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| Illinois' governor is impeached | Illinois' governor is impeached |
| (30 minutes later) | |
| The Illinois House of Representatives has voted to impeach the state's scandal-hit governor, Rod Blagojevich. | The Illinois House of Representatives has voted to impeach the state's scandal-hit governor, Rod Blagojevich. |
| Mr Blagojevich was arrested last month and charged with attempting to solicit bribes, as well as "selling" Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat. | Mr Blagojevich was arrested last month and charged with attempting to solicit bribes, as well as "selling" Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat. |
| Illinois's State Senate will now try Mr Blagojevich. If found guilty, the governor will be forced out of office. | Illinois's State Senate will now try Mr Blagojevich. If found guilty, the governor will be forced out of office. |
| Mr Blagojevich denies any wrongdoing, and has vowed to fight to keep his job - and stay out of jail. | Mr Blagojevich denies any wrongdoing, and has vowed to fight to keep his job - and stay out of jail. |
| 'Freak show' | |
| The Illinois House voted 114-1 to impeach Mr Blagojevich, although only 60 votes were needed for the motion to pass. | |
| "It's our duty to clean up the mess and stop the freak show that's become Illinois government," said Jack D Franks, a Democratic representative. | |
| The move to impeach Mr Blagojevich follows an investigation by a 21-member committee of the Illinois House, which looked at testimony from FBI agents who wiretapped phone calls to and from the governor's office about who should fill President-elect Obama's Senate seat. | |
| It is alleged the conversations show that Mr Blagojevich, a second-term Democrat, was trying to use the seat to get himself or his wife a job. | |
| The panel said the evidence showed Mr Blagojevich was not fit to be governor, and voted unanimously to proceed to an impeachment vote. | |
| Mr Blagojevich will respond to the impeachment vote at a press conference later. | |
| He is not expected to resign, correspondents say. |