Longtime feud surfaces in Blago's 'View' interview
(AP)
Illinois First Lady Patti Blagojevich skipped out on appearing on ABC's "The View" this morning, but her husband got grilled by Barbara Walters before one of her co-hosts asked him to imitate Richard Nixon.
The longtime feud between Ald. Dick Mell (33rd) and his son-in-law, Gov. Blagojevich, also surfaced on national television during the governor's appearance.
The governor's wife was set to appear on the show with her husband as part of his national media blitz timed to coincide with the start of his Illinois Senate impeachment trial, which begins at noon. "Just yesterday, she cancelled on the advice of her family. . . . Your wife's family doesn't seem to be crazy about you," Walters said.
Blagojevich blamed the bad blood with Mell on his decision to temporarily close a landfill owned by a relative of his wife's, Frank Schmidt, shortly after the governor took office in his first term. He claimed on the program that Mell "was involved with" the landfill, which the governor said had been violating state environmental standards.
Mell long has denied any ownership interest in the landfill.
Walters' one-on-one with Blagojevich was followed by an 8-minute segment in which the governor sat alongside Whoopi Goldberg, Sherri Shepherd and Joy Behar. During that segment, the governor reiterated that the rules governing the Senate impeachment trial are unconstitutional.
Behar said she's heard Blagojevich does a mean Richard Nixon imitation, but Blagojevich didn't take her up on her offer to say Nixon's famous "I am not a crook" line.
Behar later patted Blagojevich's hair.