Anti-Virus Founder John McAfee Visits CNBC

Related: CNBC

John McAfee, Anti-Virus Founder visited CNBC last week. The transcript of the broadcast follows:

BRIan Sullivan: WELCOME TO STREET SIGNS EVERYBODY ON THIS FRIDAY. THANKS FOR JOINING US. WE’VE GOT MORE NEWS ON THE FISCAL CLIFF NEGOTIATIONS AND THE MARKETS GOING FORWARD BUT WE BEGIN WITH SOME BREAKING NEWS FROM BELIZE. JOHN MCAFEE WHO HAS BEEN ON THE RUN, ESSENTIALLY, HIDING ON HIS OWN COMPOUND IN BELIZE IS JOINING US NOW BY TELEPHONE. ROBERT FRANK HAS BEEN FOLLOWING THIS STORY HE HAS BEEN GOING BACK AND FORTH WITH MR. MCAFEE AND HE JOINS US AS WELL, ROBERT.

ROBERT FRANK: JOHN, ARE YOU WITH US?

JOHN MCAFEE: I AM WITH YOU SIR. HELLO ROBERT. HELLO BRIAN.

FRANK: GOOD TO HEAR YOU JOHN. JOHN, TELL US FIRST OF ALL, WHERE ARE YOU? YOU KNOW YOU’VE BEEN IN HIDING NOT TELLING ANYONE WHERE YOU ARE ALL WEEK? CAN YOU TELL US ROUGHLY WHERE YOU ARE?

MCAFEE: ROUGHLY WHERE I AM? WELL, WHERE I AM MOST OF THE TIME. I AM CERTAINLY INSIDE OF MY COMPOUND.

FRANK: OK, SO YOU ARE STILL IN BELIZE. DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THIS MURDER? DID YOU KNOW THIS GUY WHO WAS MURDERED AND DID YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH IT? THIS IS WHAT POLICE REALLY WANT TO KNOW.

MCAFEE: I HAD ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH IT AND I DID KNOW HIM BUT JUST BARELY. WE’D SPOKEN PERHAPS 50 WORDS IN FIVE YEARS.

FRANK: OK. TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THIS BACK AND FORTH YOU HAD WITH THE GOVERNMENT. THEY RAIDED YOUR COMPOUND BACK IN APRIL. IT SOUNDS LIKE THERE WERE NO CHARGES THERE. TELL US ABOUT YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE GOVERNMENT AND WHAT’S BEEN THE SOURCE OF TENSION THERE?

MCAFEE: WELL, MY RELATIONSHIP HAS NEVER BEEN GOOD WITH THE GOVERNMENT. I THINK, THIS IS CERTAINLY A BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY WITH MANY BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE. THERE ARE A FEW CORRUPT OFFICIALS; UNFORTUNATELY THEY ARE POWERFUL, AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL. I SIMPLY REFUSE TO PLAY BY THE RULES. I AM A FOREIGNER, A RICH FOREIGNER, AND I AM EXPECTED TO PAY MY DUES WHICH IS TO CONTRIBUTE TO CAMPAIGNS AND GIVE MY DUES. I DON’T LIKE EXTORTION AND REFUSE TO DO THAT. THE NET RESULT IS THEY STORMED MY COMPOUND IN APRIL WITH 42 HEAVILY ARMED SOLDIERS, ARRESTED ME, KEPT ME HANDCUFFED FOR 14-HOURS, TOOK ME TO JAIL AND I WAS LET OUT A FEW HOURS LATER BECAUSE THERE WERE NO CHARGES. ALLEGEDLY, IT WAS BECAUSE I WAS OPERATING A METH LAB. I WOULD NOT HAVE THE VAGUEST IDEA HOW TO MAKE METH OR SELL METH, ESPECIALLY IN A PART OF THE WORLD WHERE I WOULD HAVE TO COMPETE WITH THE MEXICAN ZETA GANGS AND IT’S NOT THE TYPE OF BUSINESS I WOULD CHOOSE, SIR.

FRANK: BUT JOHN, WHY NOT, IF YOU HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS MURDER, WHY NOT JUST TURN YOURSELF IN? HAVE A LAWYER, YOU CAN GET YOUR OWN SECURITY GUYS. THE POLICE HAVE TOLD ME YOU CAN GO IN WITH SECURITY GUYS, YOU CAN GO IN WITH CAMERAS. IF YOU ARE FEARING FOR YOUR SAFETY, WHY NOT JUST GO IN AND TELL THEM WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW ABOUT THIS MURDER?

