In Illinois, Governor Rod Blagojevich has been removed from office in a unanimous impeachment vote. On Thursday, the State Senate voted 59-to-0 to impeach Blagojevich for abuse of power. Blagojevich was indicted last year on bribery and wire fraud charges. The allegations included trying to sell President Obama’s vacant Senate seat to the highest bidder. The impeachment vote came shortly after Blagojevich ended his boycott of the proceedings and tried to plead his case.

Rod Blagojevich: “There is no evidence before your body here that shows — no evidence, zero — that there was any wrongdoing by me as governor. And again, if you give me a chance to be able to bring witnesses in, I can show you not only that I didn’t do anything wrong, I can show you that I did a lot of things that were mostly right and that some of the things that are being said about me simply aren’t true.”

Illinois Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn has taken over from Blagojevich as Illinois governor.