Jurors in the corruption trial of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich asked the judge for guidance on how to proceed if they can’t reach a unanimous verdict, the judge said during a hearing.

U.S. District Judge James B. Zagel in Chicago read the panel’s note in a full courtroom today as Blagojevich and his brother and co-defendant Robert listened, along with their attorneys and prosecutors.

“In a situation where jurors cannot agree on a unanimous decision,” Zagel read, “what should the next logical step be?” The note is the third since jurors started deliberating on July 28.

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Blagojevich Considered Oprah For Obama’s Senate Seat

Impeachment Looms Over Illinois Gov. Blagojevich

Hitting the national scene under the scandal of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, Sen. Roland Burris is now making new headlines by saying he will not sign a health care reform bill WITHOUT a public option.

Sen. Burris will be sitting down with Roland Martin for this week’s show and we want YOUR question.

Submit your question for Sen. Burris HERE.

From the New York Times:

CHICAGO — A transcript of a secretly recorded telephone call released on Tuesday revealed the degree to which Roland W. Burris aggressively and openly pursued an appointment to the United States Senate with those close to Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich of Illinois, who went on to appoint Mr. Burris last year before he was removed from the job.

Mr. Burris, who was appointed to succeed Barack Obama in the Senate, is now the subject of two investigations. In the call, he seemed almost in a crass negotiation with Mr. Blagojevich’s brother — also his chief fund-raiser — over how he could help the governor, win the appointment and not run into trouble over negative connotations that he might be trying to buy an appointment by fund-raising for him.

“If I do that, I guarantee you that that will get out, and people said, ‘Oh, Burris is doing a fund-raiser,’ and, and then Rod and I both going to catch hell,” Mr. Burris said in a phone call shortly after the presidential election that opened the Senate seat held by Mr. Obama. By the end of the call, Mr. Burris had promised to send a personal check within a month.

“God knows, No. 1, I want to help Rod,” he was recorded as saying. “No. 2, I also want to, you know, hope I get a consideration to get that appointment.”

At another point, Mr. Burris reminded the governor’s brother, “Tell Rod to keep me in mind for that seat, would you?”

Mr. Burris’s lawyer, Timothy Wright, said the call, captured as part of a larger federal investigation into Mr. Blagojevich, proves that Mr. Burris was not part of any “pay to play” efforts the former governor has been accused of in a federal indictment, including that he tried to sell the Senate appointment for money.

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Rahm Emanuel wanted answers. Funds from a $2 million state grant to a school in his congressional district had not arrived, so he went straight to the man in charge: Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

For four successive days in 2006, then-Rep. Emanuel called for Blagojevich, with one message noting it was about the Chicago Academy, according to thousands of pages of call logs reviewed by The Associated Press. Emanuel’s chief of staff followed the next week with four more calls to a top Blagojevich aide.

The school grant is at the heart of an extortion allegation against Blagojevich, who was thrown out as Illinois governor in January and faces multiple federal corruption charges.

Prosecutors claim Blagojevich learned the congressman was inquiring about the school and hatched a scheme to squeeze Emanuel — now President Barack Obama‘s chief of staff — to get his Hollywood superagent brother to hold a fundraiser for him in exchange for releasing the school funds.

The school eventually got its money and no fundraiser was held. But Ari Emanuel shows up on the governor’s call logs for the first time 2 1/2 weeks after the state issued the final payment to the school.

Through spokeswomen, both Emanuels declined to explain why they were calling the governor and his chief of staff, John Harris, during that time. Neither Emanuel has been accused of wrongdoing.

The indictment does not name the Emanuels, instead referring to “Congressman A” and his brother. A person familiar with details of the indictment, speaking on condition of anonymity because the information is confidential, confirmed that they are Rahm and Ari Emanuel.

The indictment also does not say whether either Rahm or Ari Emanuel was ever pressured to raise money. It alleges only that Blagojevich told a lobbyist and a state official to talk to the congressman about a fundraiser, suggesting his brother host it.

Emanuel previously came under scrutiny in the case after Obama officials acknowledged he talked to Blagojevich about Obama’s vacant seat, which federal officials claim Blagojevich was scheming to auction off. They determined his discussions were “totally appropriate and acceptable.”

Harris is charged with one count of wire fraud and is cooperating with the investigation. Attorneys for Blagojevich and Harris did not return phone calls seeking comment. Blagojevich has repeatedly said he is innocent of all charges.

Rahm Emanuel and Blagojevich never connected during a four-day flurry of phone calls beginning Aug. 29, 2006, according to the records. One message indicates Emanuel was calling about the Chicago Academy, whose grant was being administered by the state’s Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity at Blagojevich’s direction.

Finally, Emanuel talked with Harris on Sept. 1.

That conversation was followed the next week by four calls to Harris from Emanuel’s chief of staff, Elizabeth Smith, Harris’ phone logs show.

The fourth, on Sept. 12, included the message, “The academy received the first check of $250,000 on Friday. What is the status of the past due amount of $150,000?”

