Hours after the Illinois House of Representatives voted 114-1 to impeach Gov. Rod Blagojevich on corruption charges that include his allegedly trying to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama, the governor reiterated Friday, "I am not guilty of any criminal wrongdoing."
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich arrives to make a statement Friday, Jan. 9, 2009 in Chicago, after he... Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich arrives to make a statement Friday, Jan. 9, 2009 in Chicago, after he was impeached by the Illinois House on a wide array of offenses including criminal corruption and wasting taxpayers money. The two term Democrat becomes the first governor in the history of Illinois to be impeached. (M. Spencer Green/AP Photo)
"I am confident that at the end of the day, I will be properly exonerated," Blagojevich said at a rambling press conference which ended, as had his first news conference following his Dec. 9 arrest, with his quoting a British poet.
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Blagojevich added that the full House vote was "not a surprise" because, "What the House did today they've been talking about doing for the last couple of years."
He was joined onstage at his news conference by a man in a wheelchair and various other individuals he claimed were helped by his policies, and he blamed the Illinois House for repeatedly standing in the way of his bringing advances to the people of Illinois. He referenced various efforts to extend health care only to be blocked, he said, by a House chamber that "consistently stood in the way of those expansions."
After quoting Rudyard Kipling at an earlier press conference, the governor this time drew from Alfred Lord Tennyson's "Ulysses," reciting, "Though we are not now the strength which in old days moved Earth and Heaven, that which we are, we are. One equal temper, of heroic hearts, made weak by time and by fate, but strong in will, to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."
But in a statement following the impeachment vote, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan once again called upon Blagojevich to yield.
"Gov. Blagojevich has harmed the people of this state, and by refusing to recognize his utter inability to govern effectively, he continues this harm," she said. "I call on the governor, once again, to do what is right, what is best for the people and what is clearly long overdue: The governor should resign immediately."
Impeachment Process
The article of impeachment -- essentially an indictment -- now goes to the state Senate for a trial, which requires a two-thirds vote to convict Blagojevich and remove him from office. The trial will be presided over by the chief justice of the Illinois Supreme Court and could begin as early as Jan. 26.
In the state Senate trial, impeachment managers and Blagojevich will have the opportunity to present witnesses and evidence.
If convicted by the Illinois Senate, Blagojevich would be removed from office and Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn would become acting governor.
The vote to impeach the embattled governor is a dramatic development in an unprecedented chain of events triggered by his Dec. 9 arrest.
The vote came one day after an Illinois House committee investigating Blagojevich unanimously recommended that the full House impeach him for "abuse of power."
The committee cited a litany of corruption allegations, including the attempted sale of Obama's empty Senate seat, extortion of Children's Memorial Hospital, extortion of the Chicago Tribune and various other pay-to-play schemes.
In the panel's draft report released Thursday morning, state lawmakers investigating the governor concluded, "The Special Investigative Committee for the Illinois House of Representatives, 95th General Assembly finds that the totality of the evidence warrants the impeachment of the governor for cause.
"The committee, therefore, recommends that the House consider an Article of Impeachment against the governor."
The governor's office Thursday night called the panel's vote "a foregone conclusion" that was "flawed, biased and did not follow the rules of law."
Rod Blagojevich. 
The Illinois  voted to impeach state governor Rod Blagojevich in a near-unanimous 114-to-1 vote with three representatives not voting.

Blagojevich is facing charges of attempting to sell the state's opening for United States Senator when president-elect Barack Obama takes office on January 20. The vote will now move to the , where a two-thirds majority will be needed to officially remove Blagojevich from the position of .

Blagojevich was arrested on December 9 on suspicion of corruption charges, and was recommended for impeachment after an investigation from the United States House of Representatives. Blagojevich is the first United States governor to be impeached since 1988, when  of Arizona was impeached after a year and three months on the job.

At the beginning of the voting debate, impeachment committee leader , a member of the  and representing Chicago, said that Blagojevich's alleged actions: "Show a public servant who is prepared to turn public service into an avenue for private benefit. They show a public servant who has betrayed his oath of office, who has betrayed the public trust, who is not fit to govern the state of Illinois."

She later said "The totality of the evidence shows that Gov. Blagojevich has forfeited his right to hold office. Whatever their stations, whether petty thieves or governors, those who break the law must not be immune from the consequences and must be held to account for their actions." Milton Patterson, a Democrat also representing Chicago, was the only member of the House of Representatives to vote against the impeachment of Blagojevich, but did not speak in defense of him. 

The report that recommended his impeachment heavily criticized Blagojevich's actions. It stated that "''the governor repeatedly demonstrated that his decision to appoint a senator would not be based on merits of the candidate or on public policy, but rather on how that appointment could benefit him personally.'' It added "''The governor directed various individuals to conduct inquiries on his behalf to negotiate deals for the Senate appointment, affirmatively setting into action a plot to trade the Senate appointment for something of value to the governor.''" 

, a Democratic representative also on the committee, also spoke, saying that "it’s our duty to clean up this mess and stop the freak show that has become government in Illinois. I believe we’re finally doing what we should have done a long time ago."

If Blagojevich's impeachment is ratified by the State Senate, he would immediately be removed from the office of governor and the state's Lieutenant Governor, , would become the state's acting governor.