Blagojevich Impeachment Trial Begins

Monday was the first day of Gov Rod Blagojevich's impeachment trial in Illinois. But the governor was not present in the Illinois Senate chamber. Instead he was in New York making a flurry of appearances on the national television talk show circuit. Gov Blagojevich (D) faces the state's first impeachment trial of a governor and, eventually, federal corruption charges. In an opening statement, a House prosecutor said Gov Blagojevich had tried to trade the United States Senate seat vacated by President Obama for a lucrative job or cash, to secure campaign money in return for state contracts and jobs, and to ignore laws and state legislators in enacting policies on prescription drugs, health care and flu vaccines. "At a time when Illinois was celebrating one of its own, this chamber's own, to the highest office in the land, the governor was finding a way to try to personally benefit," said David Ellis, the House prosecutor. Phone calls intercepted by the federal authorities with the governor's own words, Mr. Ellis promised, will show that he "put his office up for sale."