MCAFEE: BECAUSE IT IS FINE TO GO IN WITH SECURITY. IT IS FINE TO GO IN WITH CAMERAS BUT WHEN I AM DETAINED YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO GO INTO THE JAIL CELL WITH ME. AND THIS IS WHERE PEOPLE ARE FREQUENTLY-- THEY JUST SIMPLY DISAPPEAR. THEY CHOKE ON THEIR OWN VOMIT OR HANG THEMSELVES OR ARE BEATEN TO DEATH BY FELLOW PRISONERS. IF YOU FOUND ANY RESEARCH ON BELIZE AND THE LEGAL AND POLICE SYSTEM YOU WOULD HAVE DISCOVERED THIS FACT YOURSELF.

FRANK: DO YOU REALLY THINK THEY WOULD KILL YOU?

MCAFEE: ABSOLUTELY, I DO, SIR.

SULLIVAN: JOHN, IT IS BRIan Sullivan, WHAT HAVE THE LAST FIVE DAYS BEEN LIKE?

MCAFEE: THEY’VE BEEN OK. YOU KNOW, I DON’T HAVE A LOT OF FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT. THE FOOD IS NOT THE BEST. I HAVE NO TELEVISION, I WOULD LIKE A TELEVISION.

FRANK: AND WHAT, JOHN, WHAT IS THE END GAME HERE? I MEAN, YOU CAN’T HIDE FOREVER. WHAT IS YOUR ULTIMATE GOAL? HOW IS THIS GOING TO PAN OUT?

MCAFEE: THE ULTIMATE GOAL IS THEY WILL FIGURE OUT WHO KILLED THE MAN, THEY WILL HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH ME, THEY WILL LEAVE ME ALONE OR IF ENOUGH INTERNATIONAL PRESSURE IS APPLIED, NOT FOR ME, BUT FOR SIMPLY THE LEGAL SYSTEM HERE—AGAIN IF YOU’VE DONE ANY RESEARCH AT ALL ON THE WEB, YOU WILL HAVE DISCOVERED THAT THE CONSTITUTION HERE IN BELIZE IS BASICALLY BEEN USURPED. WE ARE LIVING IN A NEAR DICTATORSHIP WHERE THE LEGAL SYSTEM IS SUBSERVIENT TO THE CABINET. THE ABUSES OF THE GANG SUPPRESSION UNIT, BY THE WAY IT IS THE GANG SUPPRESSION UNIT THAT INVADED MY PROPERTY, THAT UNIT WAS CREATED TO DEAL WITH GANGS. WHY ARE THEY RAIDING AN AMERICAN BUSINESSMAN? THINGS DO NOT OPERATE HERE, SIR LIKE THEY DO IN THE STATES. IN THE STATES I WOULD BE HAPPY TO TURN MYSELF IN. THIS IS NOT THE STATES.

FRANK: JOHN, YOU’RE AN UNUSUAL GUY. YOU KNOW, WE SEE PICTURES OF YOU WITH A LOT OF GUNS, THE SPIKEY HAIR, THE TATTOOS. A LOT MADE RECENTLY ABOUT THE YOUNG GIRLFRIENDS YOU’VE HAD THERE. YOU KNOW, A REPORT NOW THAT YOU’VE EVEN PLAYED RUSSIAN ROULETTE WITH A BULLET. IS THAT REPORT TRUE.

MCAFEE: OK, WELL FIRST OF ALL, LET’S ADDRESS THE PHOTOS. WHEN WIRED MAGAZINE SENT THE PHOTOGRAPHER DOWN, YOU’VE BEEN IN THE PRESS LONG ENOUGH TO KNOW THAT WHEN A PHOTOGRAPHER SAYS WELL LET’S TAKE YOUR SHIRT OFF, WHY DON’T HOLD THE SHOTGUN, WELL YOU SIMPLY DO IT, YOU HAVE NO CLUE WHAT’S HAPPENING. THAT’S WHAT I DID. DO YOU THINK I RUN AROUND SHIRTLESS CARRYING A SHOTGUN ON MY PROPERTY? THAT’S UTTERLY ABSURD. AS FOR THE RUSSIAN ROULETTE, ABSOLUTELY. BUT IT WAS NOT TRUE RUSSIAN ROULETTE, IF YOU READ THE STORY, PUT A BULLET IN THE CHAMBER, PUT IT TO MY HEAD, CLICKED IT DOZENS OF TIMES, WALKED OUTSIDE FIRED INTO THE SAND, THE BULLET FIRED. MY POINT WAS, LIFE IS NOT EXACTLY WHAT YOU SEE.

SULLIVAN: JOHN, HAVE YOU BEEN IN TOUCH WITH THE U.S. EMBASSY?

MCAFEE: I HAVE NOT.

SULLIVAN: WHY NOT?

