No story, I guess. http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2008/1223081obama1.html Obama Interviewed In Blagojevich Probe President-elect, two aides quizzed last week by federal prosecutors DECEMBER 23--President-elect Barack Obama and two of his top advisers were interviewed last week by federal prosecutors probing Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's alleged bid to sell Obama's vacated Senate seat, according to a report issued today by an Obama lawyer. The lawyer, Gregory Craig, concluded that Obama and his aides engaged in no improper conduct in connection with the Senate opening. A copy of the Craig report can be found below. As part of his review of transition team "contacts" with Blagojevich, Craig reported that only incoming White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel had spoke with the Illinois pol. Emanuel, Craig disclosed, had "one or two telephone calls" with Blagojevich in early-November. Emanuel reportedly gave Blagojevich a "heads up" that he was accepting Obama's offer of the chief of staff job (and, as a result, would be resigning his congressional seat). Emanuel also "had a brief discussion with the Governor about the Senate seat and the merits of various people whom the Governor might consider." Craig also noted that Emanuel had "about four telephone conversations with John Harris, Chief of Staff to the Governor, on the subject of the Senate seat. In these conversations, Mr. Emanuel and Mr. Harris discussed the merits of potential candidates and the strategic benefit that each candidate would bring to the Senate seat." In addition to the president-elect, Emanuel and Valerie Jarrett, an Obama confidante, were interviewed in the past few days by investigators with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Chicago, which, on December 9, announced criminal charges against Blagojevich and Harris. (5 pages)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123006506377030963.html Obama, Two Aides Questioned in Probe By JONATHAN WEISMAN Federal prosecutors investigating alleged corruption by Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich interviewed President-elect Barack Obama and two of his top advisers last week in connection with the case, according to a memo released Tuesday by the Obama transition team. Rod Blagojevich The five-page memo denies any wrongdoing or improper communication between the transition team and Mr. Blagojevich, who prosecutors allege sought to fill Mr. Obama's vacant Senate seat in exchange for money or a better job. Prosecutors have said no one on the Obama transition team is a suspect. Mr. Obama had promised shortly after Mr. Blagojevich's Dec. 9 arrest to release an accounting of contacts between his staff and the governor's office. Federal agents had been wiretapping conversations by Mr. Blagojevich in October and November as part of their criminal investigation. The memo released Tuesday said Mr. Obama's incoming White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, contacted Mr. Blagojevich and his staff at least five times after Election Day, and produced a slate of suggested replacements for Mr. Obama's vacated Senate seat. Mr. Emanuel spoke about four times to Blagojevich chief of staff John Harris to discuss the Senate seat. Neither Mr. Emanuel nor other Obama aides and confidants heard of Mr. Blagojevich's alleged efforts to auction the Senate appointment to the highest bidder, the report said. Mr. Blagojevich was arrested on suspicion of using his authority as governor to wrest campaign donations and other favors in exchange for signing legislation into law. He has denied any wrongdoing. Messrs. Obama and Emanuel, as well as top Obama aide Valerie Jarrett, were interviewed by U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald on Dec. 18, 19 and 20 -- an extraordinary outreach from law enforcement during a presidential transition. The interviews lasted two hours, and their lawyers were present. The Obama audit of contacts between aides and Mr. Blagojevich's staff revealed considerably more discussions between the two camps than previously divulged, and it described an apparently concerted effort by the governor to crack the Obama circle. Union Role One effort apparently involved the head of the Service Employees International Union in Illinois, Tom Balanoff. He approached Ms. Jarrett and related the governor's desire to be named Health and Human Services secretary while also mentioning the governor was considering her for the Senate seat, according to the Obama memo. Mr. Balanoff didn't say Mr. Blagojevich was linking the two, the memo said. "Ms. Jarrett viewed that as a ridiculous proposition and waved it off," said Gregory B. Craig, Mr. Obama's choice for White House counsel, who led the audit and wrote the memo. He spoke to reporters in a conference call Tuesday. In another instance, a deputy Illinois governor approached one of Mr. Obama's best friends, Eric Whitaker, to talk about the Senate seat, the memo said. Mr. Craig said at no point did it become clear those approaches were intended to open negotiations over the seat. "If [the governor] was actively seeking a response from the president-elect's people, he was not overt or explicit about that in any way, shape, or form," Mr. Craig said. The Obama memo was issued as the president-elect vacationed in Hawaii, and Mr. Emanuel began a holiday trip to Africa. Obama aides said the timing of the release was dictated by Mr. Fitzgerald, who had requested a delay related to the investigation. Mr. Craig said he was ready to release his audit on Dec. 15 but was asked to wait until Christmas week. Republican National Committee spokesman Alex Conant urged Mr. Obama to release internal documents and emails to back up the audit's