There is no record of Harris returning any of Smith’s calls, the last of which was Oct. 16. But state records show the academy got payments of $150,000 and $500,000 in September, $178,000 in October and the balance, $916,000, on Dec. 15.

The phone records show Blagojevich and Emanuel spoke on Nov. 30. On Dec. 20, five days after the last payment, the log has a note that the governor “wants to call Rahm.”

Just weeks later, Ari Emanuel, a powerful agent who is the basis for Jeremy Piven’s character on the HBO show “Entourage,” first shows up in the governor’s call log. The messages don’t show the reason behind them.

On Jan. 3, 2007, Blagojevich’s log reads, “Ari Emanuel called and would like to speak to you. Endeavor Talent Agency.”

The two exchanged messages until speaking Jan. 19, when the log indicates, “Governor and Ari Emanuel spoke. Rod had John also call Ari.”

That’s an apparent reference to Harris, whose own log shows Ari Emanuel called him on Jan. 30 with the message, “Following up.”

Harris returned the call and left a message, and Ari Emanuel disappears from the log until June 19, 2007, when a call to Harris carries the note, “You’ll know what it is in regard to, he is Rahm’s brother.” Ari Emanuel called Harris again a year later regarding state legislation, according to Harris’ list.

Ari Emanuel, who has given $270,000 to federal candidates since 2000, shows up just once in state records: a $2,500 donation to Blagojevich in August 2002.

Despite their long relationship, Rahm Emanuel appears on the governor’s phone log only once before Sept. 5, 2005, days after Emanuel publicly announced the Chicago Academy grant. Blagojevich represented the same congressional district as Emanuel before becoming governor.

The pair spoke in February 2006 and again in May, the last time before the late-summer flurry of phone calls.

After that, there are more than a dozen contacts between the congressman and the governor on the logs from November 2006 through as late as Nov. 7, 2008, three days after Obama’s election.

The log shows Blagojevich spoke to Emanuel on Nov. 6, 2008. A day later, there was a message that Emanuel had called and requested a meeting with Blagojevich for the following day.

FBI agents arrested Blagojevich on Dec. 9 of last year, alleging he was trying to trade on his power to name a Senate replacement for Obama.

A report issued just before Christmas indicated Emanuel had “one or two telephone calls” with the governor after the election and four with Harris.

At the time, a White House attorney said Emanuel had discussed a Senate replacement but that the conversations were “totally appropriate and acceptable.”

David Letterman‘s first guest appeared to the strains of “My Way.” Then, ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was posed a question a lot of people wanted to ask.

“Why exactly are you here? Honest to God,” asked Letterman, as his guest settled into his seat.

“Well, you know, I’ve been wanting to be on your show in the worst way for the longest…”

“Well, you’re on in the worst way, believe me,” the host interrupted.

Blagojevich made another round of TV show visits Tuesday, repeatedly saying he’ll be vindicated in the scandal that has cost him his job and has him facing a criminal trial.

He told Letterman that he keeps thinking he’ll wake up and people will realize “this is just one big misunderstanding.”

Blagojevich’s return to national television prompted some to speculate that the former governor was perhaps angling for a future book deal or talk show.

Blagojevich’s publicist says offers of work are coming in, but he declined to provide details. “Every day we get several offers of something he could do or would like to, and there are certainly no shortage of people who would love to speak with him,” publicist Glenn Selig said.

Last week, the Illinois Senate convicted Blagojevich of abuse of power. Blagojevich also faces federal charges including allegations he tried to profit from selling President Barack Obama’s U.S. Senate seat.

Also Tuesday, Blagojevich spoke to CNN’s Larry King, saying King helped persuade the former governor to fly back to Illinois to present a closing argument to senators at his impeachment trial.

“You persuaded me. Others who said it persuaded me,” he said. “I felt if I’m going to go down, I should, at least, beg the case to them.”

At the Letterman show, Blagojevich laughed with the audience when the host mentioned watching him on several television talk shows, including “The View” on ABC, “The Rachel Maddow Show” on MSNBC and the “Today” show on NBC.

“The more you talked,” Letterman joked, “and the more you repeated your innocence, the more I said to myself, ‘Oh, this guy is guilty.’”

When Letterman named three former Illinois governors who were engulfed in political scandals (“Is this just part of the oath of office that you guys take?” he joked), Blagojevich replied, “Unlike those, I’ll be vindicated,” to laughter in the audience.

“I did nothing wrong,” he said. “And I’ll have an opportunity to be able to go in a court to prove that I did nothing wrong.”

Letterman asked Blagojevich what he planned to do with his time leading up to the trial.

“Well, I’m looking for work,” Blagojevich replied. “Are you hiring?”

He then said he planned to “take stock of things and rebuild.”

“My wife and I will come together,” he said. “We’ll put our lives back together.”

He added that, after being vindicated, he’ll look forward to becoming “a voice for average, ordinary working people, the people that I fought for as governor.”

