Blagojevich defends Senate appointment

Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Tuesday defiantly defended his appointment to fill
President-elect Obama’s Senate seat as Democratic Senate leaders
threatened not to seat his choice.

Saying he was required by state law and that Illinois would have been underserved otherwise, Blagojevich hailed former state Attorney General Roland Burris as a man of “unquestioned integrity” with a “long and distinguished career.”

{mosads}The governor noted that Burris was once a political opponent and urged Burris be considered separately from his own ethical charges.

“Don’t allow the allegations against me to taint this good and honest man,” Blagojevich said, adding at the close of the press conference, “I’m not guilty of anything.”

In a chaotic, disjointed question-and-answer session with reporters, Burris did not rule out running again and expressed surprise when told that he and his law firm had given $14,000 in campaign contributions to Blagojevich.

Blagojevich, for his part, tried to focus the spotlight on Burris, telling reporters he “absolutely” had confidence that Burris would be seated and that the focus should be on Burris and not his own case.

Illinois Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn responded to Blagojevich’s press conference with one of his own, in which he called Blagojevich’s appointment of Burris “an insult to the people of Illinois” and said the governor should immediately resign or face probable impeachment by the legislature.

Quinn also noted that Burris himself had urged Blagojevich to resign after the charges against the governor were made public, and said that Burris had made a mistake in accepting the governor’s offer.

“His original point of view, which I think was the right point of view of the people of Illinois and indeed our whole country, was that Gov. Blagojevich is unfit to serve,” Quinn said. “I think he made a mistake in accepting the appointment.”

But Burris received support from Illinois Democratic Reps. Danny Davis and Bobby Rush.

“Roland Burris is worthy,” Rush said at the press conference. “He has not in 40 years of service had one iota of taint on his record as a public servant. … My prayers have been answered because I prayed certainly that the governor will continue the legacy established by President-elect Obama and would appoint an African-American to complete the term of president-elect Obama.

“With Obama’s departure from the Senate there would be no African-American members of the upper chamber. Burris will fill that void.”

“Roland is a good choice,” Davis said in a telephone interview with The Hill. “Roland Burris has an impeccable record of public service. Some people would say he’s about as clean as a hound’s tooth.”

Republicans criticized the pick. Illinois Republican Party Chairman Andy McKenna blamed the Illinois
legislature for pushing Blagojevich into making the appointment, noting
that state lawmakers this month failed to pass legislation to establish
a special election. He also took the chance to take a swipe at Burris,
calling him a “Blagojevich Democrat.”

“Illinois Republicans were
the first to demand Rod Blagojevich have nothing to do with appointing
our next United States senator,” McKenna said. “Roland Burris is
emblematic of the old-school, pay-to-play culture that has plagued
Illinois for generations, and this appointment is another embarrassment
for the people of Illinois.”

Sen. John Cornyn (Texas), the incoming chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, singled out Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) while blasting Democrats for failing to prevent Blagojevich from naming a replacement.

“Responsibility for this latest Constitutional crisis facing the State of Illinois lies at the feet of national and state Democrats, and particularly Reid,” Cornyn said. Reid “was the first national Democratic leader to oppose a special election” to fill the seat.”

Cornyn called on the Senate to refuse to seat Burris. Reid, Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and “all Senate Democrats should join Republicans in supporting a special election to fill this seat. There is no other appropriate way for this process to move forward without the stench of corruption of political gamesmanship attached to it,” Cornyn said.

Blagojevich’s action directly contradicts Senate Democratic Leaders — Reid, Durbin, outgoing Democratic Senatorial Campaign Chairman Charles Schumer (N.Y.) and Senate Democratic Conference Secretary Patty Murray (Wash.) — who issued a joint statement blasting Blagojevich and said they will block his seating precisely because of the charges facing the governor.

Reid spoke with Durbin, Schumer and other party leaders by phone to decide their response before issuing the joint statement.

“It is truly regrettable that despite requests from all 50 Democratic senators and public officials throughout Illinois, Gov. Blagojevich would take the imprudent step of appointing someone to the United States Senate who would serve under a shadow and be plagued by questions of impropriety,” the statement said.

{mospagebreak}The two leaders emphasized they were not judging Burris, but simply noting the ethical cloud over Blagojevich and the fact that the Senate faces a heavy legislative calendar in January. They repeated their call on Blagojevich to resign and their threat to refuse any appointment he makes.

“It is unfair to Mr. Burris, it is unfair to the people of Illinois and it will ultimately not stand,” the statement said.

Burris refused to speculate on the possibility of the Senate not seating him.

{mosads}“That’s the process that we must look forward to. I’m honored that I am appointed, and we’ll look at the next step in the process,” Burris said at the presser.

Questions remain as to what authority the Senate has when it comes to accepting or rejecting a gubernatorial appointment.

Associate Senate Historian Don Ritchie said the four examples since 1913 include Democrat Theodore Bilbo of Mississippi, who died while a Senate committee was investigating corruption charges against him in 1947; Republican Frank Smith of Illinois, whom the Senate voted against seating due to corruption charges in 1928, and Democrats Henry Clayton and Franklin Glass of Alabama, both of whom withdrew their bids in 1913 after a dispute arose over the governor’s authority to appoint them.

Ritchie also said senators are often seated but then investigated by the chamber’s Rules Committee to determine whether any charges against the senator have merit.

That was the case with Sen. Mary Landrieu, Ritchie noted for example. The Louisiana Democrat won a narrow election in 1996 and was seated while the Rules Committee probed charges of voter fraud before ultimately exonerating Landrieu after 10 months


But Ritchie conceded the Blagojevich situation was different. “We really haven’t had a case like this,” he said. “There’s just nothing quite comparable.”

Reid and Durbin also threatened Blagojevich that “should you decide to ignore the request of the Senate Democratic Caucus and make an appointment, we would be forced to exercise our constitutional authority under Article I, Section 5, to determine whether such a person should be seated.”

Blagojevich’s move Tuesday surprised even his own lawyer, who said only a week and a half ago that the governor would not make an appointment.

Burris, 71 and African-American, is a former Illinois comptroller as well as attorney general. He was Blagojevich’s Democratic primary opponent in the 2002 governor’s race and was endorsed by Obama in that primary battle.

Burris and Blagojevich have long since patched over any differences — Burris praised the governor to the Chicago Sun-Times in 2006.

“I can’t see how anyone can say he is not governing,” Burris said at the time. “I think he is doing a helluva job.”


Blagojevich’s move comes despite allegations that he attempted to sell Obama’s seat for his personal benefit, according to a complaint filed by U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, which cited wiretapped conversations.


Burris was not on the list of preferred candidates that Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s incoming White House chief of staff, sent over to Blagojevich’s staff.


An Obama spokesman said the transition team had no comment on Blagojevich’s move “right now.”

After Blagojevich’s initial arrest, Reid and Durbin both reacted early, pressing him not to make any appointment. At a Dec. 9 press conference, Durbin called for a special election, saying, “No appointment by this governor under these circumstances can produce a credible replacement.”

A day later, in a letter to Blagojevich written by Reid and Durbin and signed by all other Democratic senators, the Democratic leaders told the embattled governor “any appointment by you would raise serious questions … For the good of the Senate and our nation, we implore you to refrain from making an appointment to the Senate.”

Aaron Blake, Mike Soraghan and Reid Wilson contributed to this article.

This article was updated at 4:34 p.m.