Gov. Blagojevich: ‘I will fight’

Embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) denied any criminal wrongdoing Friday and promised to fight to clear his name.

Blagojevich, who was arrested on corruption charges including trying to sell President-elect Obama’s Senate seat, said he is under attack from a “political lynch mob” and has no intention of resigning.

{mosads}”I’m here to tell you right off the bat that I am not guilty of any criminal wrongdoing,” Blagovevich said. He added: “I will fight, I will fight, I will fight until my last breath.”

Blagojevich said he is “dying to answer these charges,” but he will only answer them in the “appropriate forum, a court of law.”

The governor said that while there are “powerful forces allayed against me,” he will not resign. President-elect Obama and every Democrat in the Senate have called on Blagojevich to resign.

The state legislature has taken preliminary steps  toward impeachment charges. The state Supreme Court declined to remove Blagojevich from office this week, rejecting a request from the state’s attorney general, Lisa Madigan (D).

Blagojevich, who did not take reporters’ questions, asked Illinois citizens to “wait and be patient, sit back and take a deep breath.”

The scandal has engulfed the state and, to a lesser extent, Obama’s transition.

The president-elect has been faced with questions about what contact his staff, specifically incoming chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, had with Blagojevich.

Earlier this week, Obama put out a statement saying that neither he nor his staff had any “inappropriate contact” with the governor, but he declined to release the findings of an internal investigation until next week.

Obama’s staff said they were delaying the release of the report at the request of the U.S. attorney’s office.

Blagojevich said earlier this week that he will not appoint Obama’s successor, but constitutionally, he is the only person in the state with the power to do so.