Blagojevich lawyer: Impeachment not justified

Sam Adam Jr. (left) and Ed Genson, attorneys for Governor Rod Blagojevich, conferred during the Illinois House Impeachment Committee hearing yesterday in Springfield. (Seth Perlman/Associated Press)

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Governor Rod Blagojevich's lawyer said yesterday that a vague array of charges and evidence doesn't merit removing the governor from office, and he urged a House committee not to recommend impeachment.

Attorney Ed Genson complained bitterly that lawmakers were considering snippets of tape-recorded conversations that are quoted in a criminal complaint against the Democratic governor.

He said no one knows the full context of those remarks or whether they are quoted accurately.

"We are fighting shadows, and that's not right," Genson said.

Yesterday's hearing was the first time Genson has comprehensively responded to the impeachment charges. Blagojevich was arrested by the FBI Dec. 9 on a variety of corruption charges, including scheming to benefit from naming President-elect Barack Obama's replacement in the US Senate.

The governor denies any wrongdoing and has vowed to fight both impeachment and the criminal charges.

It was clear from the lawmakers' questions that they had little sympathy for Blagojevich or for Genson's arguments.

At one point, Genson grew so frustrated that he pleaded for help. "Isn't anyone here going to stand up for the governor, or is it going to be one [critic] after the other?" he asked. "This is the impartial panel?"

Meanwhile, federal prosecutors filed a motion yesterday asking for court permission to release four of the Blagojevich conversations caught by wiretaps.

A judge will hear the motion next week. Genson said he hadn't seen the federal request and didn't know whether he would support the release of the recordings.