News From

State Representative Ron Stephens

For Immediate Release: January 28, 2009

Contact: Rep. Stephens

618-651-0405

Senate Removes Governor from Power

Springfield…. The Illinois Senate voted to remove Democrat Governor Rod Blagojevich from office today in a unanimous vote, according to Representative Ron Stephens (R-Highland).

“I have to applaud the Senate for taking the steps necessary for Illinois to get back on track,” Rep. Stephens said. “This, now former, Governor has disgraced Illinois through his actions, most recently appearing on countless television shows proclaiming how unfair the Senate impeachment trial was. What he doesn’t understand is the people of Illinois were treated unfairly when they had a sitting governor who cared more about his personal gain than the state he was supposed to be leading.”

The Senate voted to impeach Governor Blagojevich following a week-long impeachment trial, which was led by Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Fitzgerald. During the trial, the Senate heard testimony from FBI agent Daniel Cain regarding the criminal complaint against the Governor. Senators also listened to tape recordings of the Governor discussing pay-to-play schemes involving a piece of legislation impacting the horse racing industry.

Among the impeachable offenses considered by the Senate trial included: attempting to sell the vacant U.S. Senate seat of President Obama for personal gain; attempting to withhold state money for Children’s Memorial Hospital for a campaign contribution, expanding the state’s healthcare system without legislative approval; bribing the Chicago Tribune Company; and using state deals to get campaign contributions.

“As I’ve said before, the Governor was not impeached for just one thing. His impeachment and removal from office were the culmination of his sins,” Stephens said.

Throughout the trial process, the Governor accused the Senate trial of being unfair. The Governor repeatedly argued that the rules didn’t allow him to call witnesses that would be able to defend him. Stephens disagrees saying that the Governor had just as much right and ability as the Senate to call witnesses whose presence and testimony wouldn’t hinder the ongoing federal investigation.

“The rules-making process was an open and cooperative one. It is my understanding that the Governor missed every deadline he was given to appeal the charges or take part in the rules creation,” Stephens said. “How can he sit back and claim the trial was unfair when he didn’t even bother to give his input while the rules were being written?”

Stephens said he is happy the impeachment is behind him and looks forward to working on the big issues currently facing Illinois that have been put on hold as of late.

“There is more hard work ahead of us than I can even express,” Stephens said. “But now that we have a major roadblock removed, we can get to work correcting the problems created in the past six years.”

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