Blago-Obama saga not yet done?

Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's attorneys are subpoenaing for records of FBI interviews of President Obama and top White House staffers. Interesting.

Blago gets six-figure book advance

Dunno how much of a tell-all former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich will pen, but I actually am curious.

It’s supposed to focus on the eventual tapping of Roland Burris to replace Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate.

That said, there’s a lot he COULD talk about.

What did Bobby Rush say behind the scenes?

How up to his eyes in money was Jesse Jackson III in chasing Blago’s nod?

And, at least circumspectly, since Pat Fitzgerald seems no closer to mounting Blago’s head on his prosecutorial wall, what will Blago tell us about that?

Frankly, I think Fitz is looking more overrated all the time.

A different take on Blago impeachment

Is Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich being railroaded, or close to it, in his Illinois Senate impeachment? Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson says yes, and has some persuasive arguments.

Is Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich about to be impeached on grounds of loopiness, obnoxiousness and a bad haircut? Apparently so. ,,,

(I)t is unclear to me what else Blagojevich has done that a duly constituted jury would find illegal. … Unfortunately for the governor, the Illinois Senate is not bound by the strict rules of evidence and testimony that constrain a criminal court.

Plus, as Robinson adds, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald has asked the state senate to stay away from possible witnesses in any Blago trial.

Oh, speaking of that? Remember that “second round” of taped conversations Fitz said – about two months ago – that he would release?

Haven’t seen or heard a thing about that recently, have we?

Methinks Fitz has a weak case and that's part of why he doesn't want the Illinois Senate calling witnesses.

Obama chops busted on Blago contacts

Judicial Watch, getting papers from Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's office, says Barack Obama hasn't been 100 percent honest about his post-election contacts with the gov. That said, even a blogger as conservative as Ed Morrissey says surely the Senate seat wasn't discussed even in the period right before the Nov. 17 letter from Valerie Jarrett and John Podesta, let alone around the time of the National Governors' Association conference.

But, that all said, two points are interesting, one mentioned by other blogs and one of my own.

First, yes, why didn't Obama release these two documents? If there's nothing to hide, then why not reveal them? The few conservative blogs I read says it goes to Obama's competence.

I disagree. I think it goes to Obama's secretiveness, and that's illustrated by his flip-flop on the FISA amendments bill this summer. (Everybody should note he "flopped" after locking up the Democratic nomination, and take that to heart. While plenty of Obama nominees have said they're against torture, none of them have said they're against infringing civil liberties.)

Second, why was Jarrett involved with the Nov. 17 letter after Obama named her to a WH position, theoretically to get her out of Blago's clutches?

Reid - No Triple-J in the Senate

If Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is ready to use the Capitol Police to bar Roland Burris from the Senate, what would he have done if, Read against his express wishes, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich had appointed Jesse Jackson Jr.? Showed up in person on the Senate steps with an Uzi? Designated Joementum to do that?

Oh, and it's interesting that the potential appointees Reid opposed were all African-American. No, I don't think he's racist, but, he has boxed himself into more of a corner re Bobby Rush's claims.

More proof Fitz running a bluff on Blago?

Chicago's already-behaloed U.S. Attorney, Patrick Fitzgerald, has asked for a 90-day extensio on an attempt to return an indictment against Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

I hope he doesn't get it. I could maybe give him 60 days instead of the normal 30, but no more.

Put up or shut up, Fitz.

Some Blago-Burris follow-up thoughts

While waiting to fly out from Dallas to Albuquerque last night, some more thoughts about the whole latest twist to the Blagosphere, Illinois Rod "Every man is innocent until proven guilty" Blagojevich's alledged attempt to play Illinois politics more bluntly than usual, hit me.

At his press conference announcing the appointment of Roland Burris to fill Barack Obama's Senate seat, Gov. Rod Blagojevich offered us a bit of everything while...

Trying to get by with a little help from his friends. Especially a friend named Bobby Rush.

Will Bobby Rush’s race appeal have any traction?

On CNN Tuesday night, Clarence Page said it might, noting Rush is a respected pillar of Illinois politics. What Page didn’t think to mention?

The President-elect is a self-identified African-American.

Second dot to connect? Obama clearly hade his influence felt on Senate Democrats deciding not to strip Joe Lieberman of his committee chairmanship.

Ergo, Gov. Blagojevich was ultimately targeting Obama, not Senate Dems directly.

I wouldn’t even be surprised if some Astroturf groups spring up to support Burris.

