Illinois lawmakers yesterday impeached the allegedly corrupt and conspiring Governor Rod Blagojevich (D). This sets the stage for an exceptional trial in the Senate which could end with Gov. Blagojevich thrown out from office.

The House voted almost unanimously (141-1) to impeach Blagojevich exactly a month after the governor was arrested after the FBI caught him on tape while conspiring to “sell” the Senate seat left vacant by President-elect Barack Obama. Using his influence to take advantage of the vacant Senate seat was just one of the corrupt actions Blagojevich was allegedly planning.

The only one who voted against the impeachment was state Rep. Milton Patterson, D-Chicago, who said the report did not provide him with enough information to make an informed decision in this case.

The debate about Mr. Blagojevich’s impeachment didn’t take more than 90 minutes and nobody rose to his defense. The Illinois Governor insisted again that he was innocent of any wrongdoing and this move to impeach him was politically driven.

"I'm going to fight every step of the way," said Blagojevich, who added that he was a victim of political payback because he tried to extend healthcare and other relief to the people of Illinois. This “struggle” with the House has started since Blagojevich was re-elected for a second term as Illinois Governor, he said.

Representative Jack Franks (D), said that it was the Senate’s duty to stop the "freak show" that has been going on in the Illinois state government. Meanwhile, Susana Mendoza, a Chicago Democrat, said that even Nixon (whose birthday was Friday) showed more integrity than Blagojevich because he resigned before being impeached.

A few days ago, the past chapter of the Blagojevich corruption scandal took place. The drama was provided by the dispute whether to seat Roland Burris (D), Mr. Blagojevich’s choice for the post left vacant by President-elect Barack Obama. Mr. Burris was not allowed to be seated in the Senate.

The matter of impeaching Blagojevich will now be tried by the state Senate which needs a two-thirds vote (at least 60 votes) to end Mr. Blagojevich’s tenure as Illinois Governor. The state Senate trial is set to begin January 26.

However, Gov. Blagojevich said he was confident that he'll be "properly exonerated"

If the Senate votes to remove Blagojevich from office, he would become the first governor impeached in Illinois’ political history and the eighth US governor to be impeached and removed from office. The last governor impeached was the late former Arizona Governor Evan Mecham. He was removed in 1988.

Mr. Blagojevich was put under arrest on December 9 by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for conspiring to benefit from naming President-elect Barack Obama's replacement in the U.S. Senate. The FBI recorded some of his phone conversations with aides.

"I've got this thing [the vacant seat] and it's f***ing golden, and, uh, uh, I'm just not giving it up for f***in' nothing. I'm not gonna do it. And I can always use it. I can parachute me there,” Blagojevich said.

Among other things, he planned to become a senator himself in order to pave the way for a possible presidential run in 2016, the FBI affidavit wrote.