Now that Rod Blagojevich‘s scandal-ridden tenure as governor is over, Gov. Pat Quinn said Friday he’s ready to get to work and “mend the flaws” in state government.

“This is a time for governance and reform. Politics — we can do that next year,” Quinn told WLS Radio‘s “The Don and Roma Morning Show.”

The 60-year-old Democrat was elevated to Illinois’ chief executive on Thursday when the Illinois Senate voted 59-0 to convict Blagojevich of abuse of power, automatically ousting the second-term Democrat. In a second, identical vote, lawmakers further barred Blagojevich from ever holding public office in the state again.

Quinn said he would be busy on his first full day as governor and that his job is to “mend the flaws” in state government. He pledged to work with lawmakers and other state officials as a team to get the job done. Among the challenges he faces is a state budget deficit of more than $3 billion.

Blagojevich, accused of trying to sell Barack Obama’s vacant Senate seat, became the first U.S. governor in more than 20 years to be removed by impeachment.

On Thursday, he addressed his Senate impeachment trial and offered familiar lines: He was innocent. The trial rules were unfair. His goal always was to help people.

But senators were unswayed.

“He failed the test of character. He is beneath the dignity of the state of Illinois. He is no longer worthy to be our governor,” said Sen. Matt Murphy, a Republican from suburban Chicago.

Blagojevich’s troubles are not over. Federal prosecutors are drawing up an indictment against him on corruption charges.

Outside his Chicago home Thursday night, Blagojevich vowed to “keep fighting to clear my name,” and added: “Give me a chance to show you that I haven’t let you down.”

Blagojevich, 52, had boycotted the first three days of the impeachment trial, calling the proceedings a kangaroo court. But on Thursday, he went before the Senate to fight for his job, delivering a 47-minute plea that was, by turns, defiant, humble and sentimental.

“You haven’t proved a crime, and you can’t because it didn’t happen,” Blagojevich (pronounced blah-GOY’-uh-vich) told lawmakers. “How can you throw a governor out of office with insufficient and incomplete evidence?”

The verdict brought to an end what one lawmaker branded “the freak show” in Illinois. Over the past few weeks, Blagojevich found himself isolated, with almost the entire political establishment lined up against him. The crisis paralyzed state government and made Blagojevich and his helmet of lush, dark hair a punchline from coast to coast.

Many ordinary Illinoisans were glad to see him go.

“It’s very embarrassing. I think it’s a shame that with our city and Illinois, everybody thinks we’re all corrupt,” Gene Ciepierski, 54, said after watching the trial’s conclusion on a TV at Chicago’s beloved Billy Goat Tavern. “To think he would do something like that, it hurts more than anything.”

In a solemn scene, more than 30 lawmakers rose one by one on the Senate floor to accuse Blagojevich of abusing his office and embarrassing the state. They denounced him as a hypocrite, saying he cynically tried to enrich himself and then posed as the brave protector of the poor and “wrapped himself in the constitution.”

Blagojevich did not stick around to hear the vote. He took a state plane back to Chicago.

He did, however, use his last day in office to grant clemency to a prominent Chicago real estate developer and a former drug dealer, just hours before the vote to oust him.

The verdict capped a head-spinning string of developments that began with his arrest by the FBI on Dec. 9. Federal prosecutors had been investigating Blagojevich’s administration for years, and some of his closest cronies already have been convicted.

The most spectacular allegation was that Blagojevich had been caught on wiretaps scheming to sell an appointment to Obama’s Senate seat for campaign cash or a plum job for himself or his wife.

“I’ve got this thing and it’s (expletive) golden, and I’m just not giving it up for (expletive) nothing. I’m not gonna do it,” he was quoted as saying on a government wiretap.

Sen. James Meeks, a Chicago Democrat, mocked Blagojevich during debate: “We have this thing called impeachment and it’s bleeping golden and we’ve used it the right way.”

Prosecutors also said Blagojevich illegally pressured people to make campaign contributions and tried to get editorial writers fired from the Chicago Tribune for badmouthing him in print.

Obama himself, fresh from his historic election victory, was forced to look into the matter and issued a report concluding that no one in his inner circle had done anything wrong.

“Today ends a painful episode for Illinois,” the president said in a Thursday night statement. “For months, the state had been crippled by a crisis of leadership. Now that cloud has lifted.”

Even as lawmakers were deciding whether to launch an impeachment, Blagojevich defied the political establishment by appointing a former Illinois attorney general, Roland Burris, to the very Senate seat he had been accused of trying to sell. Top Democrats on Capitol Hill eventually backed down and seated Burris.

As his trial got under way, Blagojevich launched a media blitz, rushing from one TV studio to another in New York to proclaim his innocence. He likened himself to the hero of a Frank Capra movie and to a cowboy in the hands of a Wild West lynch mob.