But, the twist to all this is that Rush handed Obama's hat to him when Obama ran for Rush's seat in the 2000 primary. (Sidebar note: You know you've entered the Twilight Zone when Al Sharpton is giving Obama advice - unsolicited, of course - about how to practice politics and political ethics.) A juicy Rush quote from back then:

"Barack is a person who read about the civil rights protests and thinks he knows all about it."

Have those feelings changed since then?

Next note.

Did Blago know that Patrick Fitzgerald was about to push to let at least part of grand jury evidence he has against Blago be unsealed for the Illinois Lege to get the ball rolling on impeachment?

If so, it’s clear Blago launched a pre-emptive strike in the next round of his trial by public opinion. And offering more proof that people who underestimate his political acumen, if at nothing more than the pool-hall level, do so at their peril.

The Blago follies on display at Burriss-Senate presser

Once again, for Illinois politics, getcha popcorn!

At his press conference announcing the appointment of Roland Burris to fill Barack Obama's Senate seat, Gov. Rod Blagojevich offered us a bit of everything while...

Trying to get by with a little help from his friends.

1. Bobby Rush dealt the race card but that is why this was a politically smart appointment by Blago. That said, is Jesse Jackson Jr. kicking himself, or anybody within reach right now, about being neither the black appointee nor the black Senate seat defender instead of Rush? And, what is Bobby getting out of this for running PR flak for Blago, anyway?

Boy, the "considerations" for Rush is an interesting question to which I don't know the answer at all. BUT... if any Chicagoans see a bunch of Indians throwing him a dinner...

2. Also, neither Blago nor legal mouthpiece Ed Genston has commented on this breaking Genston's promise, on behalf of Blago, that he would not make an appointment.

3. And, Burris pulled out his former state AG credentials to fluff the "innocent until proven guilty line" about Blago, all while saying, in essence, "Did I really give him $11K? I don't remember." Gotta love it! And, expect either the Trib or Sun-Times to find out just what government largess went his way as an apparent reselt.

More interesting yet, Burris would NOT commit to being just a "placeholder" Senator until the next regular election in 2010. Frankly, I thought that was even dumber than not being prepared to get asked questions about how much campaign dinero he'd given Blago over the years.

4. Will Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid try to run a vote on refusing to seat Burris, even though he would be standing on constitutional quicksand? Or will he falls back to what appears to be a previous partisan pledge not to allow ANY Blago appointee to caucus with Senate Dems? On the other side of the dome, would the Congressional Black Caucus raise hell on that issue? I say Reid will cave in some way, shape or form, especially if he can get a tacit agreement from Burris not to run for a full term in 2010.

Finally, can Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White really block the appointment? I view his office's legal role here as nothing more than a functionary. Speaking of state AGs, I guess he can get a legal opinion from disappointed "Candidate No. 2," Lisa Madigan. But, would she not have a conflict of interest in making a ruling? Would she recuse herself for the state AG's office No. 2? Without reading the Illinois constitution, I think White's power here is little more than paper-pushing. I doubt we will get to the point of a Madigan ruling.

Blago to name Burris to Obama seat

Will Reid, Senate try to block?

Updated, after Blago news conference:

Yeah, Bobby Rush did deal the race card; but that is why this was a politically smart appointment by Blago. That said, is Jesse Jackson Jr. kicking himself, or anybody within reach right now, about being neither the black appointee nor the black Senate seat defender instead of Rush?

Also, neither Blago nor legal mouthpiece Ed Genston has commented on this breaking Genston's promise, on behalf of Blago, that he would not make an appointment.

And, Burris pulled out his former state AG credentials to fluff the "innocent until proven guilty line" about Blago, all while saying, in essence, "Did I really give him $11K? I don't remember." Gotta love it!

Finally, can Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White really block the appointment? I view his office's legal role here as nothing more than a functionary. Speaking of state AGs, I guess he can get a legal opinion from disappointed "Candidate No. 2," Lisa Madigan.

====

The Chicago Tribune reports Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich will name former Illinois Atty. Gen. Roland Burris to fill Barack Obama’s Senate seat.

Burris is 71, and seemingly nothing more than a fill-in until the seat comes up for regular election in 2010. He had indicated interest in the seat, but was not on Blago’s A list.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said the Senate will not seat any Blago appointment, but, given Reid, per Theodore Roosevelt, has the backbone of a chocolate éclair, might soften his stance if there’s a tacit agreement Burris will not run in 2010.

The Trib has a poll on four appointment-related questions.

A couple of the questions are vague. For example, “Is the Burris appointment good?”

Good for whom? Hell, yes, it’s good for Burris.

“Should he accept?” An ambitious politician, at age 71, who wants a two-year sincecure? Hell, yes, he should accept.

“Was it a smart move?” Hell, yes, again. Appointing an African-American who is relatively plugged in on state politics, but seems scandal-free.

