10 AM
Actually, it is a known fact here in Illinois that Mike “THE Most POWERFUL Politician In The State” Madigan wants his daughter to be the next Governor.
The original fear she had was that Blago was going to appoint her to take B.O.’s Senate seat, thus eliminating who he considered to be his chief rival for his anticipated 3rd term in office.
But, as we now all know, the chances of his running for a 3rd term are now somewhere between zilch and none.
pilamaye on December 17, 2008 at 7:35 AM
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