The impeachment case included not only the criminal charges against Blagojevich, but allegations he broke the law when it came to hiring state workers, expanded a health care program without legislative approval and spent $2.6 million on flu vaccine that went to waste. The 118-member House twice voted to impeach him, both times with only one “no” vote.

Seven other U.S. governors have been removed by impeachment, the most recent being Arizona’s Evan Mecham in 1988. Illinois never before impeached a governor, despite its long and rich history of graft.

By Thursday night, Blagojevich’s name and picture had disappeared from the state’s official Web site. Instead, an unobtrusive “Pat Quinn, Governor” was in the upper right corner.

Rod Blagojevich is no longer Illinois’ governor. Blagojevich was ousted from office Thursday by the Illinois Senate. His removal capped a state crisis that began with his Dec. 9 arrest on corruption charges _ including that he tried to sell President Barack Obama’s vacant Senate seat.

The 52-year-old Democrat gave a passionate closing statement claiming he did nothing wrong. It didn’t sway senators, who voted 59-0 to remove him for abuse of power.

Lt. Gov. Patrick Quinn immediately becomes governor.

Blagojevich had defiantly resisted intense pressure to quit.

The Senate impeachment trial lasted four days. Blagojevich had blasted the proceedings and unfair and refused to participate until the final day.

A day after Gov. Rod Blagojevich‘s loudly proclaimed his innocence during a media blitz, the governor’s more private words are to take center stage at his impeachment trial. The state Senate is expected Tuesday to hear secretly made wiretaps of Blagojevich allegedly discussing how he could benefit from his appointment power.

Blagojevich never denied the remarks federal prosecutors attribute to him, but insists they were taken out of context and he did nothing illegal.

The impeachment trial — the first for a U.S. governor in more than 20 years — opened Monday with House-appointed prosecutor David Ellis telling senators he will show that Blagojevich “repeatedly and utterly abused the powers and privileges of his office.”

With Blagojevich refusing to be present or mount a defense, Illinois senators could vote within days on whether to oust the 52-year-old Democrat on a variety of charges, including allegations he tried to sell or trade President Barack Obama‘s vacant Senate seat for a Cabinet position, a high paying job for himself or his wife or money to bankroll his future campaigns.

In addition to the recordings, Daniel Cain — an FBI agent involved in the governor’s wiretap — was scheduled to appear Tuesday at the trial. He was expected to explain to senators how the statements were verified.

Cain in a previous affidavit swore that Blagojevich talked to aides about how to benefit from his appointment power, saying, “I want to make money.”

The outcome of Blagojevich’s impeachment trial has no legal impact on a separate criminal case against the governor. No trial date has been set on those charges.

Blagojevich spent Monday making the rounds of news shows in New York, declaring his innocence but refusing to discuss the criminal allegations he faces. On ABC’s “Good Morning America” and “The View,” CNN’s “Larry King Live” and more, Blagojevich would say only that the quotes in the criminal complaint were taken out of context.

Pressed on what context would justify using Obama’s Senate seat to land a job for himself, Blagojevich said he didn’t try to make a trade.

“If you do an exchange of one for the other, that’s wrong,” he told ABC’s “Nightline.” “But if you have discussions about the future and down the road and what you might want to do once you’re no longer governor in a few years, what’s wrong with that?”

He was to appear Tuesday on CBS’ “The Early Show.”

The Democratic governor said he refused to take part in his impeachment trial because it was rigged against him. His political enemies, eager to get him out of the way so they can raise income taxes, won’t let him call witnesses to prove his innocence, he complained.

State senators maintained the trial will be fair, despite Blagojevich’s attacks on the process.

“We all took an oath to do justice according to the law. I know that everyone is taking the matter seriously and that no one will stand in the way of justice,” said Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno, a Republican.

Neither the prosecution nor the defense is allowed to summon any witnesses whose testimony might interfere with federal prosecutors’ criminal case against Blagojevich, although their public statements could be introduced as evidence. But Blagojevich has not asked to call witnesses or present any evidence at all, and said he does not plan to participate in any way.

The impeachment case against Blagojevich also includes allegations he defied the Legislature, circumvented hiring laws and schemed to trade state contracts for campaign contributions.

Seats for Blagojevich and his attorney sat empty in the Senate chamber during the first day of trial. Silence reigned when the presiding judge, Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Fitzgerald, asked if anyone was present to represent the governor.

He ordered the trial to go forward as if Blagojevich had entered a not guilty plea.

No other Illinois governor has been impeached, let alone convicted in a Senate trial. It would take a two-thirds majority — or 40 of the 59 senators — to remove Blagojevich. The Senate also could bar him from ever again holding office in Illinois.

Democratic Lt. Gov. Patrick Quinn would replace him.

Practically the entire political establishment has lined up against Blagojevich. The last of two House votes on impeachment was 117-1, with his sister-in-law the only dissenter.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Taking his defense to the airwaves rather than his impeachment trial, Gov. Rod Blagojevich lashed out at his accusers Monday and revealed he had considered naming Oprah Winfrey to the Senate.

