Posted on 12/09/2008 10:01:22 AM PST by OL Hickory
Fitzgerald said "there is no allegation in the complaint that the President-elect was aware of it and that is all I can say." His comment did not close the door on the possibility that Obama or someone on his staff may have known of some aspect of the Govenror's demands.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
Note that Fitzgerald didn't say Obama wasn't aware of it; just that it wasn't mentioned in the indictment.
Merry Fitzmas obama
I believe that the timing of this arrest was accelerated by Fitz because he had reason to believe that Zero was indeed about to put together a nice little offer to Blago for “naming rights” to his old Senate seat.
I think the voice is the governor’s staff saying his wife would get appointments to boards by the president. Wonder what the source of that comment is. Hard to believe Obama didn’t reach out to the gov on the senate seat. I would have, without the bribe of course. : )
“Note that Fitzgerald didn’t say Obama wasn’t aware of it; just that it wasn’t mentioned in the indictment.”
I was intrigued by how closely Fitz parsed his reply to that question. Be still my heart...
Those of us with half a brain, trust Fitzy as much as we trust the Zer0!
Something tells me that we are only at the very beginning of a huge trial.
If we had a couple dozen more guys like him constantly watching over our politicians, we wouldn't have the vile government we do today.
Something tells me this will all go way in January or February.
Thanfully, I feel safe knowing Scooter was taken down./ sarc
We’ll be able to see how far this reaches, maybe, by how many people start to jump ship from their “appointments” which have not passed the Senate yet.
In my view, it’s going to be really really interesting to see who starts to distance themselves from the p-e, maybe even giving back some of those cabinet appointments in favor of spending “more time with their families”
just a loose thought running around inside my head
Hilarious, the guy isnt even in the WH and now the media have got their hands on an enormous story that is going to bog down Obama for years.
I’m wetting myself laughing. Could be the shortest Presidency ever if the media finally decides to get a pound of flesh.
This is pure speculation:
Fitzgerald doesn't need to name him in the indictment at this point, and if he's investigating Obama, he doesn't want to tip his hand now. Now that he's given proper coverage to all of Blago's counterparties, they're going to come crawling out of the woodwork with shakedown stories. I'd say the chances are pretty good that Obama and his campaign are going to turn up in this mess. Hard to imagine Obama, Daley, and Blagojevich living within 5 miles of each other and they're respective entourages weren't in regular communication.
Of course the Obama organization was involved. All these insiders are from the same neighborhood.
I think it's unfortunate that they didn't let this thing go for a while...There is always the possibility they didn't want the dots connected directly to Obama.
The dude’s got sand in his eyes...
Obama just wasn’t willing to pay enough for the seat to go to the person of his choice.
I don't buy that. If something was ABOUT to happen with Zero, he would have waited and reeled him in, too. What this situation does, is give Fitz the ability to investigate Obama through the witnesses and counterparties who are going to come forward with Blago stories, and perhaps lead to Obama. Fitz doesn't have the political cover to go directly at Obama, but indirectly, this Blago arrest could turn out to be a goldmine.
You think? I just did a quick survey of Fox, MSNBC and CNN. Fox is on it. MSNBC has a live press conference on Jay Leno's new contract, CNN is talking about who's going to 'benefit' from Obama's 'infrastructure build-out'. We'll have to see what little dribbles into the ABCNBCCBS evening news.
Could be the shortest Presidency ever if the media finally decides to get a pound of flesh.
They are going to have to do something to generate revenue if they want to stay in the game.
These three items give BO alot of cover:
Pg 63 of the complaint
ROD BLAGOJEVICH said that the consultants (Advisor B and another consultant are belived to be on the call at that time) are telling him that he as to “suck it up” for two years and do nothing and give this “m@th#rfu@ker” [the President-elect] his senator. F#@k him. For nothing? F#ck him.”
Pg 65
ROD BLAGOJECICH states that he will appoint “[Senate Candidate 1]... but if they feel like they can do this and not f#2king give me anything... then I’ll f#@king go [Senate Candidate 5].”
Pg 66
ROD BLAGOJEVICH said he know that the President-elect wants Senate Candidate 1 for the Senate seat but “the’re not willing to give me anything except appreciation. F#@k them.”
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2008/1209081rod13.html
I can't believe political bias would get in the way of someone becoming the first attorney to indict a president-elect on criminal charges. The book royalties alone would provide for a very early retirement. If there's any connection to Obama, we're going to find out.
