Withdrawn thousands of dollars in cash from my personal savings account, which i have kept for emergencies and the history of my family Facing Confiscation in cuba. He did address these on your screen, the gold bars, the stash of gold bars. He did address the gift of the mercedesbenz convertible. And of course, he is absolutely innocent until Proven Guilty in a court of law. And he is not the first lawmakers to even face corruption allegations. In a moment, im going to talk to former illinois democratic governor ron blagojevich. He served eight years of 14 year sentence for a pay for play crimes. Plus, as you, know we are on the brink yet again of a shutdown of the federal government as of 11 59 pm this saturday. And as a pretty stark choice to make, will he save his job or the government, is that really the Rock And A Hard Place were at right now . Well, right hardliners are threatening just that. And now, while, donald trump. And everyone, she also spoke and broke the internet over the weekend, you see her right there, im talking with taylor swift, of course, and travis kelce. But not what everyones talking, about are they dating or not, i cant really pretend to care. But i can tell you she has an effect on jersey sales. And could she have a role in a another way on the Actual Kansas city team . Well talk about that. I want to begin by bringing in former illinois governor rod blagojevich. He went to present in 2012 after being found guilty of corruption charges. His sentence was commuted by then President Donald Trump in 2020. Governor, nice to see you again, how are you . Its great to be home. Im doing well. How are you . Im doing well. You know, ive been eager to talk to, in particular, because you of course served eight years of your sentence, in part, for charges having to do with the filling of Barack Obamas former senate seat. Im wondering what have been your thoughts when you have heard from a defiant Senator Menendez today, saying hes not going anywhere, he feels he will be exonerated fully. And yet, we all saw those photographs, governor. What do you say . First of all, i say that i didnt do what they said they did. What they sent me to prison for. I went to Prison For Sex by then president elect obama to make a political deal on his senate seat. Obama did nothing wrong. I did nothing wrong. Eventually, the Appellate Court reversed those charges. The gunman told a big lie. So naturally, very sympathetic to other people who find themselves in circumstances where weaponized weaponize, criminal federal prosecutors come after you. Having said that, i will say the obvious, and that is that Senator Menendez deserves a presumption of innocence. But i will also say that i think its reasonable and fair for people who presume there may be some wrongdoing, when you find in a politicians home 480,000 in cash, in gold bars, the allegations of the mercedes and all the rest, in my case, they never even accuse me of taking one single penny. It was all politics. And theres a big difference between criminalizing Routine Practices in politics, which is what they did to me, they wanted me to tell on president elect obama. Neither one of us did anything wrong, and a politician whos got a whole bunch of cash. And that explains it the way that Senator Menendez did today, which is highly incredible, that discussion about withdrawing money because of his parents coming from cuba and the fear that the government was going to confiscate his money. Thats a anyway, im sorry, go right ahead. No, i was asking to say, i certainly understand. You and i have had conversations in the past as well. You have been very, very unequivocal about your own innocence. Obviously, we know that you did serve, there was a commutation in the end. But mean particularly, given your own personal experience that you still see a little bit of a turning of the side eye to the explanation the senator gave, even in spite of the fact that there are times when prosecutors can get things wrong. Weve certainly covered a number of expungement, including exonerations and people who have been freed under faulty evidence. This somehow feels different to people though. And there already are calls for him to resign, even in light of the presumption of innocence, and in light of of course the fact that he says he did not do it. But there is politics in the fallout involved. Do you think that senator bob menendez should resign . I think its very simple. If he didnt do it, he should not resign, and he should fight. If however he did it, he accepts responsibility, he should seek atonement and forgiveness and mercy and pay his debt to society. Now, do i think he did it . Again, as i, said when you find that kind of cash in a politicians house, i think the fair to say theres something rotten in the state of denmark. And i think requests for Senator Menendez to resign will increase as the days go by. One political party, the republican will make a big political issue out of this. Democrats find themselves in a difficult position to defend him. So lets see whether or not he can withstand the pressure. I would say to him, Senator Menendez, who i served within congress, if you didnt do it, go down fighting. Thats what i did, maybe that was a mistake, but i know that was the right thing to do. And if you are him and were both elected by the people, we have a duty and responsibility to fight against weaponized prosecutors who are criminalizing things that are crimes. Having said that, again, cash, gold bars in a politicians home, why is it not in a bank . Why is he not putting it on his Financial Disclosure forms of its Campaign Contributions . These