Blagojevich: Who Is Advisor B?

NationalReview ^ | 12/11/2008 | Byron York

[JRochelle]

Barack Obama has flatly said that he has “not discussed the Senate seat with [Rod Blagojevich] at any time.” If that is true — and Obama will undoubtedly be asked the broader question of whether he communicated in any way with Blagojevich on the subject — then the big story in the Blagojevich scandal is the role of intermediaries. Throughout the criminal complaint filed against Blagojevich, there are references to unnamed individuals who play important roles in the scandal — and who know a lot about what went on and who was involved. None of those intermediaries is more intriguing than the person referred to as “Advisor B.”

We first learn about Advisor B in the complaint’s description of a November 7 three-way telephone call between Blagojevich, his chief of staff John Harris, and “Advisor B, a Washington D.C.-based consultant.” It was during this call that the participants talked about a “three-way deal for the open Senate seat,” involving the Service Employees International Union and its affiliated group “Change to Win.” The idea was that Blagojevich would appoint Obama favorite Valerie Jarrett to the seat, and in return, SEIU would make Blagojevich head of “Change to Win,” and then Obama would perform some unspecified act to help “Change to Win.” Harris said such a deal would give Obama a “buffer so there is no obvious quid pro quo for [Senate Candidate One],” according to the complaint. (“Senate Candidate One,” we now know, refers to Jarrett.) “Advisor B said that he liked the idea of the three-way deal,” the complaint says. “Advisor B said they should leverage the president-elect’s desire to have [Jarrett] appointed to the Senate seat in order to get a head position with Change to Win and a salary.”

The next time we meet Advisor B is on November 10, during a two-hour conference call involving Blagojevich, Blagojevich’s wife, Harris, Blagojevich’s general counsel, “and various Washington-D.C. based advisors, including Advisor B,” according to the complaint. Prosecutors have not said how many “various” advisors there were on the call — some apparently came and went during the two-hour session. On the call, Blagojevich conceded that it was unlikely that Obama would appoint him secretary of Health and Human Services or make him an ambassador. Given that, Blagojevich, according to the complaint, “asked what he can get from the president-elect for the Senate seat.” The group discussed a number of options — remember, this call went on for a very long time. It was a laundry list of corrupt possibilities, and, apparently, several people, including some Washington-based politicos, were in on it.

Advisor B pops up again on November 12, in another conversation with Blagojevich. The two discussed forming a non-profit organization to be headed by Blagojevich and funded by some rich Obama supporter. According to the complaint, “Advisor B stated that he likes the idea, but liked the Change to Win option better because, according to Advisor B, from the president-elect’s perspective, there would be fewer ‘fingerprints’ on the president-elect’s involvement with Change to Win, because Change to Win already has an existing stream of revenue and, therefore, ‘you won’t have stories in four years that they bought you off.’”

As I wrote yesterday, the complaint contains a three-week gap — a period in which prosecutors don’t discuss any conversations among the participants. Of that period, the complaint says, “Throughout the past month, ROD BLAGOJEVICH has continued to engage in numerous conversations relating to filling the open Senate seat,” but gives no details. The details do not resume until December 4, the last big day in the Senate-seat plot. On that day, according to the complaint, Blagojevich “spoke to Advisor B and informed Advisor B that he was giving Senate Candidate Five [now known to be Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr.] greater consideration for the Senate seat because, among other reasons, if ROD BLAGOJEVICH ran for re-election, Senate Candidate Five would ‘raise money’ for ROD BLAGOJEVICH, although ROD BLAGOJEVICH said he might ‘get some (money) up front, maybe,’ from Senate Candidate Five to insure Senate Candidate Five kept his promise about raising money for ROD BLAGOJEVICH.” The complaint goes on to say that in a phone call recorded on October 31, Blagojevich said he was approached by an associate of Senate Candidate Five — that is, Jackson — for “pay to play” in which Jackson would raise $500,000 for Blagojevich and an emissary would raise $1 million for Blagojevich, if Blagojevich made Jackson a senator. Jackson has strongly denied all of the allegations.

The next day, December 5, the Chicago Tribune published an article reporting that Blagojevich was under surveillance. Blagojevich immediately stopped his efforts to sell the Senate seat and began to work on his legal defense. But from the actions described in the criminal complaint, there are some key players who remain unknown and, so far, uncharged. Anyone who wants to understand the Blagojevich scandal will have to learn more about Advisor B.

