Jun 1, 2007 7:49 pm US/Central
State Senator Accuses Blagojevich Of Intimidation
Sen. Mike Jacobs Said In Talks Friday The Governor Threatened To 'Destroy' Him
by Mike Flannery
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (CBS) ―
-
-
State Sen. Mike Jacobs says Gov. Blagojevich threatened to 'destroy' him.
CBS
A Democrat in the state Senate claims Governor Rod Blagojevich threatened to "destroy" him because he refused to vote for the governor's health insurance plan, and that the threat was delivered in a tirade, laced with profanity.
As CBS 2 Political Editor Mike Flannery reports, Sen. Mike Jacobs (D-36th) is a second-generation state senator from the rough-and-tumble town of Moline, on the Mississippi River. He knows politics can get ugly. He claimed the governor went way too far with things he said Friday.
"He said, 'I will destroy you,'" Jacobs said.
The blowup came on a day when the governor was trying desperately to line up enough votes to push through the state Senate a merely symbolic version of his health insurance plan with no funding attached. Jacobs said he told Blagojevich that, for him, schools are the highest priority.
"This governor has mismanaged this state," Jacobs said. "Education is the priority of everyone in the state. He's throwing a fit because he didn't get his way."
The governor declined to speak to reporters. And a spokeswoman declined to address the senator's account of the governor's rough language and threats. She did say, though, "Senator Jacobs wanted a commitment for a $75 million project in exchange for health care for everyone. The governor refused."
"He called my university president at Western Illinois, Dr. Goldfarb, called him, told him they were taking the money out of the budget because I wouldn't play ball with him," Jacobs said. "I've been in rough and tumble politics my whole life, but when the governor of Illinois makes a personal and political threat, he'd better be ready to rumble. Look, I've got this beautiful family. The last thing I'm gonna do is let anybody destroy it, let alone a man who doesn't deserve to be governor of Illinois. If the governor would have been another gentleman in a tavern in East Moline, Illinois, and spoke to me that way, I would have kicked his tail end."
He said the governor had threatened to recruit an opponent to defeat Jacobs. Jacobs said three times that he was thinking seriously about running for governor, especially should Blagojevich seek re-election.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
SLIDESHOW: The Graduates: CBS 2 Anchors And Reporters
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
