Blagojevich attorney says he may sue to try to stop trial

CHICAGO -- Facing almost certain defeat in a Senate impeachment trial, Gov. Rod Blagojevich may ask the courts to step in and block a proceeding that he considers "a sham," a lawyer for the Democratic governor said Thursday.

Attorney Samuel E. Adam said a lawsuit challenging what he called "completely unfair" Senate trial rules is being prepared and could be filed with Illinois Supreme Court within days, pending a final decision on whether to move forward.

Blagojevich's trial is set to get underway Monday.

Standing alongside Adam outside the attorney's Chicago office Thursday, the governor said he has no intention of mounting a defense unless rules are changed before the Senate trial that will determine whether he's thrown out of office.

"Give me a right to call witnesses, give me a right to subpoena witnesses and documents, to properly prepare a case -- and I'll be the first one there," Blagojevich said. Otherwise, "I'm not going to be a party to a process like that."

But Blagojevich added he does not intend to resign.

"I'm not going to resign, of course not," he said. "I've done absolutely nothing wrong."

The FBI arrested Blagojevich Dec. 9 on a variety of corruption charges, including the allegation that he schemed to benefit from his power to name President Barack Obama's replacement in the U.S. Senate.

His arrest triggered impeachment proceedings, and the House voted almost unanimously to send his case to the Senate for a trial that will determine whether he's thrown out of office.

The attorney who will present the case against Blagojevich, David Ellis, has asked the Senate to let him call 13 witnesses, most of whom have no direct knowledge of the accusations against Blagojevich. Eight witnesses are lawmakers who will simply recap the conclusions of a House committee that investigated Blagojevich and recommended his impeachment.

Ellis did not return calls Thursday seeking comment on the governor's remarks or his request to call lawmakers to testify.

One of the proposed witnesses, Rep. Gary Hannig, D-Litchfield, said Ellis didn't want to do anything that might interfere with the criminal case, so he wasn't calling anyone involved in those allegations. Instead, House members will discuss the evidence outlined in a criminal complaint against Blagojevich -- primarily snippets from conversations recorded by federal wiretaps.

But Blagojevich is being impeached for actions that have nothing to do with the federal charges. He is accused, for instance, of wasting tax dollars on foreign flu vaccine that he knew would never be allowed into the United States, and of illegally expanding a health program that lawmakers had voted down.

Hannig said he didn't know why Ellis, the legal counsel to House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, chose not to call Blagojevich aides with direct knowledge of those decisions.

Sen. Dale Righter, R-Mattoon, said he worries that having lawmakers testify might politicize the impeachment process.

Righter said he had expected the trial to include testimony from people directly involved in some of the charges against Blagojevich. He also said the trial rules were designed to minimize politics, but appointing a Madigan aide as prosecutor and calling lawmakers as witnesses amounts to "a step backwards."

Righter said other senators shared his concerns but that he had heard no discussion of trying to keep the House members from testifying.

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Associated Press Writers Christopher Wills and Andrea Zelinski contributed to this report from Springfield. Writer Deanna Bellandi and Photographer Charles Rex Arbogast contributed to this report from Chicago.