Illinois governor defies efforts to oust him

Obama joins chorus of calls to resign

CHICAGO -- Gov. Rod Blagojevich of Illinois returned to work on Wednesday amid whirlwind efforts across the state and country to remove him from office before he could make an appointment to the vacant U.S. Senate seat that is the root of a debilitating criminal case against him.

In what the lieutenant governor, Pat Quinn, called a "crisis situation," Illinois lawmakers scrambled to find a way to force the governor's exit while President-elect Barack Obama called for his resignation and Sen. Harry Reid, the majority leader, warned him that he should "under no circumstances make an appointment."

"This is a crisis of confidence of people in their government in a democracy," Quinn said, in an interview from the same downtown office building where Blagojevich, a two-term Democrat, was said by a staff member to be having meetings. "The governor has to resign, or at the very least step aside."

At the same time, some of the elements sketched out in a 76-page criminal complaint against Blagojevich on Tuesday came into sharper view, as federal authorities identified Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., as the potential Senate candidate who was described in the complaint as most intertwined with Blagojevich in deal-making for the empty seat.

Jackson, a Democrat, angrily denounced Blagojevich at a news conference in Washington, saying he had done nothing wrong and did not know that the selection process had been corrupted. Jackson, who met with Blagojevich about the Senate opening for 90 minutes Monday, said that he was cooperating and would meet with investigators from the office of Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, who is leading the investigation.

The identity of another important figure in the case against Blagojevich -- known only as "Individual A" in the complaint -- also became apparent on Wednesday. Law enforcement officials said he was John Wyma, a lobbyist, fundraiser and close adviser to Blagojevich, who went to the federal authorities in October with a tale of corruption that helped lead to the use of wiretaps on Blagojevich and, eventually, the governor's arrest on Tuesday on charges of conspiracy and soliciting bribes.

Making a stand

Blagojevich's spokesman and lawyer did not return calls for comment on Wednesday, and Blagojevich made no public appearance outside his office or statements about his situation. That he went to his Chicago office at all was considered some sort of statement, however, because the governor is well known to prefer to avoid his offices and prefers to work alone at his North Side home or some other unofficial location.

A lawyer for Blagojevich, who turned 52 on Wednesday, had said Tuesday that the governor denied any wrongdoing.

Lisa Madigan, the state's attorney general (who has also been suggested as a possible Senate appointee, and was identified in the complaint as "Senate Candidate 2"), said she was weighing whether to file a complaint with the state Supreme Court seeking to declare the governor unfit to serve. Meanwhile, she said, state legislators were considering, perhaps as early as next week, a move to conduct impeachment proceedings against the governor.

She and Quinn, both Democrats, said they were also working on plans to create a special election to choose the next senator, should the appointment process simply be too tainted by a cloud of suspicion at this point. The Senate seat became empty with the election of Obama as president in November, and under state law, the governor is assigned to name a replacement to fill the remainder of the term, which runs through 2010.

"He doesn't show any signs of resigning or any willingness to do that," said Madigan, who has long been viewed as a rival to Blagojevich. "It will take time for an impeachment proceeding, and it may end up that the most efficient way to proceed is to have the Supreme Court declare him unfit. We are certainly considering that."