Mr. Blagojevich, a two-term Democrat who was arrested last week on federal charges of conspiracy and soliciting bribes and accused, among other things, of trying to sell the Senate seat, did not appear before the impeachment inquiry committee.
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But his team of lawyers, including Edward Genson, a fiery criminal defense lawyer well-known in Illinois after more than four decades in Chicago courtrooms, made its first appearance here, describing the lawmakers’ efforts as a “real witch hunt” and offering a series of pointed objections about the state’s vague standards for impeachment, the lawmakers’ use of the federal criminal complaint against the governor as evidence in their inquiry, and at least three lawmakers he said could not be fair.
“This is Alice in Wonderland,” Mr. Genson announced at one point, in a series of contentious, snippy exchanges in the public hearings at the Capitol. “I think it’s unfair to put in hearsay,” he said at another point, referring to the 78-page criminal complaint against Mr. Blagojevich, which lawmakers heard read aloud much of the day. “I think it’s unfair to put in anonymous people. I think it’s unfair to deprive him of confrontation. I think it’s unfair to do all those things.”
The day’s events seemed to mark the first upbeat developments for Mr. Blagojevich in what has been an avalanche of accusations and criticisms against him for more than a week. It was enough, it seemed, that a lighthearted Mr. Blagojevich, who had until now been avoiding reporters and the public, invited a Chicago Tribune photographer to join him on his jog (offering his commentary on the head-clearing benefits of running), and suggested that he will soon tell his story — as early, Mr. Genson said, as Friday. Already, Mr. Genson provided one insight into Mr. Blagojevich’s thinking: the governor will not now, he said, try to appoint someone to fill Mr. Obama’s Senate seat. “Harry Reid said they’re not going to accept anybody he picks,” Mr. Genson said of Mr. Blagojevich. “Why would he do that?”
Lawmakers seemed unfazed by all of Mr. Genson’s critiques of the impeachment process and said they would move forward.
“The governor’s lawyer did a pretty good job of throwing up dust, but I don’t know that he did a good enough job to make either the members of the committee, nor the people of Illinois watching him on their television screens, decide that the governor is as innocent as a newborn lamb,” Representative Barbara Flynn Currie, the chairwoman of the impeachment committee, said after the hearing ended for the day. “The standards that govern what we are about are very different from those that govern in a criminal trial.”
Mr. Genson, who is also serving as Mr. Blagojevich’s lawyer in his criminal case, has asked the state to pay for his work on the impeachment case. Mr. Genson filed a request with Ms. Madigan, arguing that the attorney general would, under normal circumstances, represent him on official business.
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Because Ms. Madigan, also seen as a political rival of Mr. Blagojevich, a fellow Democrat, sought to remove him in the State Supreme Court, Mr. Genson argued that she had a conflict and could not represent him before the impeachment committee. He said she was now obligated to appoint others — Mr. Genson and two other lawyers, Mr. Genson suggested — to carry out that duty.
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Ms. Madigan, her office said, has yet to respond.
Last week, Ms. Madigan had argued in a complaint filed with the court that “the pervasive nature and severity” of the federal corruption case against Mr. Blagojevich had rendered him “incapable of legitimately exercising his ability as governor.”
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On Wednesday, she said she was disappointed that the court had rejected her argument, and said the state found itself in an “unsustainable situation.” Like many here, Ms. Madigan said she was now hopeful that lawmakers would move “with deliberate speed” in the impeachment inquiry that began on Tuesday and is expected to run through weekends until it is done — days or weeks from now.
Lawmakers here acknowledged that they were still sorting through the parameters of such an inquiry, barely tested in Illinois and never completed in the case of a governor.
They have yet to work out potential conflicts with federal prosecutors in Chicago, though conversations were continuing, Ms. Currie told reporters. “I think they would be a little fearful if we had full access to their whole range of witnesses, that Mr. Genson would basically run this as his criminal trial before he gets to the real one,” she said.
Mr. Genson said the evidence he had seen in the hearing in a single day — including the reading of snippets of prosecutors’ recorded conversations in which Mr. Blagojevich, the prosecutors say, seems to demand a high-paying job, donations and a cabinet post in exchange for the Senate seat — was insufficient.
“The fact of the matter is, what we have seen so far isn’t something that should be used as evidence in a courtroom, in a hearing, in a committee meeting,” Mr. Genson said. “It’s just not right.”
Rod Blagojevich, the United States governor of Illinois, will retain his position of governor after the Illinois Supreme Court stopped an effort to have him removed from office. Blagojevich insists that he is innocent and has done nothing to break the law. The court refused to hear the attorney-general's case to impeach Blagojevich on accusations that the latter was politically and legally unable to work.
Rod Blagojevich
Lisa Madigan, the state attorney general, voiced her disappointment over the ruling, saying that the governor's refusal to step down has resulted in an "unsustainable situation" in the state.

Blagojevich was arrested last week on charges that he tried to 'sell' President-elect Barack Obama's Senate seat after the latter vacated it in order to become President. Blagojevich was wiretapped, and was recorded discussing the trading or selling of Obama's Senate seat. However, Blagojevich's lawyer, Edward Genson, argued to the House committee that the statements do not amount to illegal actions.

"This proceeding, which is basing its findings on the summary of wiretaps, is unfair and quite frankly illegal. The fact of the matter is, we in this case object, and object vociferously, to the use of this," he said.

The Illinois General Assembly can remove Blagojevich by impeachment. The proceedings to start the process of impeachment started on Monday. 

Blagojevich wants the state of Illinois to pay off his legal fees.