Blagojevich Wants To Make 'Closing Argument' At Impeachment Trial

As the odds are continuously stacked up against him, embattled Illinois State Governor Rod Blagojevich continues to make quite the scene.

Early December, Rod Blagojevich was arrested and charged of trying to sell a US Senate seat for favors. The US Senate seat was vacated by Barack Obama who had won the United States Presidency back on November 4, 2008. As a result, the Blagojevich scandal became quite the interesting event for December. This event continues on through January of this year. So far, it was financially expensive for Blagojevich. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan had appealed to the Illinois Supreme Court during the time to have Blagojevich’s powers stripped. However, the appeal was denied. Blagojevich’s lawyer at the time, Edward Genson, requested the State of Illinois to pay for Blagojevich’s defense. Madigan denied the request. That looked to be Madigan’s way of telling Blagojevich to pay for his defense with his own dime. There was at least a chaos in Washington DC as a result. Senate Democrats said that they will not seat anybody appointed by Blagojevich. Blagojevich would appoint former Illinois AG Roland Burris to fill Obama’s seat. Burris would be the first African-American US Senator. After the controversy the US Senate overwhelmingly approved Burris to fill the seat. It did temporarily take the heat off of Blagojevich. Now the heat is back on Blagojevich in full effect. Back on January 16, it was announced that Genson had dropped out of the impeachment trial against Blagojevich. In that sense, Blagojevich is left stranded without a paddle. Several days ago, Blagojevich called the whole impeachment trial a “sham.” The next day, Blagojevich claimed that state lawmakers were “plotting” against him. Now, Blagojevich wants to make a “closing statement” at his impeachment trial. The emphasis is on “closing statement.” It does not mean Blagojevich is going to testify or go before a cross-examination. “I don’t think he’s going down there to resign, I think he’s going down to make his appeal to the senators,” said Blagojevich spokesman Lucio Guerrero. GOP State Senator Dan Cronin said that it was cowardly on Blagojevich’s part. They did support Blagojevich’s request to make a closing statement at the impeachment trial.