In an interview with The Associated Press, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich did not directly answer — Transcript

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1. 0:00I'm still not giving up hope that there
2. 0:02could be on the part of the Senate a
3. 0:05recognition that every citizen in
4. 0:07America has a right to a fundamental
5. 0:10right to confront his confu accusers and
6. 0:14all I'm asking for the Illinois state
7. 0:16senate to do is to allow me to call
8. 0:18witnesses let me call my Witnesses let
9. 0:21me bring in evidence that will show that
10. 0:23I've done nothing wrong what are you
11. 0:25afraid of uh if they allow for a process
12. 0:29that uh uh requires that they have to
13. 0:31prove up a case and then allows me to
14. 0:34disprove what they might try to prove
15. 0:36then the truth will come out and it will
16. 0:38show that I've done nothing wrong and
17. 0:40I've done a lot of things right for the
18. 0:41people of Illinois all I ask is a chance
19. 0:44to be able to do that let me bring
20. 0:46Witnesses let me bring evidence let me
21. 0:48have the same basic right as every
22. 0:50citizen in America and if they can deny
23. 0:52a governor who elected was elected twice
24. 0:54by the people of Illinois that
25. 0:56fundamental right then they can deny
26. 0:58that to you and any other citizen in
27. 1:00America and it sets a dangerous
28. 1:02precedent for future governors in
29. 1:03Illinois because what governor will be
30. 1:06willing to take on the legislature to
31. 1:08protect the people from for example tax
32. 1:10increases uh if though that Governor is
33. 1:14afraid that he or she can be thrown out
34. 1:17of office without giving the right to
35. 1:19confront accusations however false they
36. 1:21may be um that would throw him or her
37. 1:23out of
38. 1:25office you know how the media is um you
39. 1:28guys twist things take things out of
40. 1:30context when I mentioned Gandhi and
41. 1:33Nelson Mandela and Dr King I did that in
42. 1:36the context that I was asked what did it
43. 1:38feel like after you were arrested and my
44. 1:40answer was that I thought first and
45. 1:42foremost of my children and felt great
46. 1:45sadness and concerned for them I thought
47. 1:47about my wife who I was leaving behind
48. 1:49just moments before after I
49. 1:52was apprehended or taken into custody
50. 1:56and then I I sought some inspiration
51. 1:58from historical figures who had gone
52. 2:00through something like that as well I
53. 2:02wasn't comparing myself to Gandhi I
54. 2:03wasn't comparing myself to Nelsa Mandela
55. 2:05or Dr King I was just seeking some kind
56. 2:08of inspiration to have some
57. 2:10understanding that maybe other people
58. 2:12who have been on the side of the people
59. 2:15have gone through something like I was
60. 2:16going through and uh to somehow suggest
61. 2:19that I'm comparing myself to Nelson
62. 2:20Mandela or Mahatma Gandhi or or Dr King
63. 2:23is just flat out erroneous and it's
64. 2:25being Twisted by people who like to do
65. 2:27that and it reminds me and so I'll
66. 2:29probably get criticized for this but a
67. 2:31passage from a Kipling poem which says
68. 2:33if you can bear to hear the truth you've
69. 2:34spoken Twisted by naves to make a trap
70. 2:37for fools these are the sorts of things
71. 2:39that unfortunately a lot of people in
72. 2:41your profession like to do and they take
73. 2:43a statement like that that's an honest
74. 2:45statement and twist it and start saying
75. 2:47that I'm comparing myself to Gandhi and
76. 2:48Dr King and Mandel and it's just not the
77. 2:50case I'm just trying to point out that
78. 2:53there's a terrible Injustice that's
79. 2:54taking place in the state of Illinois um
80. 2:57you may not like me you may not have
81. 2:59supported me
82. 3:00um and I certainly understand that I
83. 3:02certainly have my share of detractors
84. 3:04but I'm a citizen of the United States
85. 3:06who was elected twice by the people of
86. 3:07his state to be their governor and
87. 3:09before you remove a governor before you
88. 3:12engage in a process as rare as
89. 3:14impeachment is supposed to be the least
90. 3:17you ought to do is provide that Governor
91. 3:19an opportunity to have the basic same
92. 3:21rights as every citizen in our country
93. 3:23is guaranteed the right to confront
94. 3:25Witnesses the right to challenge a case
95. 3:26against him the right to bring Witnesses
96. 3:29the right to be able to prove his
97. 3:30innocence I would love to be in
98. 3:32Springfield Illinois today with an
99. 3:35opportunity to bring my Witnesses and
100. 3:36one of the best things that could clear
101. 3:38all of this up would be if I was allowed
102. 3:40to bring in every one of those tape
103. 3:42conversations not two or three or four
104. 3:44but every one of those tape
105. 3:46conversations so that the people of
106. 3:47Illinois can hold the hear the full
107. 3:49context of what I was discussing with
108. 3:51regard to who the next US senator might
109. 3:53be and if they hear that they'll hear
110. 3:55the whole truth nothing but the truth
111. 3:57and that will set me free