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Blago ally Jones urges caution on impeachment

By Kurt Erickson, The Southern Springfield Bureau

Monday, January 12, 2009 11:07 PM CST

SPRINGFIELD - When Gov. Rod Blagojevich goes on trial in the Illinois Senate later this month, his closest ally in the Legislature in recent years won't be there to back him up.

Senate President Emil Jones, who has stood with Blagojevich throughout his battles with the General Assembly, ends a 36-year career in state government when he retires today.

On Monday, Jones urged his colleagues to be cautious when they take up the issue of Blagojevich's impeachment Jan. 26.

"Maybe all the evidence may point in one direction, but it may be the wrong person," Jones said. "We don't have all the facts."

His comments come in the wake of Friday's 114-1 vote in the House to impeach the governor for abuse of power.

Jones said the House vote was not a surprise, given the governor's long-running problems with that chamber.

He said he hopes the Senate trial will be an even-handed affair.

"I trust that those who are in the process of running it will look at fairness and look at equal representation on all sides of the issue and not just play to something that's going to get them headlines in the press," Jones said.

Jones, a Chicago Democrat, compared Blagojevich's situation to former Gov. George Ryan's decision to impose a moratorium on the death penalty out of concern that an innocent man or woman could be executed.

"What happened to most of those wrongfully convicted individuals, they were rushed through a process," Jones said.

A special committee has spent the last few weeks setting out a blueprint for how the governor's impeachment trial will be handled in the Senate.

When the Senate convenes the trial, Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Fitzgerald will serve as the head of the proceedings. Each senator will serve as a juror and judge at the same time. A two-thirds majority vote - or 40 of 59 senators - will be required to find the governor guilty and remove him from office.

At an event in Springfield on Monday, Fitzgerald had no comment when asked about the upcoming trial.

Blagojevich on Monday signed one piece of legislation and went for a jog, a spokesman said. The governor is due in Springfield on Wednesday to preside over the swearing-in of the Senate.

Jones said he had no apologies for often siding with a governor who has been impeached and is charged with federal corruption.

"Through it all, I have few regrets," Jones said.

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