On the day his Senate trial was to begin, Blagojevich was hundreds of miles away in New York, appearing on ABC’s “Good Morning America” and “The View” before a scheduled appearance on CNN’s “Larry King Live.”

“I’m here in New York because I can’t get a fair hearing in Illinois, the state Senate in Illinois,” Blagojevich said in between TV appearances. “They’ve decided, with rules that are fixed, that don’t allow me as a governor the right to be able to bring in witnesses to prove that I’ve done nothing wrong.”

The embattled governor told ABC that the idea of nominating Winfrey to fill President Barack Obama’s vacant Senate seat came to him as he explored potential candidates for the job, which federal prosecutors allege he tried to sell to the highest bidder.

“She seemed to be someone who would help Barack Obama in a significant way become president,” said Blagojevich, who had been discussing a replacement since before the November election. “She was obviously someone with a much broader bully pulpit than other senators.”

Blagojevich, 52, worried, though, that the appointment of Winfrey might come across as a gimmick and that the talk show host was unlikely to accept. In the end, Blagojevich appointed former Illinois attorney general Roland Burris to the vacant seat.

Winfrey, meanwhile, said she didn’t know she was under consideration until being told of Blagojevich’s comments Monday. She said she would have turned him down.

“I’m pretty amused by the whole thing,” Winfrey told “The Gayle King Show” on Sirius XM Radio. “I think I could be senator too. I’m just not interested.”

The Democratic governor’s comments about Winfrey came just hours before his impeachment trial was set to get under way in Springfield. He is refusing to take part, arguing that the rules are so biased that he can’t possibly get a fair hearing. “The fix is in,” he said on ABC.

“I’m talking to Americans to let them know what’s happening in the land of Lincoln,” he added. “If they can do it to a governor, they can do it to you.”

Sen. Dick Durbin said Sunday that Blagojevich should be defending himself at the trial. “Barbara Walters is not on his jury,” the Illinois Democrat said, referring to the “View” co-host.

Blagojevich is accused of abusing his power by scheming to benefit from the Senate appointment, circumventing hiring laws and defying decisions by the General Assembly.

He reiterated his innocence Monday, telling ABC that “I did nothing wrong. And if I did something wrong, I would have resigned.”

At one point he said: “Whatever happened to the presumption of innocence?”

State senators have denied Blagojevich’s claims that the trial is unfair.

The U.S. attorney has asked senators to bar testimony from anyone federal prosecutors say would jeopardize the criminal corruption trial against the governor, Republican state Sen. Matt Murphy told ABC on Monday. Murphy noted that Blagojevich and the impeachment trial prosecutor have the same limitations.

“The suggestion that this is somehow unfair to the governor is the most self-serving, ludicrous statement I have ever heard in my life,” Murphy said. “It couldn’t be fairer for this guy.”

Addressing the federal wiretaps in which Blagojevich is heard talking about selling or trading the U.S. Senate appointment, the governor said his comments were snippets of conversations that were “completely out of context.”

He maintained that the conversations were “part of a political process to leverage to be able to pass a public works program, expand health care and get a deal where we don’t raise taxes on people,” he said.

During a grilling by Walters on “The View,” Blagojevich wouldn’t confirm or deny comments on the wiretaps attributed to him by prosecutors.

His Dec. 9 arrest was the final straw for lawmakers, who had spent six years butting heads with Blagojevich. The House quickly voted 114-1 for impeaching the governor. That sent the case to the Senate, where it would take a two-thirds majority to convict Blagojevich and throw him out of office.

Lt. Gov. Patrick Quinn would replace him, becoming Illinois’ 41st governor.

Whatever the Senate decides, the criminal case against Blagojevich won’t be affected.

In recent days, Blagojevich has compared himself to the hero of a Frank Capra movie and a cowboy being lynched for a crime he didn’t commit. He said that when he was arrested on federal corruption charges, he took solace from thinking of other jailed leaders — Nelson Mandela, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi.

Though Illinois lawmakers are launching an impeachment trial Monday that could remove Gov. Rod Blagojevich from office, the governor himself will be far from the capitol building — instead chatting with Larry King and the women of “The View.”

The Democratic governor is refusing to take part in his own trial, arguing that the rules are so biased that he can’t possibly get a fair hearing.

“You can conceivably bring in 15 angels and 20 saints led by Mother Teresa to come in to testify to my good character, to my integrity and all the rest. It wouldn’t matter,” Blagojevich told “Today” in an interview scheduled to air Monday morning.

He also was to appear live on “Good Morning America,” “The View” and “Larry King Live,” part of an energetic public relations campaign after weeks of near-silence.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said Sunday that Blagojevich should be defending himself at the trial. “Barbara Walters is not on his jury,” the Illinois Democrat said, referring to the “View” co-host.

In recent days, Blagojevich has compared himself to the hero of a Frank Capra movie and a cowboy being lynched for a crime he didn’t commit. He said that when he was arrested on federal corruption charges, he took solace from thinking of other jailed leaders — Nelson Mandela, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi.

