Blagojevich: They’re Just Hanging Me

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) says he won’t be afforded a fair trial by the Illinois state Senate next week because of two rules that prevent him from calling witnesses or file objections to the House impeachment record submitted to the Senate.

“I’m not even getting a fair trial–they’re just hanging me,” Blagojevich said at a news conference today, using an analogy to Old West hangings. “And when they hang me under these rules that prevent due process, they’re hanging the 12 million people of ill who twice have elected a governor.”

“If they can do this to a governor, they can do this to any citizen in Illinois,” Blagojevich said.

The embattled governor said that, if he were allowed to, he would call as witnesses White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, Senior White House Adviser and Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Relations and Public Liaison Valerie Jarrett, and Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-Ill.).