Politics

Rep. Schakowsky Calls For Blagojevich To Be Removed

By Kevin Hechtkopf

December 15, 2008 / 10:45 AM EST / CBS News

This morning on CBS News' The Early Show, Rep. Jan Schakowsky repeated her call for Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to be impeached by the Illinois legislature.

"This isn't about the legal process," she said. "This is about the governor being unable to govern right now. This is really a political question. Right now, our state is without the leadership that we need and so, of course, he'll be innocent until proven guilty in the courts. But we already know that we're literally without a governor right now that can lead."

"It's hard to understand anymore what the governor is really thinking," Schakowsky added. "The charges that were leveled against him are so fantastical where he was imagining himself being appointed secretary of health and human services or an ambassadorship. So… it seems like the grip on political reality anyway is pretty slim."

(CBS/EARLY SHOW)

Schakowsky, a Democrat from the 9th district in Illinois, was just elected to her 6th term in Congress. She has known Blagojevich for a long time, and also was among the choices to replace President-elect Obama in the Senate. She told Early Show co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez about the conversation she had with Blagojevich and said there was nothing inappropriate said or implied.

"Not even close," she said. "Which makes me think maybe I really wasn't in consideration, because I was talking to the governor on November 18th… I said, Rod, am I really in contention? Am I on a list of yours? He assured me that I was, but looking back, I guess I wasn't."

You can read more about the scandal here.

You can watch the whole interview with Schakowsky below: