Eddie Obeid brands corruption inquiry a 'sham' Eddie Obeid has emerged from his Sydney home to declare the ICAC investigation that branded him corrupt was a "disgrace" and a complete "sham," insisting: "I have never done the wrong thing by anyone." Everyone I've been associated with will testify that I keep my word and I honour my word. All of a sudden they've become a lynch mob. The former ALP powerbroker said he would eagerly await the day he could defend himself in court after the most significant graft inquiry in NSW history on Wednesday found that Mr Obeid, his sons, the state's former resources minister Ian Macdonald, and a host of businessmen had engaged in corrupt practices. Speaking for the first time since the findings were handed down, Mr Obeid said his reputation and those of his sons had been severely damaged. He said he was wealthy before he entered Parliament, but decided to go into politics "to put my bid in there, instead of criticising from outside." He also launching a stinging attack on his former colleagues in NSW Labor Party, including NSW Opposition Leader John Robertson and NSW Labor Party general secretary Sam Dastyari. How does one retrieve his reputation? I have never done the wrong thing by anyone," Mr Obeid said outside his Hunters Hill home. Speaking out: Eddie Obeid talks to the media this morning. John Robertson and Sam Dastyari, I cannot believe these people who I supported, I mentored, I got them in their jobs. They don't give me the benefit that every Australian should have - you're innocent until proven guilty. Mr Obeid claimed the ICAC investigation was nothing short of a political witchhunt against himself and Mr Macdonald, which was "backed up by the O'Farrell government." I don't blame the media, you were doing your job and you've got to report what is being said, but ICAC is a disgrace. It is supposed to look for corruption and truly go after corruption," Mr Obeid said. What they did was nothing short than a star chamber for the media that put Labor in the front pages, two ex-ministers, for months ... If O'Farrell's got the guts and wants the truth he should support the DPP [Director of Public Prosecutions] by giving them more funds and more staff to look at this issue quickly and take it to the court. We want to have our day in court. John Robertson is irrelevant, he'll get his day later, him and Sam Dastyari, but that's not the time for that now. These people walked the carpet in my office when they wanted support... They're another day, all I can say is they're not true Labor leaders, they're cowards who do not stick up for the truth and the rights of the individual. Mr Obeid said he had not spoken to Mr Macdonald because he did not think it was appropriate in the current circumstances. But he described him as a "professional person, and he was a good minister." For his part, Mr Obeid said he had given 20 years of service to the NSW Parliament, and "reluctantly" was appointed minister from 1999 to 2003. During his time worked "to benefit many other people. I didn't get much out of this. Mr Obeid said he was already wealthy when he went into Parliament, and for that he was looked at like a "leper." I went into politics because ... I had a very strong view of what should happen in this country and what should happen serving people, and I was prepared - after making wealth for myself and for my family - I was prepared to go in and put my bid in there, instead of criticising from outside," he said. But I'll tell you, any person that has wealth and goes into politics in Australia has got a problem. Asked if he was corrupt, he said: "I am not corrupt, and I will prove that in a court of law by a judge and proper rules of evidence." "Even this inquiry, with 120 witnesses, there's no evidence anywhere that anyone's acted corruptly because ICAC wasn't looking for that, they wanted the spectacle," he said. Their mission was to blame and shame and show Labor is corrupt and ugly, and the morons from the Labor Party in Macquarie Street fell from it. "If the DPP don't take it to court, we will, because I'm not going to have this hanging over my head," Mr Obeid said. I've given 20 years of service to the NSW Parliament and I am a very respected person by all those that dealt with me, and I am ashamed of some of my colleagues in the Labor Party who became like a lynching mob just to protect themselves, hoping that they can look clean in all this. There is nothing in this, there is nothing in this inquiry that finds a smoking gun against anyone.