Democrats urge Ill. governor to resign

No indication of plans given by Blagojevich

Governor Rod Blagojevich left his home yesterday, a day after his arrest on federal corruption charges. Senators warned that they could refuse to seat a senator chosen by Blagojevich. (Mark Carlson/Associated Press)

CHICAGO - In the wake of the most brazen Illinois corruption case in years, President-elect Barack Obama and the entire Senate Democratic caucus called on Governor Rod Blagojevich to resign yesterday, while Representative Jesse Jackson Jr., Democrat of Illinois, said he did nothing wrong in seeking a Senate appointment from the governor.

Jackson said that he may be "Senate Candidate 5" in the 76-page affidavit filed Tuesday in support of corruption charges against Blagojevich, also a Democrat, but that he had "no involvement whatsoever in any wrongdoing."

The criminal complaint quotes the Illinois governor as saying that an emissary from Candidate 5 had offered to raise $500,000 for Blagojevich's campaign treasury. Jackson said at a news conference that "I never sent a message or an emissary."

Barely 24 hours after FBI agents led him away in handcuffs, Blagojevich returned to work in his downtown Chicago office without speaking to reporters and without giving any indication of his plans.

His refusal to step aside in the wake of the allegations that he sought to sell the Senate seat vacated by Obama led to blunt calls for his ouster from Chicago and Springfield, Ill., to Washington.

All 50 members of the Senate Democratic caucus signed a letter urging Blagojevich to quit immediately and allow his successor to appoint Obama's replacement. If the seat goes unfilled, they fear, it could prove difficult to produce 60 votes to prevent a filibuster on Obama's economic rescue package. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, also warned that the Senate leadership may not seat anyone Blagojevich picks because the new senator "would be under a cloud of suspicion."

Robert Gibbs, the incoming White House press secretary, said Obama thinks Blagojevich should step down, because "under the current circumstances, it is difficult for the governor to effectively do his job and serve the people of Illinois."

Obama thinks the Illinois General Assembly should take control of the issue, "and put in place a process to select a new senator that will have the trust and confidence of the people of Illinois," Gibbs said.

Not waiting for Blagojevich to act, Illinois legislators began drafting a bill to strip the governor of the authority to name the new senator. They are expected to meet in Springfield on Monday to approve a special election to fill the final two years of Obama's six-year term. State House leader Michael Madigan, and State Senate President Emil Jones Jr., both Democrats, expect approval within days. Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said of the measure: "There appears to be widespread sentiment that this is the only option that Illinois has to fill that vacancy."

Yet in a sign of the complexity of a situation in which Blagojevich stands accused but not convicted, the bill to strip the governor's authority could not become law without his signature. If he remains in office, he could approve the bill, veto it, send it back to the Legislature, or do nothing for 60 days.

"I urge you to search your heart and summon the strength to put your state and your nation above any personal considerations," Senator Richard Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, wrote in a letter to Blagojevich, who was captured on FBI tapes declaring that he would base his selection of Obama's successor on "our legal situation, our personal situation, my political situation."

According to the federal affidavit, Blagojevich on Dec. 4 told an adviser: "We were approached 'pay-to-play,' that, you know, he'd raise me 500 grand. An emissary came. Then the other guy would raise $1 million if I made [Candidate 5] a senator."

The same day, Blagojevich allegedly told his top fund-raiser that he was "elevating" Candidate 5 on the list of possible Senate picks. He said he was due to meet the candidate in a few days and may be able to get something "tangible up front."

Blagojevich instructed the fund-raiser to pass the word that if Candidate 5 wanted the job, "some of this stuff's gotta start happening now . . . right now . . . and we gotta see it. You understand?"

In a word of caution at a moment when he knew federal prosecutors were investigating his administration, Blagojevich also told the fund-raiser: "I would do it in person. I would not do it on the phone."

At a Capitol Hill news conference yesterday, Jackson told reporters that "I reject and denounce pay-to-play politics and have no involvement whatsoever in any wrongdoing. I did not initiate or authorize anyone at any time to promise anything to Governor Blagojevich on my behalf."

Recently elected to his eighth term from Chicago's South Side, Jackson said he met with Blagojevich for 90 minutes on Monday - the day before the governor's arrest - to discuss his qualifications for the Senate appointment. He promised to cooperate "fully and completely" with federal investigators.

Jackson said the US attorney's office told him on Tuesday that "I am not a target of this investigation." A spokesman for the attorney's office declined to confirm or deny that assertion.

Before Jackson met with reporters in Washington, his attorney, James Montgomery Sr., held a news conference to say that Jackson "has made no illicit approach to the governor."

"Politicians and fund-raisers do some funny things from time to time," he said. "I wouldn't put it past someone to claim they were representing Congressman Jackson."