Blago Case Bad News For Rahm Emanuel

Obama's New Chief Of Staff Asserted Himself On Senate Pick; Extent Of Discussions Unclear

(CBS/AP)  Gov. Rod Blagojevich is legendary in Illinois political circles for not picking up the phone or returning calls, even from important figures like the state's senior senator, Dick Durbin.

But there was always one call Blagojevich regularly took, say his aides, and that was from Rahm Emanuel - his congressman, his one-time campaign adviser and, more recently - and troubling for Emanuel - one of his contacts with President-elect Barack Obama's transition staff.

The friendly rapport Blagojevich and Emanuel shared over the years has suddenly become a liability for Emanuel and the new president he will serve as chief of staff.

Emanuel and Obama have remained silent about what, if anything, Emanuel knew of the governor's alleged efforts to peddle Obama's vacant Senate seat to the highest bidder.

Emanuel did contact the governor's office about the appointment, and left Blagojevich with the impression that he was pushing Valerie Jarrett, a close Obama friend, so he wouldn't have to compete with her in the White House for Obama's attention, said a person close to Blagojevich. The person requested anonymity because the person was not authorized to talk about the governor's discussions regarding the vacancy.

It was not clear whether Blagojevich inferred Emanuel's motive for advocating Jarrett, or whether Emanuel discussed the appointment with Blagojevich directly or with John Harris, the governor's then-chief of staff who also is charged in the case, according to the source.

Emanuel's refusal to discuss the matter publicly, and the few comments offered by Obama to date, have prompted questions about Emanuel's ties to Blagojevich and what fallout he'll face as the criminal case unfolds, although sources have said he is not a target of prosecutors. Even so, any hint of scandal for Emanuel threatens to tarnish Obama's promise of new political leadership free of scandal and corruption.

Obama has said he will release a full accounting of his transition staff's interaction with Blagojevich and his aides over his Senate replacement once he receives the OK from prosecutors sometime this week. Until then, Obama has said it would be inappropriate for him or his aides to comment further.

Prosecutors refer in the 76-page complaint to the governor's discussions on FBI tapes about a "president-elect advisor," believed to be Emanuel, but they do not specifically cite contacts with Emanuel or anyone on Obama's transition staff.

Instead, the taped conversations reveal Blagojevich telling others to float his idea to the president's adviser of forming a nonprofit that he hoped would, with Obama's help, receive millions of dollars that the governor could tap later.

Blagojevich said he didn't want the idea associated directly in conversations about the Senate appointment or filling Emanuel's seat in the House, according to the complaint. However, Blagojevich is quoted as saying "I want it to be in his head" for later discussions about Emanuel's successor.

It was Blagojevich who, seemingly out of nowhere, yanked Emanuel into his scandal when answering reporters' questions the day before his Dec. 9 arrest, invoking his name in an apparent attempt to shrug off any perception of wrongdoing.

He said he wasn't concerned about a report in the Chicago Tribune that confidant and former aide John Wyma's cooperation had helped lead federal prosecutors to tape the governor's conversations.

Big deal, Blagojevich said. He said he's "always lawful" whenever he speaks, and he was confident Wyma has been "an honest person who's conducted himself in an honest way. That's the John Wyma I know and it's the John Wyma that Rahm Emanuel knows and a lot of other people know."

[judyann915]

May I should have talked to MY Gov. from MY state about how to fill the senate seat, since someone on this comment forum says it is all legal. Maybe we all should have talked to the Gov. Let''s get real here. Rahm pushed for Jarrett. He REALLY pushed. Offer of money or no money, he REALLY pushed. Why? Because Rahm does not want Jarrett in the White House with him, taking away some of Obama''s attention. For some reason, he is jealous of Jarrett. Rahm should have gone about his own new business now, instead of callinging the Govs. office and irriting him and his chief of staff. Rahm needs to keep his one cent where it belongs now.

[velma179]

A whole new sanitized swear word has come from all this...

We don''t need the mo-fo''s and sona momma dogs any more, oh noooo...
We have the "blagobleepers".

Ha!

[niceface19]

If cursing is a crime, then every one in our government is guilty.

Blago is innocent

[Netterz]

WOW!!!!!

I bet there is another ''denouncement'' coming out of Obama in the very near future..... whats this make now... about 20 or so?

And what a suprise..after all of the horrid things he and Hillary had to say about each other during the elections.. and now she is going to be the Secretary of State!!

Reps and Dems all lay in one big bed at the end of the day behind closed doors.

Just the beginning of Change/Lies

yay.

[clovisbuford]

That''''''''s not true. Who do you think did the wiretaps? This is another scandal produced by the Republican administration, just like the investigation that brought down the governor of New York. The Republicans are out to get the Democrats.