Trib poll voters are looking at these questions in the wrong way.

Burris appears to meet all constitutional requirements for the office. I don’t see how Harry Reid, the Senate Democratic Caucus or the full Senate can do anything BUT seat him.

The Senate could then turn around and vote to expel him, but that takes a 2/3 vote.

And, all this said, Burris’ skirts aren’t totally clean on his connections to Blago.

That said, the person or persons responding to previous Blago posts of mine where I said, “He ain’t that dumb, at least politically,” and they strongly begged to differ, might want to rethink.

Obama-Blago: Illegal? No; Unethical? Yes

According to CNN, 36 percent of people agree with me that that's the bottom line on the behavior of President-elect Barack Obama and his staff, regarding his staff's contacts with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his staff on Blago naming somebody to fill Obama's Senate seat.

I have said all along that Obama, himself, not just his staff, handled communications on the Blagosphere stupidly. And, stupidly to the point of giving the appearance, at least, of unethical behavior.

Of course, MSLBs are already posting ... nothing ... about the CNN poll. Are you surprised?

As for the Obama report on an internal review of his staff's behavior, as I predicted, it won't come out until late enough to be largely buried under Christmas stories. And, it's only going to be about a dozen paragraphs, the Times says, so, it's not going to say anything, anyway.

Wait for the skeptical antennae of those 36 percenters to go up.

As I noted a week ago, here's what Obama should have said right away. The fact that he didn't made MY skeptical antennae go up.

Meanwhile, besides "MSLB," look for a new acronym to be unveiled here Dec. 26.

I predict no Fitzmas for Fitz!

In other words, Patrick Fitzgerald will be no closer to having the head of Rod Blagojevich above his fireplace mantle by Christmas Day. In fact, I predict the “stay tuned” for more comment he made when he arrested Blago will have no “more” revealed to us by Christmas. Ditto for Barack Obama’s review of staff contacts with Blago, which he is likely to try to bury by announcing no earlier than late Tuesday.

I’ve blogged before that I think he has weak hole cards in this game of seven card stud; now, as noted yesterday, Willie Brown agrees. And, the former San Francisco mayor, who knows something about politics, has talked with Blago recently.

What’s crystallized more in my mind in the last 24 hours is the likelihood of some backdoor Fitz-Obama connection.

The officially authorized Obama leak to George Stephanopoulos is what started the train of thought.

If Obama has no problem leaking via a back door, to prepare the way for the official repoart on his campaign’s contacts with Blago that he will bury right before Christmas, yet publically honor Fitz’s “cone of silence” request, then I figured something is probably up.

Obama is likely cooperating with Fitz in some way as to what he can turn up.

Fitz, in turn, is hoping he can “roll” somebody, anybody, who will then roll Blago. But, I’m thinking that the “appreciation” Stephanopoulos said Blago’s chief of staff, John Harris, mentioned to Rahm Emanuel, probably wasn’t very specific, or Fitz wouldn’t be trying to run a weak bluff in liar’s poker.

And, the judge who set Blago’s bail at less than 5 grand must have felt the same way.

So, Fitz? Put up or shut up. Why don’t you go back to indicting Karl Rove in the Plame leak instead.

As for Blago, everybody calling him “dumb” is surely underestimating his political acumen.

Update: Fitz’s nabbing an Indian fundraiser with connections to both Blago and Obama does not fundamentally change my assessment. In fact, it somewhat reinforces it.

Willie Brown – Blago ain’t going anywhere

Lisa Madigan’s recent actions explained?

The former San Francisco mayor says Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich called him recently.

Based on what Blago told him, Brown, who knows a thing or two about politics, says Blago ain’t going anywhere soon. He claims the showdown started when Blago looked to name Lisa Madigan to Obama’s Senate seat after Obama pulled Valerie Jarrett. The idea was to remove a potential primary rival, should Blago have been looking at seeking a third term in 2010.

Given that Madigan isn’t really close to Obama, this may have started something rolling.

Anyway, here’s Brown’s nutgraf:

I think he liked how I raised questions about the timing and manner of U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald's decision to charge him over what appears to be little more than loose conversations he had with his staff.

TOTALLY agreed.

I’ve said for a week now, ever since Fitz’s “cone of silence” request, that I think he’s bluffing In a game of seven-card stud with fairly weak hole cars.

Throw in Obama jealousy over Madigan, the possibility of “official leaks” by Rahm Emanuel or others, and, here we are today.

This might also explain Madigan’s gambit with the Illinois Supreme Court.

I think she knew all along that the “unfit for office” angle wouldn’t fly there, but, she wanted to clean up her image.

