Washington ? A defiant Rep. James Traficant proclaimed himself the victim of a government vendetta Monday, declaring he was innocent of bribery, fraud and tax evasion charges but conceding he expected to be kicked out of Congress and sent to prison.

The Ohio Democrat pleaded with an eight-member panel of the House ethics committee to listen to witnesses and tape recordings excluded from his criminal trial, saying they would prove the Justice Department forced witnesses to lie on the stand.

“Every single witness was in jeopardy and harm and got a ‘get out of jail free’ card for implicating Traficant in some crime,” he said of the nine-week federal criminal court trial in Cleveland.

Just like then, Traficant, though not a lawyer, represented himself Monday. The ethics panel will decide if the convictions represent a “continuing pattern and practice of official misconduct” and, if so, whether they warrant the House expelling the nine-term maverick lawmaker.

One of the most colorful members of Congress, known for his wild hair, loud clothes and animated floor speeches “Beam me up!” he regularly exclaimed Traficant could become only the second member of the House since the Civil War to be expelled.

“I had no intent to commit a crime, but I will do the time, and expect a long time to try and shut me up,” said Traficant, dressed in a black suit with a gray shirt and tie for the hearing.

“But let me tell you, there will be some smoking gun that will come out before it’s over in the Traficant case, and you will recognize that you let a member of Congress be convicted,” he told the ethics panel.