Panel begins Blagojevich impeachment probe
SPRINGFIELD, Ill., Dec. 16 (UPI) -- An Illinois House panel says it will have several weeks of hearings as it considers whether to impeach Gov. Rod Blagojevich, accused of corruption.
The committee authorized to investigate accusations of corruption and abuse of power against Blagojevich was scheduled to begin taking testimony Tuesday, the Chicago Tribune reported. The panel has the power to issue subpoenas and compel testimony, and is expected to seek information from the U.S. attorney's office -- which arrested Blagojevich last week -- as well as information from other aspects of the federal investigation, such as testimony from convicted influence-peddler Antoin "Tony" Rezko.
Among other things, Blagojevich is accused of trying to sell President-elect Barack Obama's U.S. Senate seat.
"This is not a kangaroo court," said committee chairwoman Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie, a Chicago Democrat. "It's absolutely critical that we do this deliberately, that we don't rush to judgment, that we don't say, because the public is clamoring for his head, we should take the head first and do the trial later."
Blagojevich spokesman Lucio Guerrero dismissed the House action.
"Talk of impeachment is nothing new to the governor and once the House makes its recommendation, then he will have more to say," Guerrero said.
The House did not strip Blagojevich of his power to appoint Obama's successor, a move that angered Republicans, the Tribune reported. A bill that would have set up a special election appeared to be going nowhere.
House Speaker Michael Madigan said the House's inaction "is reflective of probably a majority of people in the House, probably a majority of people in the state."
Madigan is the father of Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, who asked the state Supreme Court to remove Blagojevich temporarily from office.
Feds conduct Richardson corruption probe
ALBUQUERQUE, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- U.S. prosecutors are investigating the New Mexico administration of Secretary of Commerce-designate Bill Richardson for corruption, sources say.
Unnamed sources told Tuesday's Washington Post a federal grand jury is investigating whether a financial firm improperly won New Mexico state contracts worth more than $1.4 million shortly after making contributions to Richardson political action committees.
The investigation is part of a long-running nationwide inquiry looking at "pay-to-play" practices in local government bond markets, the newspaper said, and focuses on whether Richardson's office urged a state agency to hire CDR Financial Products.
A federal grand jury in Albuquerque was hearing testimony even as U.S. President-elect Barack Obama was introducing Richardson as his choice for commerce secretary Dec. 3. The grand jury was set Tuesday to hear testimony from officials at Richardson's political action committees and J.P. Morgan bankers, the Post said.
Richardson spokesman Gilbert Gallegos told the newspaper the governor was "aware of questions surrounding some financial transactions at the New Mexico Finance Authority" and expected state officials to cooperate fully.
U.S. releasing 3 Gitmo detainees to Bosnia
WASHINGTON, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- Preparations are under way to transfer three Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detainees to Bosnia to comply with a court order based on a landmark Supreme Court ruling.
The transfers of the three Algerians to their adopted homeland would be the first releases from the military prison after a federal judge ordered the detainees freed based on the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that Guantanamo Bay detainees had a right t contest their detentions in federal court, The New York Times reported.
The three men were expected to be flown from Guantanamo Bay to Sarajevo Tuesday, weather permitting, The Washington Post reported. Spokespersons for the Pentagon and the International Committee of the Red Cross declined to comment.
The State Department has been negotiating with the Bosnian government about the transfer of the five men, but authorities in Sarajevo agreed so far to accept three detainees who hold Bosnian citizenship, administration officials said. Discussions about the fate of Lakhdar Boumediene, the Algerian whose name is associated with the Supreme Court decision, continue because he was stripped of his citizenship during a court proceeding in Sarajevo, as do negotiations for the fifth prisoner.
U.S. said unhappy with Brit Afghan efforts
KABUL, Afghanistan, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- U.S. military officials are privately grumbling about what they consider Britain's poor performance in Afghanistan's Helmand province, sources say.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown is reluctant to commit 2,000 more troops to Afghanistan after getting a bleak progress report while U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is voicing strong reservations about the effectiveness of Britain's counterinsurgency efforts in Helmand, unnamed sources told Tuesday's Times of London.
Gates has announced plans for a surge of 20,000 U.S. troops into Afghanistan, which could involve taking over from Britain in the restive southwestern province. The Times said U.S. military officials are upset over what they see as Britain's lack of equipment, including helicopters, leaving their troops unable to perform the same tasks as U.S. counterparts and leading to more cautious tactics.
Sources told the newspaper U.S. officials are grumbling about the regularity with which American airstrikes are called in to rescue British troops, as well as an alleged "air of superiority" adopted by British commanders.
Dynamite found in Paris department store
PARIS, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- Five sticks of dynamite found hidden in a Paris department store caused a scare and forced the closure of a busy shopping street Tuesday, witnesses said.
Police said they found the explosives in the 3rd-floor menswear department bathroom of the Printemps store on Paris' busy Boulevard Haussman after receiving a warning from a previously unknown group called the Afghan Revolutionary Front, The Times of London reported.
The letter, calling for the withdrawal of French troops from Afghanistan by February, said the dynamite would explode if not defused, but police said there was no detonation system to trigger the explosives and called the device "amateurish."
"As far as we can tell, the system was not destined to explode. We are going to find the authors," the French Interior Minister Michelle Alliot-Marie told reporters after meeting with police at the scene.
The Printemps store was evacuated and Boulevard Haussman closed to traffic, causing huge jams in central Paris, The Times reported.