I’ve heard that Chicago media is reporting that Rahm Emmanuel is mixed up in dropping Blago in it, could it be that Blago wouldnt play ball with Obama, so Obama had him nuked, lets hope if he did that Blago pays it back in kind.
Too funny, Marxists are moving into “Da’ Man's House” and people think it is the 1950’s. The deed is done. Sorry, smell the decaf.
Don't bet on it...The government corruption runs deep..Would not be the first time those at the top have been isolated and protected, while the "little" guys get whacked.
Imagine the blowback if they went after Obama at this stage.
Huh? You talkin' to me?
>>>>>>Note that Fitzgerald didn’t say Obama wasn’t aware of it; just that it wasn’t mentioned in the indictment. <<<<<<
In the Plame/Libby matter, Fitzgerald developed a public track record of semantic hairsplitting, rhetorial nuance, and plain old doubletalk.
Fitz repeatedly asserted from his podium that Plame’s job was “classified” (as are Langley janitors and cooks), but was very careful not to say “covert”, which if anyone recalls was the entirety of the accusation Fitzgerald was charged to investigate.
The media isn’t running things, just sayin’.
Two thoughts instantly pop into my head.
1. Why then is there mention of the Gov. wanting an ambassadorship.
2. I wonder if Fitz is angling for a judgeship somewhere high?
Wonder what’s going on over at DU? (Not that I’ll wade into that sewer)
All their celebration of “Fitzmas” in the Plame/Rove affair reminds me of the old saying “Karma’s a B*&ch”
Gee, do you think Zero will fire all the U.S. Attorneys and put an end to this? Congress probably wouldn’t interfere if he did, just like they did for Bush. /sarc off
Good point — Fitz may have protected Obama and/or his staff by going public before any deal could be closed for Blagovich to name Valerie Jarret or whomever......
Why not allow the “transaction” to take place?
Who on Obama’s staff was communicating with Blagovich?
Why did Fitz not let the Blagovich dealing of the Senate seat go through before making the arrest?
Rham is allegedly the [President-elect Advisor] listed in the complaint. I think he’s first mentioned on page 70. In there is mentioned “5th CD thing” which is Rahms congressional seat, the 5th Congressional District.
Found the full .pdf
http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/files/affidavit.pdf
Jan 20, won’t Obama be able to shut this down? Just curious. Doesn’t the FBI work FOR the President?
Good luck , Clinton couldnt, Bush couldnt, it would smell even more if he tried.
Uh, that's the whole point.
Fitz DIDN'T wait.
Yep, our nation is turning into a cesspool, what a filthy rotten shame!
For instance, this section:
107. On November 12, 2008, ROD BLAGOJEVICH talked with Advisor B. ROD BLAGOJEVICH discussed with Advisor B his idea for a 501(c)(4) organization. Advisor B stated that he likes the idea, but liked the Change to Win option better because, according to Advisor B, from the President-elects perspective, there would be fewer fingerprints on the President-elects involvement with Change to Win because Change to Win already has an existing stream of revenue and, therefore, you wont have stories in four years that they bought you off. ROD BLAGOJEVICH said that he likes the 501(c)(4) idea because he knows it will be there in two years when he is no longer Governor, whereas Change to Win might not be.
And, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the arrest has to do with protective custody as much as flight risk - or a preemptive gag order.
There's lots of names that might come out during an inquiry into current misdealing: as in "how do you think Dumbo Ears got that job in the first place?"
I think that is a possibility. Obama wants his man in..probably Jones..Blago says F U...and he gets nailed.
Play ball or you are going down.
There is no way that all these guys aren’t interconnected. Rezko is connected to all of them.
Mob politics.....now the next time King Obama wants something you better think twice if you are going to screw him over.
This must be the most corrupt Office of the President Elect in the Republic’s history! ;^)
His comment also did not close the door on the possibility that Obama directed the whole thing. It was a very Clintonian sort of comment, carefully worded so as not to actually say anything.
Of course, if Obama were a Republican, then Fitzgerald would have mentioned him by name in every paragraph of the complaint. He would also be giving press conferences about how the serious allegations about Obama must be investigated carefully, whether or not they are true.
I fall in love easily with good guys like Fitz :)
Hannity’s show today has the tape of David Axelrod stating that 0bama had met with the guv..you have to hear the tape because it is in direct reference to the seat emptied by bozo
Thanx. Am I too late?
Your kidding right. Those statements make it obvious that Obama knew all about this even if he didn’t agree to Rod’s price. Did Obama turn Rod in? No. Because if he did, he wouldn’t have said that he didn’t know anything about it.
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