MCAFEE: WELL, I MEAN, WHAT WOULD HAPPEN? THEY WILL OFFER ME SOME TYPE OF SANCTUARY WHERE I WILL SPEND MY DAYS LIVING IN THE EMBASSY LIKE POOR JULIAN ASSANGE WAS. OR WHEN I LEAVE THE EMBASSY I WILL BE NABBED BY THE POLICE.

SULLIVAN: DO YOU BELIEVE THEN, THEY WOULD ESSENTIALLY TAKE THE SIDE OF THE BELIZEAN GOVERNMENT?

MCAFEE: NO, NOT AT ALL, I DON’T THINK THEY WOULD TAKE ANY SIDE. THEY WOULD DO WHAT THE EMBASSY IS SUPPOSED TO DO, GUARANTEE MY SAFE PASSAGE TO THE EMBASSY, SPEAK TO THE POLICE, AND THEN WHAT DO I DO? WHEN I WALK OUT DO YOU THINK THE EMBASSY GUARDS ARE GOING TO PREVENT THE POLICE FROM DETAINING ME?

SULLIVAN: JOHN, YOU STILL ARE ESSENTIALLY A VERY WEALTHY MAN, YOU KNOW. WHY DON’T YOU JUST HIRE A CHOPPER, COUPLE GUYS TO COME IN THERE AND GET YOU OUT OF THERE? WHY ARE YOU SO INTENT ON STAYING?

MCAFEE: THIS IS MY HOME, SIR.

SULLIVAN: HAVE YOU GIVEN UP U.S. CITIZENSHIP?

MCAFEE: NO SIR.

FRANK: AND JOHN, YOU KNOW, ANOTHER THING, WHAT IS THE MESSAGE THAT YOU’D LIKE TO GET OUT THERE? YOU ARE IN HIDING BUT YOU HAVE BEEN TALKING TO US AND OTHER MEDIA, WHAT IS THE POINT OF YOUR COMMUNICATIONS THIS PAST WEEK?

MCAFEE: WELL, I THINK THAT THE WORLD HAS LARGELY IGNORED BELIZE AND THE POLITICAL SITUATION AND THE PLIGHT OF ITS PEOPLE, BECAUSE IT’S ONE OF THE SMALLEST COUNTRIES AND, IN TERMS OF THE WORLD ECONOMY, ONE OF THE LEAST SIGNIFICANT. I WOULD ASK ANYBODY WHO TRULY IS INTERESTED IN MY PLIGHT TO GOOGLE A COUPLE OF THINGS. GOOGLE THE TAKE OVER OF THE BELIZE TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANY, IT WAS OWNED BY LORD ASHCROFT. THE SUPREME COURT RULED THAT THE TAKE OVER WAS ILLEGAL AND ORDERED THE GOVERNMENT TO RETURN IT. ON THE DAY IT WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE BEEN RETURNED THE GOVERNMENT SENT IN ITS SOLDERS TO PREVENT LORD ASHCROFT AND THE RIGHTFUL OWNERS FROM RECLAIMING IT. THIS IS THE TYPE OF GOVERNMENT WE LIVE IN. NUMBER TWO, PLEASE GOOGLE THE ABUSES OF THE GANGS SUPPRESSION UNIT, I THINK IF YOU DO THAT, YOU WILL SEE THE POSITION I AM IN AND YOU WILL UNDERSTAND MY RELUCTANCE TO TURN MYSELF IN. THOSE ARE THE ONLY TWO THINGS I ASK THE WORLD TO DO.

SULLIVAN: HOW FAR ARE YOU WILLING TO GO WITH THIS JOHN?

MCAFEE: ALL THE WAY, SIR.

SULLIVAN: WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

MCAFEE: I WILL CONTINUE TO FIGHT THIS UNTIL I AM—AS LONG AS I’M STILL BREATHING.

SULLIVAN: ARE YOU PREPARED TO DIE?

MCAFEE: WELL OBVIOUSLY THAT’S WHAT I THINK WILL HAPPEN IF I AM DETAINED AND THAT IS CERTAINLY A POSSIBILITY.

SULLIVAN: WELL WE CERTAINLY DON’T WISH THAT ON YOU. JOHN, SOMEHOW WE HOPE THAT THIS ENDS PEACEFULLY WITH THE KILLING OF YOUR NEIGHBOR BEING SOLVED. JOHN MCAFEE, BE SAFE. TAKE CARE. THANK YOU FOR CALLING US. WE DO APPRECIATE IT AND KNOW THAT IT IS VERY, VERY DIFFICULT TIMES FOR YOU DOWN IN BELIZE.

MCAFEE: THANK YOU, GENTLEMEN.