findings. <small></small>"While Obama certainly deserves some credit for releasing his team's contacts with Gov. Blagojevich, it remains unfortunate he acted only after political pressure was exerted," Mr. Conant said in a statement. "Hopefully, President-elect Obama's promises of transparency related to this matter will extend to all communications, including written." The report's conclusions are based on the recollections of Obama aides, not on federal wiretap recordings of Mr. Blagojevich, his aides and his advisers, which make up the heart of the federal arrest affidavit, Mr. Craig said. He said the law-enforcement tapes weren't available to the legal staff that canvassed the Obama team. By his recollections, Mr. Emanuel had one or two phone conversations with Mr. Blagojevich between Nov. 6 and Nov. 8, as Mr. Emanuel was deliberating whether to resign his House seat, representing Chicago's North Side. Soon after, Mr. Emanuel called the Illinois governor again to say he would leave Congress to take a White House post. The conversation included talk about the merits of candidates for the Senate seat, especially those of Ms. Jarrett, whom Mr. Emanuel believed the president-elect favored, according to the memo. The two men didn't discuss any potential appointment for Mr. Blagojevich -- either to the cabinet, a political nonprofit organization or "any other personal benefit for the governor," according to the memo. The federal arrest affidavit alleged the governor had talked about such a trade with his aides and advisers. In subsequent conversations with Mr. Harris -- after Ms. Jarrett took herself out of the running to take a White House job -- Mr. Emanuel produced a slate of favored candidates with the president-elect's authorization. The names included Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes, Iraq war veteran Tammy Duckworth, Rep. Jan Schakowsky and Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. In later telephone conversations, Mr. Emanuel added Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Chicago Urban League President Cheryle Jackson. Meanwhile, on Nov. 7, the SEIU's Mr. Balanoff told Ms. Jarrett he had spoken with the governor about her possible selection for the Senate. Then he said Mr. Blagojevich had raised the possibility of an appointment as Health and Human Services secretary. "Ms. Jarrett did not understand the conversation to suggest that the governor wanted the cabinet seat as a quid pro quo," the memo said. Reaching Out In another approach, Illinois Deputy Governor Louanner Peters called Mr. Whitaker, Mr. Obama's close friend, shortly after the election. He said that Mr. Blagojevich was hearing from people about candidates they wanted to take Mr. Obama's Senate seat, according to the memo. She then asked Mr. Whitaker who could speak on Mr. Obama's behalf. Mr. Whitaker spoke with the president-elect, who said no one was authorized to discuss the issue, the memo said. Mr. Emanuel's spokeswoman said he couldn't be reached for comment because he was traveling. Ms. Jarrett said in an email that Mr. Craig "answered everything completely." Mr. Whitaker couldn't be reached. The Blagojevich controversy has been an early test for the incoming Obama administration, which has promised to be the most transparent in history. Obama aides have accused news reporters of unfairly insinuating wrongdoing despite Mr. Fitzgerald's assurances that the president-elect and his staff were not suspects. Critics have said the Obama team fumbled the issue and allowed those insinuations to ripen by not being forthcoming. Republican and Democratic lawyers have said Mr. Fitzgerald had no legal authority to keep Mr. Obama from speaking out earlier. The federal affidavit made clear that Obama aides would not participate in Mr. Blagojevich's alleged schemes to sell the Senate seat. <cite class="tagline"> —Cam Simpson and David Kesmodel contributed to this article.</cite>Write to Jonathan Weisman at jonathan.weisman@wsj.com
http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2008/12/biden-no-inappropriate-contact-with-blagojevich.html Report: No 'quid pro quo' on Obama seat WASHINGTON - A report issued by Barack Obama's transition concluded that the president-elect had no contact with Gov. Rod Blagojevich or his office and no one acting on Obama's behalf was involved in any "quid pro quo" arrangement the governor allegedly sought for filling the vacant Senate seat with a candidate of Obama's choosing. The report was put together by attorney Greg Craig following Blagojevich's arrest for allegedly engaging in a scheme to sell the vacant U.S. Senate seat, as well as other state appointments and services. Craig said Obama, his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, and his adviser, Valerie Jarrett, all submitted to interviews with U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald last week. Craig said neither Jarrett nor David Axelrod, another senior adviser, had any contact with Blagojevich or his office. The report did say that Dr. Eric Whitaker, a close friend of Obama's and a former Blagojevich cabinet member, was approached "by a member of the Governor's circle," deputy Gov. Louanner Peters, for information. Obama has portrayed himself as taking a hands-off approach to the governor's decision about who to appoint to his Senate seat. In fact, the report noted that he was very much interested in who would succeed him in the Senate. Once Jarrett said she was not interested in becoming a senator, Obama asked Emanuel to tell the governor that he would support Rep. Jan Schakowsky, Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., Ill. Comptroller Dan Hynes and Illinois Veterans Affairs Director Tammy Duckworth. Later, Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Cheryl