Washington - Embattled Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich
appointed a replacement Tuesday for the US Senate seat vacated by
president-elect Barack Obama, defying warnings from his own party
that his choice would not be accepted because of the corruption
charges against him.
Blagojevich named former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris,
71, to the post, even as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and other
Democrats said any Blagojevich candidate will not be viewed as
credible and vowed they will not seat the successor.
'Anyone appointed by Governor Blagojevich cannot be an effective
representative of the people of Illinois and, as we have said, will
not be seated by the Democratic Caucus,' Senate Majority Leader Harry
Reid said in a statement.
Federal agents arrested Blagojevich on December 9 on numerous
corruption charges, including a plot to solicit bribes from potential
candidates to replace Obama.
'If I don't make this appointment then the people of Illinois will
be deprived of their appropriate voice and vote in the United States
Senate,' Blagojevich, a Democrat, said in a press conference in
Chicago.
Blagojevich, 52, has promised to fight the charges against him and
steadfastly refuses to resign or relinquish his power to appoint a
new senator despite the litany of corruption related allegations
against him.
Federal agents alleged that in wiretapped conversations the
governor discussed ways to use his power to pick a new senator for
his personal benefit. The Illinois legislature has initiated
impeachment proceedings against him, and the state's top election
official has said he will not certify Blagojevich's pick.
Obama and other top Democrats had urged the Illinois state
legislature to either hold a special election or strip Blagojevich of
his authority to name the successor. Reid praised Burris for his
years of public service but said any choice made by Blagojevich was
not acceptable.
'This is not about Mr Burris. It is about the integrity of a
governor accused of attempting to sell this United States Senate
seat,' Reid said in a joint statement with other top Senate
Democrats.
Blagojevich and his top aide, who has resigned, face up to 20
years in prison if convicted for wire fraud and conspiring to solicit
bribes.
The Justice Department also accused the two men of threatening to
withhold state assistance for a media firm, the Tribune Co, unless it
sacked editorial writers seen as unfriendly to the governor. They
were additionally charged with seeking campaign contributions in
exchange for official actions in a 'pay-to-play' scheme.
The scandal has also disrupted Obama and his transition team as
the president-elect prepares to take office January 20. Obama last
week released a report by his legal team of all contact between his
staff and Blagojevich. The report concluded there was no
inappropriate communications. Neither Obama or any staff were
implicated in the investigation.
Burris became the first African-American to win Illinois statewide
office in 1978, when he was elected comptroller. He later went on to
serve as attorney general.
USA
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