Posted by random_radar at 09:23 PM : Dec 21, 2008
+ report abuse
You are paranoid. Elliott Spitzer was caught with call girls and this guy tries to sell senate seats and its the pubs fault wow. Note the prosecutor in this case brought down presidential aide scooter libby.
Posted by alanrobisch2 at 09:42 PM : Dec 21, 2008"
I am a democrat and if blago gets nailed for illegal acts cie la vie .. corrupt politicians need to go . i dont care what party they are .Mr fitzgerald is doing dems a favour ..and even more important the general public

[clovisbuford]

The title of this article is misleading . its like accusing democrats of being in bed with republicans because they work in the congress with them or have to deal with GW as president. i have not read a thing so far that says rahm emmanuel did anyything less that what you have to do when you share party and or have offices that itneract with each other.Rahm has an obvious interest in the seat he is giving up as well as the senate seat of obamas , either one or both interacting with the governor is in the normal process of buisiness.

[verycold]

How could Rahm have been good friends with Blago? Sorry to be so blunt, but Blago appears to be just a street politician without much brain matter. Rahm is a very seasoned politician that hangs around with the political elite and so how do they even exchange ideas? It seems like a very unlikely friendship to me. That being said, Blago is easy to figure out, but Rahm appears to be very arrogant in a haughty way with that constant smirk that borders on evil. I think Rahm is going to do a lot of damage to Obama doing forward. Something doesn''t feel right to me about Rahm.

[alanrobisch]

That''''s not true. Who do you think did the wiretaps? This is another scandal produced by the Republican administration, just like the investigation that brought down the governor of New York. The Republicans are out to get the Democrats.


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Posted by random_radar at 09:23 PM : Dec 21, 2008
+ report abuse
You are paranoid. Elliott Spitzer was caught with call girls and this guy tries to sell senate seats and its the pubs fault wow. Note the prosecutor in this case brought down presidential aide scooter libby.

[random_radar]

"The BEST part of this Blago, Chicago mess is that there are NO Republicans involved."

That''s not true. Who do you think did the wiretaps? This is another scandal produced by the Republican administration, just like the investigation that brought down the governor of New York. The Republicans are out to get the Democrats.

[vincan-2009]

Christ_Truth You are the typical hypocritical so-called Christian who will believe every lie from a republican liar''s mouth, but will never believe the truth that is the truth. Obama knows all those people and that is the big crime in your opinion. He knew them and did nothing with any of them that was wrong. You are an idiot.

[rmonroe401]

Obama is just another Neo Con Pig. That''''s not Change America can believe in. The Obama supporters are delusional in every way about Government they think there some how going to get free everything. Infact the only free thing your going to get is government cheese

Posted by WarDogLRS at 04:16 PM : Dec 21, 2008

Do you even know what a neocon is? LOL, open comment forums like this bring out all the illiterate idiots.

[vincan-2009]

Rahm Emanuel is not worried about any contacts he had with the governor. He would already have resigned if there was anything he was concerned about. He is a good person and has the full support of President Elect Obama and that is good enough for me. Having a truthful and decent government is very important to our country and is very important to our new president and his administration. It is a relief to be able to trust what is coming from our president.

[spinproof]

Posted by RowdynTex at 02:14 PM : Dec 21, 2008

Reading your Post in strong support of Democrat Sen. Hillary Clinton and then reading your subsequent Post trashing Pres.-elect Obama several times on the hour does make you appear a little racist! Suddenly you hate Democrats and Pres.-elect Obama because Sen. Clinton lost but you seem to be missing 2 points, first Sen. Clinton has a Cabinet Post as Secretary of State, so your girl will still play a prominent role and may still be President in the future. You were all for Democrats until Clinton lost and your hate for Obama is not justified since he hasn''t even been sworn in yet or had an opportunity to do anything in an official context, yet you rake him over hot coals as if he were already in office. Again your opposition and hate looks racist.

[ldvuong]

Are they all politicians and lawyers from Chicago, Illinois, and is there anything good coming out of Chicago? Only time can reveal imperfect and sinful human nature, and Obama himself is not the last angel standing, so honest, so pure and so holy either. The Republicans will have the last laugh.

[nordeck52]

Why is it none of the right-wing idiots know the difference between "your" and "you"re"?

Maybe you wouldn''''t be so right-wing if you got a little education.... I mean, come on - this is supposed to be your native language.

Posted by slownewsdaze at 04:30 PM : Dec 21, 2008


Unfortunately, people of all political affiliations make that error. And they all deserve to be struck with rusty sporks for it too.

[opedanderson]

This article must be wrong, because George "I-wish-I-were-a-woman-so-I-could-have-***-with-Obama" Stephanopolous stated today on his show that Rahm and Blago had only ONE friendly conversation re. the Senate replacment seat.....

According to George, this comes from a source close to the Obama camp, (make sure you use a condom, George). So it must be true, right!!??

[wardoglrs]

Obama is just another Neo Con Pig. That''s not Change America can believe in. The Obama supporters are delusional in every way about Government they think there some how going to get free everything. Infact the only free thing your going to get is government cheese

[emanuelspeak]

Please do not connect this wrong with the other people who did wrong who are connected with Obama.
Don''t do it!

[summarex]

OK how about this

This sleazy bozo Emanuel gets kicked off the cabinet because he''s corrupt to the core. Kennedy is brought into the cabinet and the NY senate seat goes to Cuomo because he desesrves it more than Kennedy. Then they throw that Illinois senate seat to Emanaule because he meets the corruption qualifications for Illinois.

[emanuelspeak]

Im guilty, I know it.
Shhhh maybe this fiasco will go away too?