Blagojevich Busted

CHICAGO (CBS) ― For the first time in its history, the Illinois Senate on Thursday removed a sitting governor, convicting Rod Blagojevich for abusing the powers of his office, including alleged attempts to shake down campaign donors and trying to sell a U.S. Senate seat.

The vote to impeach was 59-0. The senate then voted to prevent Blagojevich from ever holding public office again in Illinois.

"Today we mark a shameful, low ... in our state,'' said Senate President John Cullerton after the vote. "We find no pleasure in today's outcome.''

Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn now becomes Illinois governor. Quinn had served for two terms under Blagojevich, but they had little in common. In fact, Quinn has said the two have not spoken in more than a year and Blagojevich said last year that Quinn wasn't even part of his administration.

Quinn is a 60-year-old former state treasurer and tax attorney. He is best known for his grass-roots efforts to cut big government and protect the little guy.

Blagojevich made a futile, last-ditch attempt to save his political life, pleading with senators earlier Thursday to allow him to remain in power.

"I am here to give you my side of the story,'' he said in a closing statement. "How can you throw a governor out of office on a criminal complaint when you haven't proven any criminal activity?"

Blagojevich said he would never resign because "I didn't do anything wrong.'' He said his conviction would set a dangerous precedent for future governors. He then left the statehouse though an underground tunnel and was back in Chicago before the Senate ousted him.

After the vote, Blagojevich said: 'The fix was in."

The conviction came following a four-day trial in which senators heard evidence that appeared to show the governor attempting to sell Barack Obama's former U.S. Senate seat to the highest bidder.

They also heard audio tapes that caught the governor allegedly trying to secure a $100,000 donation in exhange for legislation favoring the horse racing industry.

Evidence was also introduced detailing how the governor violated the state's consitution, by evading hiring laws and wasting taxpayer dollars.

The news brings to a close an astonishing series of events that began with the governor's arrest on Dec. 9.

Federal prosecutors accused the governor of a series of corruption charges, which included the Senate seat-selling scheme as well as an attempt to bully the Chicago Tribune to fire editorial writers who were critical of the governor. He also was accused of soliticing payments in return for state business, so-called "pay to play'' schemes.

Blagojevich's respones to the charges became a national embarrassment. On the day of his impeachment by the House, he went for a jog. He then held a series of news conferences in which he refused to defend himself, calling the trial a "farce, unfair" and a "sham'' because it denied him his constitutional right to a fair trial.

However, the chief House prosecutor, David Ellis, argued that impeachment was not a criminal proceeding, but a political one.

The governor also went on a media blitz the day his trial opened, appearing all all the major network morning news shows as well as ''The View'' on ABC and CNN's "Larry King Live.''

On his appearance on the ''Today Show'' he compared himself to Dr. Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Gandhi . He said he gained inspiration from those men after his arrest and vowed to fight the charges against him.

At one point he also attemped to compare his plight to that of President Nixon.

"Before they remove a governor who's been elected twice by the people, hear the whole truth, every tape," Gov. Blagojevich told CBS 2 after returning from New York earlier this week. "Richard Nixon, during Watergate, fought tooth and nail to keep those tapes from being heard because he knew there was something wrong on there. Me? I'm the opposite, the anti-Nixon. I want every one of those tapes heard in the impeachment trial, and every witness called in."

Since his election in 2002, Blagojevich repeatedly clashed with lawmakers over budgets, ethics reforms and health care. He angered lawmakers by rarely appearing in Springfield, preferring to do his work either at home or at his campaign office on the Nortwest Side.

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