“This man mystifies me,” said Ann Lousin, a professor at Chicago’s John Marshall Law School.

Blagojevich is accused of scheming to benefit from his power to name President Barack Obama‘s replacement in the U.S. Senate. Federal prosecutors also said their wiretaps caught Blagojevich threatening to withhold money for children’s health care unless he got campaign donations from a hospital executive and offering to trade state aid to the Tribune Co. in exchange for the Chicago Tribune firing unfriendly editorial writers.

In Springfield, state senators will hear details of the criminal charges against Blagojevich. They’re likely to hear recordings that allegedly reveal the governor talking about signing legislation in exchange for campaign contributions. In addition to simply removing Blagojevich, the Senate could vote to bar him from ever again holding public office in Illinois.

Despite some experts saying resignation might help Blagojevich with jurors in any future criminal trial, the governor says that’s not an option.

“I’m not going to resign, of course not,” he told The Associated Press. “I’ve done absolutely nothing wrong.”

He told “Today” that his 5-year-old daughter, Annie, has asked whether he’ll still be governor on her birthday in April.

“If I were a betting man, I’d say I probably won’t be,” Blagojevich said, according to a transcript. “I think the fix is in and… they’ve decided essentially to do a hanging without even a fair trial.”

Whatever the Senate decides, the criminal case against Blagojevich, 52, won’t be affected.

With Blagojevich refusing to mount a defense, the impeachment trial could wrap up within days, ending a bizarre political and legal spectacle that began Dec. 9 with Blagojevich’s arrest by FBI agents.

His arrest was the final straw for lawmakers, who had spent six years butting heads with Blagojevich. The House quickly voted 114-1 for impeaching the governor. That sent the case to the Senate, where it would take a two-thirds majority to convict Blagojevich and throw him out of office.

Lt. Gov. Patrick Quinn would replace him, becoming Illinois’ 41st governor.

Dozens of black leaders and ministers organized by U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush gave Burris a rousing send-off Sunday at New Covenant Church on Chicago’s South Side. Burris took the stage to a crescendo of drums, organ music and applause as hundreds of supporters cheered his appointment.

“We are hoping and praying that they will not be able to deny what the Lord has ordained,” Burris said. “I am not hesitating. I am now the junior Senator from the state of Illinois. Some people may want to question that and that is their prerogative.”

Opponents say Burris’ appointment is tainted because it was made by Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who is accused by federal authorities of offering to sell the vacancy to the highest bidder.

Burris, a former state attorney general, says the appointment is legal and the governor had the authority to do it. He has threatened to sue Senate Democrats if they refuse to swear him in as the chamber’s only black member.

The second-ranking Democrat, Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, acknowledged that his governor has the state constitutional authority to fill the vacancy.

“The Senate of the United States has the U.S. constitutional responsibility to decide if Mr. Burris was chosen in a proper manner and that is what we’re going to do,” Durbin said.

Burris said he attempted to arrange a meeting with Durbin on Monday or Tuesday but learned he was too busy. He said the two made an appointment for Wednesday, the day after new senators are set to be sworn in.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., told a political talk show host Sunday that the chances of Burris being sworn in as President-elect Barack Obama‘s replacement are slim. Reid said there would be “a cloud over anyone that comes from the state of Illinois being appointed by Blagojevich.”

Reid said he expected to meet with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky on Monday evening in hopes “we can solve this issue on a bipartisan basis.”

Democratic leaders, however, plan to afford Burris few, if any, privileges even if he were to come to the Capitol with the proper credentials.

Senate officials have said a Democrat will object to Burris being duly sworn with the rest of his class Tuesday and will propose that his credentials be reviewed for a period of time by the Senate Rules Committee. That would give Burris the status of a senator-elect and buy some time as Democrats hope Blagojevich will be removed from office before the committee completes its investigation.

At New Covenant Church, Rush called the Senate the “last bastion of plantation politics.” The Chicago Democrat said blacks had been “excluded systematically for too long.”

But several people sitting in the pews during the Burris send-off said their support for his appointment has nothing to do with the him being African-American.

“I’m elated, very happy, overjoyed. Burris has served this community for many years,” said 66-year-old D. Shepherd, a retired minister from Chicago. “He’s the best man under the circumstances; it’s not because he’s black.”

While the Burris furor dominated public discussion, Illinois lawmakers quietly continued work that could lead to Blagojevich being removed from office.

Members of the Illinois House impeachment committee reviewed a 54-page draft summary of the allegations against the Democratic governor. Lawmakers said the summary did not include any recommendations on whether Blagojevich should be impeached. That will come after the panel finishes its fact-finding — perhaps by the middle of this week.

The impeachment committee hopes to learn Monday whether it will be given access to some of the federal government’s recordings of Blagojevich. It also wants Burris to testify about his conversations with the governor that led to the Senate appointment.

