Fitzgerald is off the reservation

The Illinois legislature wants to impeach Governor Blagojevich for alleged crimes for which he has been indicted by a federal jury.

Outstanding for them! Perhaps this will just be the first step in addressing the corruption pervasive in Illinois politics, but alas I doubt it. I actually have a problem with the Illinois House investigating impeachment charges without investigating the underlying charges first. The mere fact that King Rod was indicted is not necessarily a criminal act. The committee has a list of acts which they believe may constitute impeachment, which is fine. But the fact that they are going into this to determine if the charges warrant impeachment means they are far from a fair and impartial panel. Even the lieutenant governor of the state is on record saying the impeachment should be complete before January 5th. Not only has the decision been made they have a rush on it.

The panel investigating Blagojevich asked the federal prosecutor handling the case, Fitzgerald, for access to witnesses, tape recordings and other evidence to use in Blagojevich's impeachment hearings. Fitzgerald has denied most of these requests but has said he "wants to release recordings of four conversations that aren't central to the Blagojevich investigation."

My biggest problem is that the federal prosecutor involved wants to assist local government to conduct their investigation. The federal wiretap warrants were approved for a federal investigation, not a state investigation. If the Illinois House wanted to investigate Blagojevich for corruption, and they had plenty of reasons to do so prior to the indictment, they should have initiated their own investigation.

If the guy is guilty I say go for it. But the House investigation was not prompted until the federal indictment was announced and the panel, all ready to announce the Governor's impeachment, has no evidence with which to do so. The law applies even to a guy like Blagojevich who is so crooked he makes a spiral staircase look like a fireman's ladder. If the guy is guilty I say go for it.

Of course perhaps Fitz is out to scuttle his own case and avoid the embarrassment of having to run down other politicians who are tainted by their association with Blago.