Obama statement on Blagojevich

[BlueJessamine]

Source: POLITICO

In his first comments on the unfolding scandal, President-elect Obama said he was not aware of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's efforts to allegedly sell the Senate seat. "I had no contact with the governor or his office, and so I was not aware of what was happening," Obama said. "And as I said it is a sad day for Illinois. Beyond that I don't think it's appropriate to comment."

Read more: http://www.politico.com/politico44/perm/1208/obama_statement_on_blago_deece4e0-05aa-4713-9bcb-d666f556e865.html

[JDPriestly]

1. So, why did Blagojevich allegedly say that Obama was unwilling to play

the Blagojevich game? To whom did Blagojevich speak from the Obama staff if anyone?

Were the phones of Obama's aides wiretapped? I hope Obama requests the DOJ to review all wiretaps for legitimacy.

[420inTN]

3. Blago's phones were wiretapped

So, Obama's aides' phones wouldn't have to be tapped. If Blago was calling Obama's aides, or the aides were calling Blago, the conversations would be recorded.

Also, Obama specifically said the HE had no contact with Blago. That doesn't rule out that Blago had contact with someone on Obama's staff (rumored to be Rahm Emmanuel who supposedly contact the feds about Blago's senate seat sale).

[apnu]

5. To answer your question...

... Blago apparently tried to play Blago's game and got total silence from Obama, which is, not playing his game. So he acted like a child and tried to play the senate seat game to his own, personal, advantage. Really its all he had left as governor here. Bush is better liked in Illinois than him. His last chance to profit off politics was this senate seat as he's probably getting tossed out on his ass next election.

[BlueJessamine]

2. More from POLITICO's Ben Smith:

Barack Obama, at the top of his press conference with Al Gore, offered only a brief, measured statement on the arrest of Governor Rod Blagojevich.

Like other Illinois citizens, he said, he is "saddened and sobered by the news that came out of the U.S. Attorney's office today, but as this is an ongoing investigation involving the governor, I don't it will be appropriate for me to comment on the issue at this time."

Obama also said he wasn't aware of Blagojevich's alleged attempt to sell him a senate seat for Valerie Jarrett.

"I had no contact with the governor or his office, so I was not aware of what was happening," he said.

Obama didn't say whether he'd been in touch with prosecutors.

Obama had been a Blagojevich ally earlier in his Illinois career, but has kept him at arms length since before the beginning of the presidential campaign. Other Illinois officials have been much freer than Obama seems to feel to talk about the details, and to call for Blagojevich's removal. It's not entirely clear what Obama is waiting for, though it's worth noting that Blagojevich hasn't been indicted -- the document we're all referring to is a complaint, which typically precedes and indictment.

[PassingFair]

7. Sounded like Blago is up to his ears in debt...

wanted to sell the seat because he couldn't afford
another 2 years on the Gov's salary....

[davsand]

4. Obama (or his people, anyway) refused to play.

"In a conversation with Harris on November 11, the charges state, Blagojevich said he knew that the President-elect wanted Senate Candidate 1 for the open seat but “they’re not willing to give me anything except appreciation. Expletive them.”

http://thecapitolfaxblog.com/



I saw another thread discussing that maybe Rahm Emmanuel got involved with the Feds to move up the indicment so Blago couldn't make a profit on the deal. He does have the reputation of being balls to the wall, so I can easily see Rahm doing that--especially if Blago was too upfront about what he wanted...



You have to wonder.


:shrug:



Laura

[saracat]

6. Fitz didn't "need" Rahm. He had been wiretapping Blag for eons.

They have been investigating him from 2003!

[HopeHoops]

8. Dumb, dumb, dumb, stupid, f*#)@ $%@)# #*@(($ !$@?i(# - WTF WAS ROD THINKING?????

[Posteritatis]

12. You mistakenly assume he was. (nt)

[BanTheGOP]

9. You know DAMN WELL the republican thugs...

...are going to try to tie President Obama with the scandal. We must do EVERYTHING POSSIBLE that we respond to EVERY attack the criminal miscreants put out with the truth. At the very least, we need to make sure that the press not report negatively on President Obama no matter what his involvement may be. It is vital that he remain above the fold, no matter how much the enemy would like to destroy his presidency before it even starts.

[PugNot]

10. So when will we hear "What did he know, and when did he know it"

From the Rethugs?

I can only hope that if Obama's side knew this was going on, they reported it.
From the sounds of the transcripts, it looks like Obama staff did know about
it since Blogo was pissed about the rejection. They rebuffed, good for them but
they should, and hopefully did, report it.

Dishearting. Not even in office yet and the crap is already flying.

Only goes to show the more things "change" the more they stay the same...

[Augdog20]

11. Vote in poll on who's the worst governor in 2008?

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