Panel Backs Impeachment; Burris: No Favors Asked

Roland Burris told Rod Blagojevich's impeachment panel today that no shady business was involved in his Senate appointment, Bloomberg reports. “I would never participate in anybody’s quid pro quo,” Burris told Illinois lawmakers. Hours after he testified, the 21-member panel voted unanimously to recommend impeachment, the Tribune notes. The full state House is expected to vote tomorrow.

"I can before this committee state that there was nothing ... personal or political exchanged for my appointment to this seat," Burris testified. He said the governor offered him the post on Dec. 26, weeks after the scandal broke, and he accepted two days later after conferring with friends and family. The panel's vote to recommend impeachment was expected—earlier in the day, it issued a draft report to that effect.  (More Roland Burris stories.)