Blagojevich impeachment panel adjourns

SPRINGFIELD, Ill., Dec. 16 (UPI) -- The Illinois House panel charged with deciding whether Gov. Rod Blagojevich should be impeached adjourned Tuesday after meeting for less than two hours.

The committee will resume its work in Springfield Wednesday, when Blagojevich's attorney, Edward Genson, was expected to attend, the Springfield State Journal-Register reported.

House Majority Leader and committee Chairwoman Barbara Flynn Currie opened Tuesday's meeting by saying an impeachment investigation was necessary because Blagojevich has yet to resign after his arrest last week on federal corruption allegations, including an accusation that he tried to sell President-elect Barack Obama's U.S. Senate seat.

Currie and other committee members said they would not let personal feelings interfere with their work on the panel.

"Frontier justice will not prevail in this proceeding. A rush to judgment does not serve the people well," Currie said.

The panel said it will conduct hearings over several weeks as it considers whether to impeach Blagojevich. It has the power to issue subpoenas and compel testimony, and is expected to seek information from the U.S. attorney's office -- which arrested the governor last week -- as well as information from other aspects of the federal investigation, such as testimony from convicted influence-peddler Antoin "Tony" Rezko, the Chicago Tribune reported.

In addition to the House action, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan asked the state Supreme Court to remove Blagojevich temporarily from office.