The Democratic governor planned a Tuesday afternoon press conference, but his aides would not say what Blagojevich planned to say.

State Senate President Emil Jones said Burris told him about the appointment. Burris did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

Blagojevich was arrested earlier this month on federal charges that he tried to sell or trade the seat to the highest bidder. He has denied wrongdoing and vowed to stay in office.

In a letter signed by all 50 sitting Democratic senators, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada warned Blagojevich after his Dec. 9 arrest that Senate Democrats would not seat anyone the governor named to the seat.

Within minutes of the report Tuesday, Senate Democratic leaders began conferring over how to prevent Burris from actually taking office.

According to a Democratic official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because discussions were ongoing, Senate leaders were preparing a statement that would express regret for the appointment. The statement was expected to say that Senate leaders were not opposed to the former attorney general assuming the seat per se, but that under the circumstances anyone named by Blagojevich would not be seated by the Democratic caucus.

Burris became the first black politician to win statewide office when he was elected comptroller in 1978 — the first of three terms. He served one term as the state’s attorney general, but he failed in three attempts at the Democratic nomination for governor, losing to Blagojevich in 2002.

With Blagojevich saying he’s itching to talk, perhaps as early as Friday, Chicago attorney Ed Genson continued bashing what’s gotten his client in a legal bind: FBI wiretaps that prosecutors say catch Blagojevich scheming to deal President-elect Barack Obama‘s vacant Senate seat for campaign cash or a plum job.

Genson told an Illinois House panel considering whether to impeach Blagojevich that its consideration of the recorded excerpts he cast as meaningless “jabbering” was inappropriate, if not illegal. “I think you’re using evidence that was illegally obtained,” he said Thursday.

After the committee recessed its hearing until next week, Genson told reporters he planned to go after the taped conversations in court at some point.

Members of the House panel pledged Thursday to do nothing that would interfere with the investigation by U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald. If Fitzgerald asks lawmakers not to interview certain witnesses, the panelists will abide by that, they said.

“The fact that no one has denied that the governor has said those things (on tape) is relevant. That evidence already is on our record,” said state Rep. Lou Lang, a suburban Chicago Democrat.

While hopeful that Fitzgerald lets the panel “go in some directions” with some potential witnesses in the criminal case, “if he shuts us down completely, this committee will deal with it,” Lang said.

Blagojevich’s first substantial public comments — other than snippets shouted to reporters camped outside his Chicago home since his arrest last week — could come as early as Friday, Genson said. The attorney didn’t sound keen on the prospect.

“I’m a lawyer by trade — I don’t like my clients to talk to anybody,” he said.

Genson said he expected federal grand jurors to eventually indict his client, which would likely unseal many of the documents in support of the charges, perhaps marking the point where his legal attack may truly begin.

“I’m talking that within the next few months the air will clear a little bit and we’ll be able to get access to all the things that we need to get access to,” he said. “And I’ll be able to look at those things.”

The impeachment process appears certain to grind on until then, possibly into next year, with or without Fitzgerald’s help. Without it, the committee probably will emphasize some lower-profile allegations of misconduct against Blagojevich: defying the Legislature, failing to honor reporters’ Freedom of Information requests, and trading state jobs and contracts for campaign contributions.

On Wednesday, the Illinois Supreme Court rejected a request to declare him unfit to serve, and Genson made it clear that the governor is not going down without a fight.

Federal prosecutors’ case could be undermined — or at least greatly complicated — if Illinois lawmakers compel certain witnesses to testify. Following the Iran-Contra scandal of the 1980s, the convictions of Oliver North and John Poindexter were thrown out after the courts determined that the cases against them were built too much on testimony they gave to Congress under a promise of immunity.

The impeachment committee sent Fitzgerald a letter Thursday formally asking for information about people mentioned by pseudonyms in the criminal complaint, and requesting his guidance on who can be called to testify. Fitzgerald refused to comment.

When the panel returns Monday, its members hope to discuss any guidelines or restrictions Fitzgerald may place on them.

Committee chairwoman Barbara Flynn Currie, a Chicago Democrat like the governor, noted that even before Blagojevich’s arrest last week, some lawmakers were calling for his impeachment.

“We’ve got plenty of evidence out there of questionable activity on the part of the governor,” she said.

Besides the Senate-seat-for-sale allegations, the governor was accused of trying to strong-arm the Chicago Tribune into firing editorial writers who criticized him and pressuring a hospital executive for campaign donations.

Outraged lawmakers appointed a committee to investigate Blagojevich and issue a recommendation on whether he should be impeached.

Genson had no comment on what restrictions Fitzgerald should place on the committee. “They do what they got to do and I do what I’ve got to do, and then what happens is what we’ve got to do,” Genson said.

Unlike the U.S. Constitution, which allows impeachment in cases of “high crimes and misdemeanors,” the Illinois Constitution does not define an impeachable offense. No Illinois governor has ever been impeached, so lawmakers have little to go on.

Genson has complained about the lack of a clear standard and suggested he might raise the issue in court if the governor is impeached.

“I don’t know what the line is,” he told the committee. “The line should be based on evidence, should be based on due process, should be based on confrontation.”

But it would take a lot of nerve and Blagojevich would have to hurry because state lawmakers are racing to snatch away his power to appoint a new senator and put it in the hands of voters.

“No appointment by this governor, under these circumstances, could produce a credible replacement,” U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said Tuesday after the governor was arrested on charges of conspiring to commit fraud and soliciting bribery.

Until state lawmakers call a special election, though, Blagojevich still has the power to fill the Senate seat left vacant by President-elect Obama.

“He is still the sitting governor of Illinois today, now, and that is not something we have any say in or control of,” U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald said in unveiling corruption charges against the 52-year-old governor.

Obama was not accused of any wrongdoing. “I had no contact with the governor or his office, and so I was not aware of what was happening,” the president-elect said.

Prosecutors stepped in and had the governor arrested because he was on “what can only be called a political corruption crime spree,” Fitzgerald said.

Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, said he is prepared to call the Illinois House into session as early as Monday to set a special election to fill the seat. Illinois Senate President Emil Jones said he had something similar in mind.

In Washington, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., made it plain he didn’t want to seat anyone under such a cloud, saying the charges “are appalling and represent as serious a breach of the public trust as I have ever heard.”

Charged along with Blagojevich was his 46-year-old chief of staff, John Harris, who was accused of taking part in the schemes to enrich the governor.

The FBI said in court papers that Blagojevich was overheard conspiring to sell the Senate seat for campaign cash or lucrative jobs for himself or his wife, a real estate agent. He spoke of using the Senate appointment to land a job with a nonprofit foundation or a union-affiliated group, and even held out hope of getting named Obama’s secretary of health and human services or an ambassador.

According to court papers, the governor tried to make it known through emissaries, including union officials and fundraisers, that the seat could be had for the right price. Blagojevich allegedly had a salary in mind — $250,000 to $300,000 a year — and spoke of collecting half-million and million-dollar political contributions.

“I’ve got this thing and it’s (expletive) golden,” prosecutors quoted Blagojevich as saying about the Senate appointment on federal bugs in his campaign office and wiretaps on his home telephone, “and I’m just not giving it up for (expletive) nothing. I’m not gonna do it.”

Chicago FBI chief Robert Grant said even seasoned investigators were stunned by what they heard, particularly since the governor had known for at least three years that he was under investigation for alleged hiring fraud and clearly realized agents might be listening in.

Besides scheming to swap or sell the Senate seat, Blagojevich — a former congressman, state lawmaker and prosecutor — was accused of trying to strong-arm the Chicago Tribune into firing editorial writers who had called for his impeachment. He also was accused of using the governor’s power over state business to raise campaign funds.

“But the most cynical behavior in all this, the most appalling, is the fact that Gov. Blagojevich tried to sell the appointment to the Senate seat vacated by President-elect Obama,” Fitzgerald said. “The conduct would make Lincoln roll over in his grave.”

Nothing in the court papers suggested Obama had any part in the discussions about selling the Senate seat or even knew of them. In fact, Blagojevich was overheard complaining at one point that Obama’s people are “not going to give me anything except appreciation.” He added: “(Expletive) them.”

Blagojevich was charged with two counts: conspiracy to commit fraud, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, and solicitation to commit bribery, which is punishable by up 10 years. He was released on his own recognizance following an afternoon hearing.

The allegations “do nothing to impact the services, duties or function of the state,” according to a statement issued by Blagojevich spokesman Lucio Guerrero.

The governor’s attorney, Sheldon Sorosky, said he didn’t know of any immediate plans for the governor to resign. Blagojevich believes he didn’t do anything wrong and asks Illinois residents to have faith in him, Sorosky said.

“I suppose we will have to go to trial,” he said.

The head of the FBI’s office in Chicago said he phoned Blagojevich at 6 a.m. Tuesday, telling him of a warrant for his arrest and informing him there were two FBI agents at his door. Blagojevich’s first comment was, “Is this a joke?” Grant said. The governor was led away in handcuffs.

Blagojevich becomes the latest in a long line of Illinois governors to become engulfed in scandal. He was elected in 2002 as a reformer promising to clean up after Gov. George Ryan, who is serving six years in prison for graft. He was re-elected to another four-year term in 2006.

Long before Blagojevich faced criminal charges, his most vocal critics already discussed impeachment, citing a long list of potentially unconstitutional moves, slights to the General Assembly and ethics violations.

Impeachment is a two-step process. First, the Illinois House would consider whether there were grounds for impeachment, much like a grand jury deciding whether someone should be brought up on criminal charges. If a majority of the House voted yes, then the Senate would hold a trial.

It takes a two-thirds vote in the Senate to convict, and the only possible punishments are removal from office and disqualification from holding any other office.