Emanuel pushing Jarrett by name is NOT ‘pro forma’ phone call

Obama camp leaks to friendly Stephanopoulos to plow ground for release of official report, while MSLBs continue to peddle the “nothing there” line

Nice to see that Mr. Angelic Funk, George Stephanopoulos, has joined the Obama PR staff.

• “Sources say” Obama chief-of-staff to be Rahm Emanuel only had one phone conversation with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich? Obama campaign sources I’m sure, who have no problem leaking info, while still using Patrick Fitzgerald’s “cone of silence”

Question No. 1 — Why are "sources" talking (I assume Mr. Angelic Funk's sources are inside the Obama camp), or rather, why are they leaking? Didn't Fitz say he wanted a "cone of silence" and didn't The One agree?

• Besides the "just one" phone call with Blago, how many times did Rahmbo talk with Blago chief of staff John Harris? That's answered — four, and none of them pro forma.

Question Set No. 2 — How much was Jarrett discussed? Other candidates?

Question Set No. 3 — What is the timeline for where the direct phone call fits in with the four to Harris? Was it before all of them, with Blago then saying to Rahm: "Harris speaks for me, carte blanche"?

Question No. 4 — How does this timeline relate to when Obama pulled Jarrett from consideration by appointing her to a White House position?

• Harris mentioned “appreciation” in exchange for tapping Jarrett, in one of the phone calls between Rahmbo and Harris. So, in response to Question Set. No. 2, we know Jarrett got more than “pro forma” discussion.

Question Set. No. 5 — How much was Jarrett discussed, at all, after the “appreciation” comment? Did Obama pull Jarrett out of the mix immediately, or were some negotiations going on? If Obama removed Jarrett from consideration immediately after that phone call, did Rahmbo still talk with Harris about other potential nominees? Was the “appreciation” discussed in any more specific detail?

Meanwhile, at Washington Monthly, Steve Benen, typical of MSLBs, continues his past Obama flackery by claiming the latest reporting says that any reporting on Obama connections with Blago is continues his just a dud.

If it’s a “dud,” Steve, why didn't Obama say so right away instead of giving us non-answer pseudo-answers?

This is obviously a friendly leak to a journalist perceived by the Obama camp to be in its pocket, as part of softening up the ground for Obama’s public statement, which will be released not Monday, but Tuesday or Wednesday, to promptly be buried under Christmas fuzzies feel-good news stories.

And, for all we know, the Patrick Fitzgerald who decided NOT to prosecute Karl Rove in the Valerie Plame case may want it that way too.

I am Blago, hear me roar

I mean, from Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s point of view, why would you say anything other than what he did — “I’m staying on.”

First, any yet-unrevealed cards by U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald may turn out to be a pack of cards, as much as anything. In fact, I still haven’t seen anything that would indicate Fitz does have that much stronger of a hand in his down cards in this drawn-out seven-card stud.

Second, he knows that with his lawyer’s promise he won’t appoint anybody to Obama’s vacant Senate seat, the Illinois Legislature has less pressure on him. An impeachment motion by the Illinois House, followed by state Senate trial, probably won’t get done before June.

Third, if Fitz takes him to trial, what if Blago seeks a jury trial? His lawyers could get creative in seek out “a jury of his peers.” Try to put, say, Emil Jones Jr or Rahm Emanuel on a jury?

Fourth, as for stepping aside temporarily, as the state constitution allows, that would come off as a look of guilt in the court of public opinion. See the third point, above.

In other words, not only will we not see Fitzmas, I would not even count on the Fitz of July.

Another Obama-Blago connection – Eric Holder

Obama’s Attorney General nominee “forgot to mention” on his Senate Judiciary Committee vetting form that he once did some casino license flak work for Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Forgot?

Sure. He was probably out undercover crime fighting with Jesse Jackson Jr.

How do you forget having been at a state-televised presser with Blago, having been specifically tapped for the position by him?

And, Holder might well have not finished filling this out until AFTER Blago’s arrest. Didn’t that “jog your memory”?

No wonder Rahmbo and Obama are hiding behind Fitz’s skirts

The Sun-Times moves the Blagosphere down the road by revealing that President-elect Barack Obama’s planned White House chief of staff, Illinois Congressman Rahm Emanuel, spoke directly to Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s chief of staff, John Harris, pushed Blago to name Valerie Jarrett to Obama’s Senate seat, AND to get it done by a certain time.

Assuming this is true (and, yes, I know that on the op-ed pages, at least the Sun-Times is Chitown’s more conservative paper), Obama’s going to need until next week to figure out what to say next.

