Blagojevich: 'I will continue to fight everyday'

Hours after he was impeached by the Illinois House, Gov. Blagojevich vowed at a news conference this afternoon: "I will fight every step of the way."

"I'm confident that at the end of the day, I will be properly exonerated," he said. "In the meantime, I have a job to do for the people."

Blagojevich said he wasn't surprised by the impeachment vote, which he blamed on a Legislature that has blocked his attempts to pass, among other things, health care reform.

"It happened kinda fast, again, kinda expected," Blagojevich said, noting the Legislature first brought up impeachment in 2007.

The governor spoke to reporters in the Thompson Center in the Loop just hours after members of the House voted 114-1 to impeach him. He touted his accomplishments on issues such as health care, and he reiterated that he's "not guilty of any criminal wrongdoing."

He ended the news conference by quoting a poem from "Ulysses" by Lord Alfred Tennyson, ending with: "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."

Blagojevich was arrested Dec. 9 and accused of scheming to sell off Illinois' vacant Senate seat.

Staff Reports, AP