Jackson, a former Blagojevich spokeswoman who heads the Chicago Urban League, were added to the list. Vice President-elect Joe Biden said earlier Tuesday that the report would show "no inappropriate contact" between Barack Obama's presidential transition team and Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. "I don't think there is anything to exonerate," Biden told reporters following an economic briefing. He said the report will show "there has been no inappropriate contact between any member of the Obama staff or transition team with Blagojevich." Obama, who is vacationing in Hawaii, told his staff to review all internal contacts with Blagojevich and his staff. Obama has said he was eager to release the report, but was asked not to do so by federal prosecutors. "It's a little bit frustrating," he said last week. "There's been a lot of speculation in the press that I would love to correct immediately...By next week you guys will have the answers to all your questions." Still, because the report did not include actual transcripts of what was said, questions may linger. Obama ordered up the report earlier this month after the arrest of Blagojevich and the governor's then-chief of staff, John Harris, on charges that they had tried to barter the Senate seat for the governor's financial gain. Illinois law grants the governor sole power to fill a Senate vacancy. On Dec. 15, Obama said the report was complete and had found no "inappropriate" contact between his aides and the Blagojevich camp. He said then that its release was being delayed until this week at the request of U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald. When asked about the Senate seat shortly after the election, Obama suggested that he would be taking a hands-off approach. "There's going to be a lot of good choices out there, but it is the governor's decision to make, not mine," he said on Nov. 7. Since then, the president-elect has declined to comment on whether there is any inconsistency with that statement and a recent Chicago Tribune report that suggested Obama's incoming chief of staff had presented a list of acceptable candidates to the Blagojevich administration. "It would be inappropriate for me to comment, because the ... story that you just talked about in your own paper, I haven't confirmed that it was accurate, and I don't want to get into the details at this point," he said on Dec. 16.
Shades of Richard Nixon and how he made transcripts of those white house tapes. Here we have Obama conducting his own review. The reports are solely based upon what Obama's people and especially Rahm say, though it sure seems odd that there's 21 recordings of him and he (Rahm) says he only talked to the governor or his people 4 times. Transparancy!
Who says there are 21 recordings of him? Some columnist, who says he heard 'rumbles'. Why believe that? barfo
In theory, the columnist is independent/3rd party vs. those interested in the cover up. Typically, what's covered up is less a big deal than the lengths the pols go to bury the truth. In this case, you have a radioactive democrat (new culture of corruption!) that nobody wants to be linked to at all. At all. And Obama's already caught lying about it - claimed NO contact, but clearly there was even at least 4 phone calls if you believe Rahm. On top of that, Obama's lied about not being actively interested in who replaced him, yet you have even his own report saying his minions actively pushed for Obama's choices.
I don't know, Denny, to me this doesn't even look like a molehill. If it turns out that their report is wrong or incomplete in some significant way, then you'll have something. barfo
It would be, that's true. But there's absolutely no evidence for 21, or 21 million for that matter. It would also be bad if it turns out Obama and Blago are actually KGB agents, but there is no evidence they are. Except for this post, which will probably now be the source of 'rumbles' that Obama is involved with the Russians. barfo
Except you expect a journalist to practice journalism. You know, like verifying sources and that kind of thing. CBS also reported the 21 figure.
I think the term journalist barely applies to the guy who heard the rumbles. Based on the link you provided, he appears to be a gossip columnist, not a news reporter. barfo
Journalist fully applies to a guy who's a columnist for a major newspaper from Obama's home town. Rahm's home town, too.
The guy writes about who Ivana Trump sleeps with, celebrity birthdays, and dog holiday videos. And you want me to take him seriously? barfo
I can't quite hear what they are saying, but it sounds like "Denny Crane is on a fishing expedition". barfo
C'mon, you are taking that statement out of context. Of course he knows Blago, Blago is the governor of his state. Show me a quote from Obama where he says "I don't know the guy, never met him". Then you'll have something. barfo
Of course you're missing the fact that Obama claimed he had "no contact" with Blago, yet there are photos of him with the guy AND his surrogates had plenty of contact with him as well. Sun Times' court reporter good enough for ya? http://sportstwo.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1834338&postcount=11 Those little things like photos and wiretap recordings can be inconvenient when you're lying your ass off.
I'm not missing that fact, I'm saying you are taking the comment vastly out of context, and pretending it means that the two had never met, when it was specific to contact about the appointment. And yet, it seems that all the wiretap recordings show is that Obama isn't corrupt. And the photos don't show anything at all, other than Obama and Blago have met in the past, a fact no one disputes, and which is not particularly interesting. barfo