Obviously, if Rahmbo was perceived as speaking officially for Obama, his mention of not only Jarrett as the preferred person, but also a preferred timeline, put Blago in the seller’s catbird seat. Let’s say he named a high, but non-monetary, rather, political quid pro quo, price at that point. And, the fun started then.

Obama - get back to be in a week on Blago

President-elect Obama says that Pat Fitzgerald has asked him to wait until next week to release an internal review of what contacts Obama's staff did or did not have with Illnois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's staff.

Now, WHY does Fitz want Obama to wait a week if his staff did nothing inappropriate? Is this because, whether or not the Chicago Tribune is to blame, Fitz just doesn't have quite as strong a case as he'd like us to believe?

Blago will not roll over easily, and Fitz knows that. And, if Blago does go down, he'll do his best to take others with him.

Bob Somersby also buries his head somewhere up Obama

Folks like Steve Benen in Washington Monthly and Josh Marshall at TPM being in the tank for Obama over the Blagosphere don’t surprise me.

I thought the proprietor of The Daily Howler had more brains than that, but, I guess I was wrong — hugely wrong.

What Obama SHOULD have said on Jarrett and Blagosphere

Instead of letting authorized flak co-sign misstatements or having his staff and himself spin out a series of non-answers “answers” to the timeline of what did he know and when, and to whom anybody did or did not talk to afterward, here’s what President-elect Obama should (and could) have said about the timeline of events on both sides of the Nov. 10 conference call between Obama’s and Blagojevich’s staffs.

First, I’d like to talk about Valerie Jarrett and my former U.S. Senate seat.

Yes, it is true that Ms. Jarrett was one of four people I preferred to have replace me as representing Illinois in the United States Senate, and it’s true that Rahm Emanuel conveyed a list of those names to Gov. Blagojevich. Yes, when Gov. Blagojevich’s staff contacted representatives of my team Nov. 10, they soon sensed that something more than a normal quid pro quo of modern American politics was at stake, and immediately relayed this information to me.

Acting on their analysis of the conference call, I determined that both for her sake and for mine, I needed to remove Ms. Jarrett from the governor’s cross-hairs. Still wanting her to serve Illinois and our country in a capacity equal to her skills, I offered her a position in the White House.

Next, I’d like to talk about how this relates to special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald’s investigation.

It’s true that nobody from my staff, nor I myself, thought if reporting Gov. Blagojevich’s Nov. 10 call to Patrick Fitzgerald. There are several reasons for that.

First, what my staff heard Nov. 10 apparently did not strike them as rising to the level of an attempt at bribery. While it seemed enough outside the political norm for them to decide to let me know about it as soon as possible, it did not seem like a criminal action. Knowing nothing else, and having their information being passed on to me at second hand, I took no further action out of lack of knowledge.

I obviously did not know that Gov. Blagojevich had a whole list of potential Senate nominees and that he was apparently prepared to play each nominee — and his or her political supporters — against each other as part of his enterprise. I did not know that supporters of at least one candidate were, by this time, already apparently conducting fundraising operations on his behalf. Nor did I know that this had come to the attention of Mr. Fitzgerald and had already come under his investigative eye.

Had I known any part of this additional information, let alone all of it, I would have contacted his office immediately.

Unfortunately, we got exactly none of this.

I’ve said before that I’m confident Obama did nothing wrong, and 99.9 percent sure of that with Emanuel. But, Obama has indeed come off looking like Just.Another.Politician.™ in this episode.

Since he ultimately has nobody to blame for that but himself, no, it doesn’t set a good impression as he comes into the White House.

And, while MSLBs have excoriated the conservative blogosphere for fixating on something apparently minor like Obama’s refusal to initially give Tom Brokaw a straight answer about his smoking, if seen as part of a pattern, it should be of some concern.

Note: I’m basing this suggested speech for Obama on the premise that Fitz’s unplayed cards don’t offer any exculpation for why Obama didn’t actually make a speech like this.

When Ed Rendell tells Obama he’s screwing up …

On how he’s handling the Blagosphere, perhaps Obama should listen, because the Pennsylvania governor’s voice is just one in a growing chorus of non Republican National Committee and non-winger folks asking Obama to “clarify” his comments on the issue.

So far, not only is Obama not listening, but if Washinton Monthly is any clue, MSLBs are defending Just.Another.Politician.™ against the charge of being just another politician, with the old “move along folks, there’s no story here” line.

Of course, to the degree the cynanide has already numbed the nervous system of many Obamiacs they either can’t or won’t recognize that, beneath winger hysteria and RNC political fiulminations, there IS a story. (The possibility of something like this is why I dropped MSLBs from my links list long ago.)