Blagojevich Busted

CHICAGO (CBS) ― Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich began a new media blitz on Tuesday to promote his new "tell-all" book and to continue his denial of any wrongdoing. His book "The Governor" officially hit the shelves on Tuesday.

The book gives Blagojevich's view of the scandal that led to federal charges that accuse Blagojevich of -- among other things -- trying to sell the U.S. Senate seat once held by President Barack Obama.

Meantime, a friend and former top fundraiser for Blagojevich pleaded guilty to federal charges in an $8.5 million fraud scheme at O'Hare International Airport. Christopher Kelly also faces charges in the case against Blagojevich, but it was not clear if Kelly had offered to cooperate with federal prosecutors as part of his plea deal.

Blagojevich made a stop Tuesday morning on CBS's The Early Show for a chat with Harry Smith. He called the allegations against him by the U.S. Attorney's Office a "mutilation of the truth."

Blagojevich said everything he did in office was for the people of Illinois.

"I have never done anything that would be a crime, or even intended to be a crime," Blagojevich said. The ousted former governor said federal prosecutors railroaded him on false charges.

Blagojevich was caught on a wiretap, allegedly saying he expected a donation for the open Senate seat because it's "f****ing golden." But Blagojevich said only "snippets" of the recordings have ever been heard, and if the tapes were heard in their entirety, they would prove his innocence.

At times Tuesday, the former governor appeared to be rehearsing for a possible stint on the witness stand at his criminal trial next year.

          Harry Smith: "No pay for play?"
          Blagojevich: "Not only was there no pay for play…"
          Smith: "At any point in your administration?"
          Blagojevich: "However you define that."

A key part of the former governor's defense strategy included focusing on what the wiretaps recorded just before he was arrested. By then, however, Blagojevich knew the feds were listening in. The Chicago Tribune had revealed it in a front-page story.

Blagojevich implied that the feds arrested him last December precisely because they didn't like what they were hearing in those final tapes and now, he says, they don't want the public to hear it, either.

"The irony here, and it's as thick as can be, is that the very accusers who said those things -- that took things out of context, had me arrested -- are the ones who went to court and are preventing those tapes from being heard in their full context," Blagojevich said on "The Today Show."

As for those federal allegations that he was caught on an FBI wiretap calling Barack Obama's old Senate seat "f***ing golden" and that he wouldn't give it up for "nothing?"

"I did say that, but I said that in the context of, uh, politics. Had to do with helping the people of Illinois, health care and the Senate seat," Blagojevich said.

Through it all, familiar flashes emerged. Blagojevich had a line for Smith on "The Early Show," for example, and repeated it over and over, just as he used to do at news conferences.

"Someone's lying here and it's not me," Blagojevich said.

Should he take the witness stand; that would be the jury's call to make next summer.

Blagojevich denied trying to profit personally from his power to appoint Obama's replacement. "The truth is in hundreds of hours of tape recordings. The government at a sensational press conference, when I was locked up in a jail cell, said what you just referred to, that they stopped a crime before it happened. They used snippets of conversations from those private taped, conversations."

Blagojevich said his comments were taken out of context and wrongly used against him. He said his new book would be his first step towards getting the truth out there. The next step will be his trial.

The former governor said he was looking forward to the trial, because he knows he'll be vindicated and he wants everyone to hear the tapes in their entirety.

"I was hijacked from office at an impeachment trial that didn't allow me to prove my innocence. I'm the anti-Nixon asking that those tapes be heard. My accusers are the ones who went to court and are keeping those tapes from being heard from the public. Someone's lying here and it's not me," Blagojevich said.

He said the U.S. Attorney's office had asked for an order sealing the tapes so "to prevent me or you from hearing those tapes in their entirety."

Blagojevich also claimed that he had never engaged in pay-to-play politics, and that all he wanted from his prospective Senate appointees was a pledge to help people.

He said all he wanted was "a political deal to put people to work, expand healthcare and not raise taxes on people."

As for his new book, it was a breezy read, especially if you know all the players, as those who covered Rod Blagojevich do.

The book includes curious lapses. Early on, he inexplicably mangles the name of President Obama's campaign manager, David Plouffe, while boasting that he once considered hiring Plouffe.

Blagojevich is slated to continue his blitz with appearances on "The View" on Wednesday and on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" on Thursday.

CBS 2 Political Editor Mike Flannery, CBS 2's Susan Carlson and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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