By GottaLaff
Liveblogging Attorney General Madigan's press conference on MSNBC:
Illinois A.G. Lisa Madigan is asking the top court in the state to declare Blago "unable to serve", because, she says, he cannot legitimately and effectively perform his duties. This is not about the legal matters, just his ability to do his job.
She filed a temporary restraining order which, she says, would facilitate a lawsuit. Supreme Court rule provides the ability to plead, but sets no procedure as to how they'll handle the case. They could deny the ability to file the complaint, grant a TRO (he should be removed immediately), they could ask for briefing, etc.
She filed the TRO because of the urgency of this, she says. In the past 3 days, state business can't be moved forward, so she wanted the court to recognize the urgency of having an effective governor.
She doesn't know how quickly an impeachment procedure could take to implement.
If the court agrees, she still believes the legislature should make a decision about impeachment. But she wants the court to make sure the lt. governor is in place so Illinois can move forward with no paralyzing interim period.
Madigan is not saying he is "mentally unfit" in her complaint. She's saying there's a backlog of work and wants the lt. governor to take over certain "categories of activities".
Madigan is for a special election to be called for by the legislature. Quinn would be the acting governor.
She calls this a "temporary removal from office".
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