are all very serious questions. And this is breathtaking corruption, if in fact hes guilty. His statements today certainly invite the prosecutors to do a thorough analysis of how that money came to be, how he was able to obtain it, the amount, the withdrawals. He really created an opportunity for a map to be drawn, essentially from point a to point b, and it better matchup. Of course, this is all in the infancy of an investigation, and of course, an indictment. They still have a long way to go. But i am curious, based on what you said, and people have said hes got to resign right away. Some of said, like you have, maybe go down fighting. But theres a lot of leverage in him being a current member of congress, particularly if he were to engage in any Plea Discussions with prosecutors. Did you find that your tenure and your Actual Office itself was a Bargaining Chip, or at least one that was perceived by prosecutors as a Bargaining Chip they tried to use with you . Very much so. They fully expected it. And thats how most politicians who find themselves in the hot seat like ida, and like Senator Menendez does now, operate. They use their office, the duty that they have to the peoples put aside, they use their office as a Bargaining Chip to cut a better deal and to eventually leave after they work things out. The former Attorney General of new york, the former governor spitzer did something similar to that. Will Senator Menendez do that . Perhaps. But here again, i will say this. If you didnt do a Senator Menendez, you must go down fighting. You have a duty and responsibility to the people who elected you. If you did it, you have responsibility to not fight to accept responsibility and atone for your sins. My position with me was always i did not do it. I knew i was up against powerful forces. They failed to convict me on a first trial. They tried me a second, time no one ever said i took a penny, much less gold bars. I said ethan gold because obama want to make a political deal. And they did all kinds of things and that second trial that was corrupt. And as a result, they sent me to prison for 14 years. I was a politician who never took a penny. And the reason they did it was they were bearing the truth and what they did. Now, there is good cops and theres bad cause. The people that did to me, bad cops. The prosecutor doing it to Senator Menendez, he sure does look like he has a strong case. And it is in fact this is true, this is the kind of sordid venal corruption that prosecutors should go after, not criminalizing things that are political. And i know your audience hates president trump, but this is what theyre doing to president trump, formalizing things that are routine and necessary in politics and government. This sort of corruption that menendez is being charged with, thats venal, thats corrupt, thats the stuff they should go after. Well, governor, two things. One, the jury did not agree with your stance. And two, youd be awfully surprised about the scope of my audience. Im known for being a straight shooter, calling balls and strikes. And my audience welcomes the opportunity here from both sides of an issue. They have not come to a conclusion until theyve gotten all the information. Im glad you contributed to that today. Thank you so much for joining me. Thank you very much. Congratulations on your success. Thank you. I want to bring in a former u. S. Senator from alabama, jug doug jones. Im glad to hear senator. Well, not only because your prosecutorial troughs, but also your rule as being a former senator. And this is a moment where politics and law meet yet again. And everyone, you and i both agree, everyone deserves the presumption of innocence. You would not be worth your salt as a prosecutor if he felt differently. But i am really curious about what you think of the strength of the prosecutions case here . Well, you know, laura, i appreciate you asking the question. But im not going to a pine on the strength of the case, that ive only seen an indictment, i havent, seen i was not a grand juror. I havent seen all the evidence. And i certainly havent seen evidence thats been tested by the defense. And were talking about a couple of Different Things here. Were talking about evidence that can prove a crime beyond a reasonable doubt. First is simply conduct, as alleged, then i think should prompt Senator Menendez to resign. I said that this weekend. But i just think its really premature for all of us to kind of talk about the strength of a Case Visalli On A Press Conference and indictment. This is got a long way to go. And the senator is presumed mustnt. Presumed innocent, that is a piece of evidence folks, thats not just the saying, that is real. Hes presumed innocent, he will go into a trial with the presumption of innocence. Weve got a long way to go. Hes got a long way to go. Him and his wife has a long way to go, and the codefendants, before anyone can really assess the strength of his case. Certainly, and of course, the prosecutors recognize that their job has really yet to begin. When you have an indictment, is the beginning, the end of the beginning of the case. Theyve still got to prove a whole lot of information. And he has the opportunity to choose to present a defense. One of the things that he is doing already in a statement is that he has given a kind of a preview of his stance on likely what the defense might be. And part of it might be that hes been arguing that parts of his job as a senator who are being misrepresented by the prosecutors, and that is actions fall under the official acts of a senator. Now that phrase, official acts, has been part of the Supreme Court