Posted on 12/14/2008 11:56:00 AM PST by vietvet67
It hasn't quite gotten to the "What did the president know and when did he know it" stage. But there are several lingering questions about contacts between the Obama team and Governor Blagojevich's over a replacement for his senate seat. And the Obama people are only making it worse by clamming up and not answering questions:
The "unanswered questions'' -- as the Republican National Committee and others are calling them -- will continue to haunt President-elect Obama and staff in the sordid case of the Illinois governor accused of attempting to sell Obama's Senate seat.
Until Obama, and his staff, answer them.
While Obama maintains that he had no conversations with Illinois Gov Rod Blagojevich about the appointment, Obama's chief of staff has refused to say what talks he may have had.
It's important to remember that federal prosecutors, who have accused Blagojevich of dialing for dollars with his power of appointment over the seat that the junior senator from Illinois left after election as president, have implicated neither Obama nor his staff in the Blagojevich scandal.
But Emanuel did have conversations with Blagojevich's administration about who would replace Obama in the Senate, the Chicago Tribune has learned.
"The revelation does not suggest Obama's new gatekeeper was involved in any talk of dealmaking involving the seat.,'' the Tribune's Bob Secter has written. "But it does help fill in the gaps surrounding a question that Obama was unable or unwilling to answer this week: Did anyone on his staff have contact with Blagojevich about his choice for the Senate seat?''
Obama has been more than "unwilling" to answer questions. He either flat out lied when he said he was unaware of any contact between his people and the Blagojevich crew about the senate seat or he has staffers going behind his back. That latter is incredible, of course, which makes Obama a liar.
The real question is what is on those tapes of the phone calls between Blago chief of staff John Harris and his chief of staff Rahm Emanuel. Are there offers of pay to play? Is there anything that could be construed as not on the up and up and if so, why didn't Emanuel report the conversation to the Feds? Did Rahmbo make a counter offer to one of Blago's bribes?
Emanuel, as reported on AT, still refuses to talk to the press which only leads to speculation that the Obama camp may be at a loss as to how to square the president-elect's statements about his staff never having spoken to Blago about the senate seat with Emanuel's taped conversations about that very subject.
It also makes his promise to get a list of staffers who talked to Blago's people a sham. He almost certainly knows exactly who has been in contact with Blagojevich at this point. If not, we might start wondering what kind of executive he is when he allows his staff to run off on their own tangents without informing him.
Maybe the Obama team is hoping this will all just go away. Don't bet on it because it will all surface again when those tapes begin to leak - as they almost surely will. At that point, we'll see if Emanuel is avoiding the press because of his guilt or because they can't find a way to spin his conversations with Blago to their advantage.
It has a nice ring to it!
When Blagojevich said on tape that Obama would only give him his “appreciation”, that indicates to me that the conversation was likely about what Blagojevich could get in return and was unhappy with the response. And, from what we know at this point, Obama did not report this. It also indicates that there in fact WAS at least one conversation with Obama (or his henchmen) on the matter of who will take the seat, regardless of the details. Wasn’t that the whole Valerie Jarrett thing?
Obama is a fool to not have just said, “Of course I’ve spoken with Blagojevich, I’ve even made suggestions, but at no time was there any talk of pay-to-play.” Now, we are left to wonder why Obama is pretending not to have done something (speak to the appointer of his successor) that would have been entirely normal and routine...
Drip, drip, drip...
“...why Obama is pretending not to have done something (speak to the appointer of his successor) that would have been entirely normal and routine...”
Because dems almost always have to lie about their actions. Normally they should but on rare occasions they don’t need to. Hard to break the habit.
And left to wonder why, if all this horse trading for political favors is entirely normal and routine, why Madigan, Quinn and others in IL politics are serving as judge and jury recommending Blago resign immediately, be removed by the IL Supreme Court, impeached by the Legislature, or sent to the funny farm.
Or is it only entirely routine and normal on the Obama team's end, but criminal and despicable on Blago's end?
Maybe not yet, but after the electoral college votes him in we will be at the
"What did the president elect know and when did he know it" stage.
As far as I know, and I could be wrong, talking about successors isn't wrong, which is different than pay-to-play. This is why it is highly curious that Obama denies the talking part, and should make everyone wonder what else he is lying about.
Anyone ever consider that Blago may have been doing some taping. The day before his arrest, he challenged reporters to record his phone calls...why was That on the tip of his tongue.
Wouldn’t it be great if Blago had tapes that the FBI doesn’t, which he could ‘use’.
Just a fantasy of mine.
Patience. They will answer questions just as soon as they can get their stories straight.
I like that possibility too.
What kind of crazy deal was made to name Hillary Sec. of State? What deal was being made by Obama to appoint Hillary’s replacement in the Senate?
“Obamagate
It has a nice ring to it!
True, but after 25 years, I wonder whether “gate” needs to be retired as the official designation of every political scandal. In this case, an alternative possibility is available. NASA had its O-ring disaster. We should just call this the O-Ring Scandal. The reality is, we have no idea where this will end. Obama has had an entire ring (call it a “cabal” if you wish) of unsavory associates who have helped him emerge from the Chicago swamp to reach the WH.
If anyone gets nailed by these seat-for-sale allegations, it is likely to be Emanuel rather than Obama. Emanuel’s a fighter and won’t go down quietly, but he’s caught in a he-said-he-said as far as Obama goes. If Obama takes the position that RE was acting as a rogue agent or that RE’s accounts of the conversations never mentioned quid pro quos, it’s pretty clear there won’t be any written record or one-on-one recordings of Obama and Emanuel that can prove who’s lying. Even if there were other witnesses to these conversations, such as Axelrod, it’s hard to picture any of these individuals risking their careers taking on a newly elected president to save RE since they would know that even with their testimony, there’d be no guarantee that a jury would convict Obama.
In contrast, Obama faces much more direct risk if Rezko rats him out on the real estate deal or if in exchange for lenient treatment by Fitz, Blago agrees to provide evidence about Obama’s role in Health Facilities Board corruption. Thus, unless Fitz is in the tank for Obama, he now has 2 completely independent ways of nailing Obama for his past “playing” in this pay-to-play swamp. If we’re really lucky, Rezko or Blago might implicate Axelrod, who in turn might squeal about how the obviously corrupt fund-raising process worked for Obama, giving Axelrod motivation to share with the world what Obama knew about that.
Normally, this “ring” of associates has served both to assist Obama and perhaps protect him from political enemies: think “bodyguard.” But once put under legal pressure, these very same low-lifes pose a risk to the man in the middle: think “firing squad.”
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