"I don't believe there's any cloud that hangs over me. The true question -- by the way, if anybody wants to tape my conversations, feel free to do it. I'd appreciate anyone who wants to tape me openly and notoriously," said Governor Rod Blagojevich.
Governor Blagojevich is laughing off a screaming headline on page one of last Friday's Tribune about the feds secretly tape recording his conversations with the help of his close friend and former congressional chief-of-staff, John Wyma. Wyma is now a mega-lobbyist and big Blagojevich fundraiser.
"Last time I talked to him was the day before Thanksgiving. Wished him a happy thanksgiving," said Gov. Blagojevich, who said he didn't mind if Wyma was cooperating. "I believe everybody should pursue the truth and be truthful and then you do that everything's fine."
But the intensifying federal investigation on top of the feuding and fighting and budget stalemate in Springfield is no laughing matter to critics who have been talking about recalling the governor
"We feel voters ought to have the authority to recall an elected official, particularly a governor, if they feel he's failed. Certainly there is a broad feeling in Illinois that this governor has failed," said," said Andy McKenna, Illinois GOP Chairman.
And, some critics have been talking about impeachment.
"The job of the U.S. Attorney is to determine innocence or guilt. The U.S. Attorney will do his job. We'll do ours," said State Rep. John Fritchey, (D) Chicago
But today at least. Blagojevich is acting like a politician without a care in the world.
"You might hear a couple of words that you might not hear publicly but those are only adjectives to describe maybe some of you," said Gov. Blagojevich.
Blagojevich said he was never taped secretly by Wyma, who said he never recorded the governor and does not know anything about secret recordings done by anyone else.
The feds have indicted 13 people in the Pay to Play investigation of state contracts and campaign contributions.
