Silvio Berlusconi is fighting to the very end, claiming that newly recovered documents from America will exonerate him from a devastating tax fraud conviction even though the trial is over and his guilty verdict has been upheld by Italy's highest court.
Berlusconi's latest salvo came 48 hours before the Senate is due to vote on whether to kick him out of Parliament because of the conviction.
The 77-year-old media mogul has said his removal from parliament would amount to a government coup, even though he has no role in the government.
Berlusconi is to elaborate on the documents later today, an event that has the air of a desperate performance by the master politician aimed at fending off the expulsion vote.