[Tallguy]

Let’s see if Blagojevich is more loyal to the Democrat party machine or his own tail.

As in most criminal conspiracies, they will make their comrade-in-the-dock come to realize that his butt & the interests of "party machine" are one & the same. This will be communicated through Blago's attorneys who will undoubtedly be serving 2 masters despite what their professional code of ethics might say.

[Red Badger]

Tom Daschle, for one..........

[Norman Conquest]

But but but... his kind eyes and confident smile are an inspiration to us all!

[Zevonismymuse]

They’ll all be on The View, next week........

One can hope. I think it is more likely that Mrs. Blago and Mrs. Rezko will get divorces then write tell all books trashing their exes. They will write of their admiration for the Obama family and reveal how their exes connived to bring down the Obamas just to escape harsh prison sentences. They will go on Oprah who will put their books on her magic list. Everyone will be disgusted by how those dirty Republicans tried to attack the wonderful Obamas.

[Carley]

Unlikely that this will touch the One. Clearly he was tipped off by someone inside the investigation.

Clearly that last phone conversation Jarrett had with Blago proves that point.

[chuckles]

I’ll see your Senate certificate and raise you a Birth Certificate. I’ll even throw in a plate with Che’s picture on it.

[tiredoflaundry]

What was Bill Burton’s job before he was *O*’s campaign spokesman?

[Tallguy]

We may not know who “Advisor B” is, but you can bet from the transcripts that Advisor B knows that he is being referenced & is busily covering his tracks to other Washington players. One wonders why prosecutors go through this exercise when they are quite willing to charactarize the unknown individuals by job description & location. Why even go that far? Just redact the name.

[Zevonismymuse]

Maybe “B” is “Because , it must be Dick Cheney” !

HaHaHa!!! I think I am going to steal that line when discussing this with my pinko friends. Thanks. People will think I am very clever.

[roses of sharon]

If Axelrod (and other Chicago MSM) “misspoke and misreported” about the Gov and O talking, why was it not corrected by Hussein at the time?

What is this about 3 wks of taping missing from the transcripts....why would Fitz not include that CRITICAL time?

[tiredoflaundry]

:0)

[Tallguy]

You’re right about everything except perhaps the divorce part. It’s amazing how durable some of these marriages are. Seriously.

[cvq3842]

Something stinks here.

I wonder if anyone in the media will bother to follow up.

[eureka!]

"As I wrote yesterday, the complaint contains a three-week gap — a period in which prosecutors don’t discuss any conversations among the participants. Of that period, the complaint says, “Throughout the past month, ROD BLAGOJEVICH has continued to engage in numerous conversations relating to filling the open Senate seat,” but gives no details."

Stock up on popcorn. This thing has a long way to go...

[Charles Henrickson]

BLAGO'S BLUE FITZMAS
Tune: "Blue Christmas"

I'll have a blue Fitzmas indicted
I'll have to do something to fight it
Allegations they read of the green that I sought
Don't mean a thing, 'cause as yet nobody's bought

And when my blue colleagues disown me
That's when my blue "F" words start flowing
My old pal sees my plight, but he throws me from his bus
So I'll have a blue, blue Fitzmas

I hate this blue Fitzmas disruption
It puts a crimp in my corruption
Senate seat up for sale should bring oodles of cash
But instead I post bail and I break out in a rash

And when my blue colleagues disown me
That's when my blue "F" words start flowing
My old pal sees my plight, but he throws me from his bus
So I'll have a blue, blue, blue Fitzmas

[shadowgovernment]

“The fun part is none of them know what Fitz has on tape. “
>>>>>>>>>>..................
No the fun part is what does Blago have on tape??
Blago’s secret Safe deposit box is loaded with
dirt on all the big boys..
Fitz destroyed his own case by stopping it before the deal was sealed ..Blago is now in the drivers seat..save his own skin he will—bodies found in the chicago river will happen soon.

[Grampa Dave]

If it was B ush, then it had to be Cheney and Rove in on it.

[tiredoflaundry]

Of course! ;0)

[roses of sharon]

Why is this prosecutor going to such pains to protect all these political hacks?

He did no such thing in the Libby case. Quite the opposite in fact, he did his best to smear every Republican he could find.

Except for the two liberals (Powell,Armitage), who actually talked with Novak?

[Holicheese]

Did I hear this morning that the realtor that Rezko used to buy Obama’s house was Blag’s wife?