precedent as it relates to the former Virginia Governor bob mcdonald. There is questions as to whether his entertaining of a constituent who wanted to have, i think, a nicotine based Dietary Supplement meetings called, opportunity for someone to meet with the person and test on their own lab work. That was that case. Official acts were kind of carved out in the Supreme Court for that reason. But here i am talking to a former senator. You know what your official acts really were. When you think about an official Act Of Congress of a senate office, do you think that what is being alleged meets that criteria . You know, again, laura, and i hate to im not trying to dodge your question. Oh, but you are. No, well im not really trying to dodge. Youre basing the question on a piece of paper. Youre also basing it on something that Senator Menendez said. And as you said, its a preview of his defense. But there is going to be a lot more of this. There was in the case of the governor of virginia, there is an every case. There is more in the governor that you interviewed, there wasnt his case. He is still proclaiming his innocence. People often do that. What im really looking this weekend for people to simply say, let the system work. Let the system go forward. He you can talk all the evidence if you want to. But the fact, and i want to emphasize this again, none of this evidence has been tested by the defense. And im not taking up for Senator Menendez on this by any stretch. But former senator, im asking hes got a very good lawyer. I dont want to cut you off, but if you like to be processed to kind of roll out as it is, why are you calling for him to resign . Because when the process mean that he goes all the way through a trial, that it would be tested in the way youre talking about . Why would he why wouldnt he resign based on that logic . Thats the Legal Process. I totally agree with that. Thats the Legal Process. I think were at a point in this country though, laura, where people have such distaste for the political parties, for the institutions of government. The respect for the institutions of government, including the senate of the United States and House Representatives, has had its among the lowest its ever been in the history of our country. I think that theres also a duty that people have that is a higher duty and simply to yourself in that Legal Process. I disagree with what the governor said a few minutes ago. I dont think that whether or not you resign depends on whether or not you did it or not. The minute you resign under his theory, youre making an admission of guilt. I dont think you have to do that. What i think though is that the senate, as an institution, and its reputation is at stake. I am looking at a bigger thing right now, when the people of this country are really tired of politicians, or even our alleged as the alleged allegations are here. I think that people really need to look at this. And i would hope that there are clearly factual allegations that are made in this indictment that i think would simply rise to the level that Senator Menendez should resign. I think he owes that to the people of new jersey. But at the end of the day, its going to be his decision, as it is everyone. Were seeing the same thing play out in the House Representatives with george santos. There is a time in this country where the charges themselves would likely lead to a resignation, so that they could defend. I think that they are im just looking at it in a different way, and setting aside whether or not he is legally guilty versus not guilty. That is and by the way, not guilty is not necessarily at all an exoneration. And then we have to understand the terms that we have as well. Before i let you go, this is very intriguing to me, on that, note i certainly understand the distinctions you are drawing between what might be politically the right decision, and what would be the lawful Legal Process based decision of things. But when you look at this taking a real step back, and you see the accusations by a number of republicans about a weaponize Department Of Justice. Normally theyre talking about attacking republicans. I dont know that the indictment of a democrat actually will even that Playing Field in their mind. But wouldnt interest incentivize then people to believe that as long as you have an indictment, view could essentially go Down The Line and figure out who you dont want to be in office, under the logic of, well, politically, it would not be a good thing to have charges like this . Are you concerned that this might separate, of course, whats happened with the senator in the accusations, that an indictment alone could lessen the credibility of a sitting member of congress, such that it would encourage that argument that its all being weaponized . No, i dont believe that at all. I give the Department Of Justice a hell lot more credit than that. Im not cynical about the department justice. Ive never have been. Even when i was defending people. What youre saying is that every time, every time a politician, whether its a republican, democrat, or independent gets under the crosshairs of law enforcement, politics is the first thing to claim, that theyre being targeted because of their politics. That is the the Public Defense du jour for anybody. That happens every time. We always see it. So, i dont believe. That and i dont think that cynical for you about our prosecutors, not that there is problems in the past. Of course there have been. But prosecutors are humans, just like everybody else. And they have their false. And they make mistakes. But overall, i think the Department Of Justice,