Blagojevich adept at getting big donations

CHICAGO, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- A campaign finance analyst says embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich collected more five-figure contributions than his two predecessors combined.

The claim by Cynthia Canary, director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, came Monday on the final day of testimony before a state House impeachment panel in Springfield, Ill., The Chicago Sun-Times said.

Canary testified that Blagojevich's Democratic fundraising team accepted 435 contributions of $25,000 or more over the past eight years while former Republican governors George Ryan and Jim Edgar received a total of 43 such contributions, the Springfield (Ill.) State Journal-Register said.

"She raises the circumstantial question does this all pass the smell test," commented House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie, chairwoman of the panel.

The panel was waiting Tuesday to hear if they would have a chance to listen to the federal wiretaps that led to the indictment of Blagojevich on charges he allegedly planned to auction off the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama to the highest bidder.

The Sun-Times said the disgraced governor's lawyer would likely appear before the panel sometime next week to argue against his removal from office.