Jack Warner to fight U.S. extradition, responds to HBO’s John Oliver request

Jack Warner has been accused of taking bribes and diverting earthquake relief funds destined for Haiti to his own accounts, but one thing he’ll never be accused of is going down without a fight.

The former FIFA vice president, who was among 14 people indicted as part of the U.S. Justice Department’s investigation into bribery and corruption within the world soccer organization, said Wednesday he planned to fight his extradition to the United States from Trinidad and Tobago at a hearing July 9.

If convicted in the U.S., the 72-year-old Warner could face up to 20 years in prison.

“After presenting my case in court, let the judge decide,” Warner said, according to the Associated Press. “If he says I should go, I will go. If he says I should stay, I will stay. But it is going to be a long, hot summer.

“I left FIFA four years ago. I am in no way concerned about the FIFA scandal. I am in no way concerned about the U.S. application for my extradition. That doesn’t bother me.”

Warner has denied his involvement in the alleged corruption, though he came out after the scandal was revealed in a television appearance and said he would no longer “keep secrets for them who now seek to actively destroy the country which I love.”

“Not even death will stop the avalanche that is coming,” Warner said.

HBO’s satirist John Oliver used the same medium in the country earlier this week to ask Warner to release whatever information he possessed.

“I don’t need any advice from any comedian fool who doesn’t know anything about this country ... to tell me what files to release or not to release,” Warner said in another video released by his party. “That is none of his business. I take no instructions from him.”

Follow Matt Wilhalme on Twitter @mattwilhalme