Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich says 'I did nothing wrong — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00I'm here in New York because I can't get
2. 0:01a fair Hearing in Illinois in the uh
3. 0:04State Senate in Illinois they've decided
4. 0:06with rules that are fixed that don't
5. 0:08allow me as a governor the right to be
6. 0:10able to bring Witnesses in to prove that
7. 0:12I've done nothing wrong I want to call
8. 0:14witnesses like the President's chief of
9. 0:16staff Rah Emanuel who said recently at
10. 0:18Face the Nation that his conversations
11. 0:20with me were appropriate and there was
12. 0:21nothing uh inappropriate about what we
13. 0:24talked about I want to bring in
14. 0:25Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr US senators
15. 0:28I want to bring in Valerie Jared top
16. 0:30staff over President Obama all of whom
17. 0:32who uh are part of this whole uh story
18. 0:37they won't allow me to bring these
19. 0:38Witnesses in who will prove help prove
20. 0:39my innocence they've decided to remove a
21. 0:42governor elected twice by the people
22. 0:44without giving that Governor the most
23. 0:45basic fundamental right that all of us
24. 0:47as Citizens are entitled to the right to
25. 0:49be able to confront Witnesses challenge
26. 0:52false accusations and prove that you
27. 0:55didn't do wrong things that they said
28. 0:57you did and so they trumped this all up
29. 1:00because they've already made a decision
30. 1:01and it's based on politics and
31. 1:02unfortunately a desire on the part of
32. 1:04the legislature to raise taxes in
33. 1:06Illinois because I have fought for
34. 1:08people and to prevented tax increases
35. 1:10because I found ways to give all of our
36. 1:11kids health care all of our senior
37. 1:13citizens free public transportation
38. 1:15because I found ways around the
39. 1:16legislature to give all 261,000
40. 1:19uninsured women in Illinois access to
41. 1:21breast and cervical cancer screenings
42. 1:23mammograms and papsmear that will save
43. 1:25their lives and so they're trumping up
44. 1:27some of these rules which prevent me as
45. 1:30a governor from being able to Simply
46. 1:31bring Witnesses in to show I didn't do
47. 1:33what they said I can't get a fair
48. 1:35hearing there so I want the American
49. 1:36people to know what's happening in
50. 1:38Illinois I know the fix is in and I'll
51. 1:40soon join unfortunately the legions of
52. 1:42others who are losing their jobs in our
53. 1:44country but they should know that this
54. 1:46is a very scary precedent that they're
55. 1:48sending in Illinois and if they can do
56. 1:49this to me in Illinois they can do this
57. 1:51to other governors in other states uh
58. 1:53because they will set a dangerous
59. 1:54precedence on how these impeachment
60. 1:56processes work and what governor will
61. 1:58have the courage as I to take on a
62. 2:00legislative process to protect the
63. 2:02people to provide a voice for those
64. 2:04without a voice and protect the middle
65. 2:05class from higher taxes when these
66. 2:07lawmakers can throw you out of office
67. 2:09without giving you the basic right to
68. 2:11bring Witnesses in to show that you're
69. 2:28innocent thank you
70. 2:31if you can answer over here the answer
71. 2:32is this C's over here oh which
72. 2:37one be careful you're high she's up
73. 2:39there you all right I'm holding you this
74. 2:41one H well the one that so what's your
75. 2:44question you're not going to Def well
76. 2:47I'd like to on a defense and I'm
77. 2:48imploring those senators in Illinois to
78. 2:49give me a chance to bring my Witnesses
79. 2:51in because I'd like to have a chance to
80. 2:53prove my innocence with the witnesses
81. 2:54I'd like to call but if they're not
82. 2:56going to do it if it's a kangaroo court
83. 2:57and a phony process designed to thwart
84. 3:00the will of the people and throw out a
85. 3:02governor elected twice by the people
86. 3:04without giving that Governor a chance to
87. 3:06call witnesses then I'm not going to
88. 3:08violate my constitutional oath of office
89. 3:09I swore on the Holy Bible that I would
90. 3:12support the Constitution of the United
91. 3:13States and the state of Illinois to
92. 3:16participate in an unconstitutional
93. 3:18process that denies fundamental due
94. 3:20process and is a violation of the Sixth
95. 3:21Amendment right to bring Witnesses in to
96. 3:23confront your accusers is to violate my
97. 3:26constitutional oath of office that's
98. 3:28what they're doing I can't participate
99. 3:29than that and I would rather let them
100. 3:31throw me out on principle than allow
101. 3:33them to get away with some phony process
102. 3:36that is undermining the will of the
103. 3:37people give me a chance to call
104. 3:39witnesses and I'll show I did nothing
105. 3:42wrong