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Panel votes 21-0; House impeachment vote could be Friday

BY KURT ERICKSON, The Southern Springfield Bureau

Thursday, January 8, 2009 6:00 PM CST

SPRINGFIELD -- The Illinois House is expected to vote Friday to impeach Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

After three weeks of testimony and more than 1,000 pages of documents, a panel of lawmakers voted 21-0 Thursday to recommend the full House impeach the governor.

Neither Blagojevich nor his attorneys were present at the hearing when committee members repeatedly described the 52-year-old Democrat as a selfish man who stole the public trust.

 ''The evidence is overwhelmingly damning,'' said state Rep. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet.

Armed with evidence ranging from his Dec. 9 arrest on federal corruption charges to his management of the state during the past six years, many lawmakers said impeachment is inevitable.

''There's no doubt that we're going to impeach him tomorrow, and I think the vote will be unanimous,'' said state Rep. Brandon Phelps, D-Harrisburg.

Some went a step further and suggested the Senate will follow suit and remove the governor from office.

''I am very confident there will be a new governor,'' said state Rep. Mike Boland, D-East Moline.

kurt.erickson@lee.net / (217) 789-0865