On December 9, 2008, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was arrested by the FBI on federal corruption charges. It is believed that Governor Blagojevich attempted to sell Barack Obama's vacant U.S. Senate seat. He was released on bond and remained relatively quiet about the allegations. On December 19, 2008, the Governor made his first public comments since his arrest. Here is his statement.

"I'm here to tell you right off the bat that I am not guilty of any criminal wrongdoing, that I intend to stay on the job, and I will fight this thing every step of the way. I will fight, I will fight, I will fight until I take my last breath.

I have done nothing wrong. And I'm not going to quit a job that people hired me to do because of false accusations and a political lynch mob.

Now that's what I'm going to do. Let me tell you what I'm not going to do. I'm not going to do what my accusers and political enemies have been doing, and that is to talk about this case in 30-second sound bites on "Meet the Press" or on the TV news.

Now I'm dying to answer these charges. I am dying to show you how innocent I am. And I want to assure everyone who's here and everyone who's listening that I intend to answer every allegation that comes my way. However, I intend to answer them in the appropriate forum, in a court of law.And when I do I am absolutely certain that I will be vindicated.

Rudyard Kipling wrote, 'If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you, if you can trust yourself when all men doubt you and make allowance for their doubting too, if you can wait and not be tired by waiting or being lied about, don't deal in lies, or being hated, don't give way to hating.'

Now I know 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. And besides, I have the personal knowledge that I have not done anything wrong.

To the people of Illinois, I ask that they wait and be patient, sit back and take a deep breath and please reserve judgment. Afford me the same rights that you and your children have: the presumption of innocence, the right to defend yourself, the right to your day in court - the same rights that you would expect for yourselves.

And one last thing: To those of you who have expressed your support to Patti and me during this difficult time, I'd like to thank you for your thoughts, I'd like to thank you for your prayers and I would like to thank you for your good wishes. Patti and I cannot express to you how grateful we are for your kindness.

Merry Christmas, happy holidays."

The Analysis

"I'm here to tell you right off the bat that I am not guilty of any criminal wrongdoing",

To the Governor, this can be a truthful statement since one is presumed innocent until they are found guilty in a court of law. Saying "I am not guilty of any criminal wrongdoing" is different than saying, "I did not attempt to sell Barack Obama's U.S. Senate seat." Saying "I am not guilty" is only denying the conclusion people made about him. Saying "I didn't do it" is denying the act itself.

"that I intend to stay on the job, and I will fight this thing every step of the way. I will fight, I will fight, I will fight until I take my last breath."

The word "intend" means he may or he may not do it. People sometimes have good intentions but never go through with them. A better statement would have been, "I will stay on the job." The Governor may have known there was talk of impeaching him and therefore the decision to stay on the job may be taken out of his hands.

"I have done nothing wrong. And I'm not going to quit a job that people hired me to do because of false accusations and a political lynch mob."

Again, saying that one did nothing wrong is not the same as saying, "I didn't do it." Perhaps the Governor does not feel what he did was wrong. What he did could be called politics!

The phrase "false accusations" makes him sound innocent but he does not tell us what accusations are false.

"Now that's what I'm going to do. Let me tell you what I'm not going to do. I'm not going to do what my accusers and political enemies have been doing, and that is to talk about this case in 30-second sound bites on "Meet the Press" or on the TV news."

When people do not know the exact number they will often use the number three. The Governor could have picked any number but he unconsciously chose a number that had a three in it.

"Now I'm dying to answer these charges. I am dying to show you how innocent I am. And I want to assure everyone who's here and everyone who's listening that I intend to answer every allegation that comes my way. However, I intend to answer them in the appropriate forum, in a court of law. And when I do I am absolutely certain that I will be vindicated."

The Governor may be "dying" to answer these charges, but he has not told us that he will answer the charges. We see further evidence that he may avoid answering the charges when he says, "I intend to answer every allegation."

Using the phrase "absolutely certain" makes the Governor sound very confident he will be exonerated. However, a better statement would have been to leave this phrase out and state, "And when I do I will be vindicated."

When a person uses the word "certain" it tells us he is thinking about other possibilities. After careful consideration, he then concludes he is convinced this is what happened or will happen. The Governor's own language indicates he has thought about the possibility of being found guilty. However, he is "absolutely certain" that will not happen. A person who has done nothing wrong probably would not contemplate being found guilty.

"Rudyard Kipling wrote, 'If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you, if you can trust yourself when all men doubt you and make allowance for their doubting too, if you can wait and not be tired by waiting or being lied about, don't deal in lies, or being hated, don't give way to hating.'

Now I know 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. And besides, I have the personal knowledge that I have not done anything wrong".

He again states he did nothing wrong but stops short of denying selling Obama's Senate seat.

"To the people of Illinois, I ask that they wait and be patient, sit back and take a deep breath and please reserve judgment. Afford me the same rights that you and your children have: the presumption of innocence, the right to defend yourself, the right to your day in court - the same rights that you would expect for yourselves."

This is why the Governor can state he is not guilty. He is invoking his right to be presumed innocent.

Based on his language we see the Governor has not denied the specific charges. He has thought about the possibility of being found guilty and he does not tell us that he will answer the allegations.

UPDATE

On June 3, 2010, Rod Blagojevich went on trial in federal court in Chicago, Illinois charged with bribery, extortion, racketeering and a few other crimes. Remember, at his first public comments about these charges the Governor said,

"Now I'm dying to answer these charges...I want to assure everyone who's here and everyone who's listening that I intend to answer every allegation that comes my way...I intend to answer them in the appropriate forum, in a court of law."

As I pointed out the Governor did not tell us that he will answer the charges but that he only intends to answer the charges. That type of language usually means the person will not do it which was the case here. The Governor chose not to testify at his own trial. He will say that his attorneys convinced him not to testify but his language told us that he was already considering not testifying.

On August 17, 2010, a federal jury was deadlocked on all but one of the 24 charges against Governor Blagojevich. He was only convicted on the charge of lying to federal agents. Some of the jurors reported that they were deadlocked 11 - 1 in favor of convicting the Governor on the more serious charges. Since it appears there was only one hold out, you can bet prosecutors will re-try the case.

UPDATE

The following year government prosecutors retried Governor Blagojevich. On June 24, 2011, a jury found him guilty on 11 criminal counts related to President Barack Obama's old Senate seat and six counts involving fundraising shakedowns. His sentencing date has not been set. Blagojevich faces a maximum sentence of 305 years. He will probably receive a 10 - 15 year sentence.

Blagojevich responded to his conviction by saying, "I frankly am...am stunned." The shortest sentence is the best sentence; "I am stunned" is a more believable statement. The word "frankly" is a word that indicates untruthfulness. It is like saying, "I honestly am stunned." Truthful people usually do not use these type of words. Deceptive people may use them to convince you they are telling the truth. Blagojevich's statement indicates he knew there was a good possibility he would be found guilty.

He also hesitated in his statement. He repeated the word "am" to give himself time to think about what to say. His statement that he was stunned could not flow smoothly out of his mouth. This too shows us he was not surprised by the verdict.

UPDATE

On December 7, 2011, Rod Blagojevich was sentenced to 14 years in prison.

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