Was Blago going to resign?
31 Jan 2009, 1711 Hrs

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Chicago, Jan. 31 Rod Blagojevich's estranged father-in-law Ald. Dick Mell (33rd) has claimed that he contemplated resigning shortly before the Illinois Senate ousted him as governor. This is in total contradiction of what Blagojevich was telling the public.

Blagojevich's publicist, Glenn Selig, denied Mell's claim. "That is 100 percent not true," Selig said. "He never, ever considered resigning at any time," Selig said.

Rod Blagojevich on Thursday became the first governor in Illinois' 190-year history to be impeached, the Chicago Sun Times reported.

That report quoted anonymous sources claiming that Mell called someone close to Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago) to relay a message that Blagojevich wanted to resign before a vote to oust him could be held.

Mell acknowledged to the Chicago Sun-Times that he knew Blagojevich was contemplating resigning. "He wanted to step aside, but he didn't reach out to anybody' in state government," Mell said, making his first public comments since Blagojevich's impeachment conviction.

Mell also mentioned his daughter, former state first lady Patti Blagojevich. "He didn't discuss it with me; I was talking with Patti," Mell said. "Patti mentioned it."

Rod Blagojevich said through his publicist that Mell's recollection about Blagojevich considering resignation is wrong. The former governor "talked to Patti, and Patti never said that," Selig said.

During a news conference outside his Northwest Side house after the 59-0 impeachment vote, Blagojevich was asked point-blank if he'd considered resigning. "No, I did not," he replied.

Mell's icy relationship with his son-in-law came up during the former governor's appearance on ABC's "The View". Blagojevich blamed the bad blood on his January 2005 decision to temporarily close a landfill owned by a relative of his wife's, Frank Schmidt. (ANI)

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