Blagojevich convicted, thrown out of office

By a vote of 59-0, the Illinois State Senate decided to remove Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D-IL) from office. Although Gov Blagojevich appeared before the Senate to defend himself in a speech, the Senators were unmoved in the face of evidence from witnesses and secret wiretaps that appeared to show that Blagojevich schemed to profit from his official actions, including an alleged effort to sell Obama's former Senate seat and to force the firing of Chicago Tribune editorial writers by threatening to withhold $150 million in state money for Wrigley Field, owned by the Tribune Company. Senators noted that Blagojevich refused to be questioned under oath about the 13 alleged misdeeds that House prosecutor David Ellis called an unmistakable pattern of abuse of power.