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| Politics
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| Accused governor to fight charges |
| Scandal-hit Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich has told reporters he is innocent of any crime and will not be resigning his position.
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| UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
, 20-December-2008
7:20:13 AM |
| Mr Blagojevich was arrested last week and charged with attempting to "sell" Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat.
As governor of Illinois, Mr Blagojevich has sole responsibility for picking Mr Obama's successor in the Senate.
Mr Blagojevich, who had not previously spoken in public about the charges against him, vowed to clear his name.
"I am not guilty of any criminal wrongdoing," he told reporters.
"I intend to stay on the job - I will fight, I will fight, I will fight until I take my last breath."
'Pay to play' schemes
In a brief statement, he said he would fight the "false accusations" made by what he termed a "political lynch mob".
And he expressed a desire to explain his actions in court.
"I'm dying to answer these charges - I am dying to show you how innocent I am," he said.
After quoting from the Rudyard Kipling poem "If", Mr Blagojevich said: "There are some powerful forces arrayed against me. It's kind of lonely right now."
"But I have on my side the most powerful ally there is, and it's the truth."
The BBC's Rajini Vaidyanathan said the governor appeared to be using the news conference as an opportunity to speak directly to the people of Illinois.
Mr Blagojevich and his lawyers seem to have come to the conclusion that the governor needs to win over Illinois voters if he is to keep his job, our correspondent says.
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