New Hampshire Liquor Commission Chairman Mark Bodi is blaming his intervention into a liquor investigation on a hysterical call from a powerful lawmaker and the failure of the attorney general's office to answer his agency's call for help.

Bodi told Gov. John Lynch and the Executive Council Monday he should not be fired for diffusing a difficult situation after state Rep. Dan Eaton complained about the investigation.

But Eaton testified later that he spoke calmly to Bodi and called to alert him to a potential enforcement problem as a favor.

Assistant Attorney General Lynmarie Cusack said Bodi acted without checking the facts before ordering officers to return video surveillance equipment to a Keene bar accused of serving alcohol to an already intoxicated woman.