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Contact: Emanuel spoke with Blago “on multiple occasions” about Senate seat
Contact: Emanuel spoke with Blago “on multiple occasions” about Senate seat
The attempt by President-elect Barack Obama to distance himself from the scandal erupting in Illinois took a big hit last night with this exclusive report from Chicago’s Fox affiliate. [...] Read the rest »
Rahm ducks reporters' questions on Blago :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: 44: Barack Obama
suntimes.com — Obama chief of staff Rahm Emanuel ducks reporters' questions President-elect Barack Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, refused to take questions from reporters this morning about whether he was the Obama “advisor” named in the criminal complaint ... (more) Rahm ducks reporters' questions on Blago :: CHICAGO ...
Rahm Emanuel talked with governor's office about who should fill Obama's Senate seat -
chicagotribune.com — By Bob Secter Rahm Emanuel , President-elect Barack Obama 's pick to be White House chief of staff, had conversations with Gov. Rod Blagojevich 's administration about who would replace Obama in the U.S. Senate, the Tribune has learned. The ... (more) Rahm Emanuel talked with governor's office about who ...
Rahm Emanuel, Blagojevich staff talked
swamppolitics.com — by Bob Secter Rahm Emanuel, President-elect Barack Obama's pick to be White House chief of staff, had conversations with Gov. Rod Blagojevich's administration about who would replace Obama in the U.S. Senate, the Tribune has learned.  ... (more) Rahm Emanuel, Blagojevich staff talked
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The latest on the Blago scandal
Sister Toldjah — ... that talks about how Emanuel allegedly spoke with Blago “on multiple occasions” about replacements for Obama’s Senate seat (via Ed). This doesn’t necessarily mean there’s any legal wrongdoing at play here in the Obama admin, but it does suggest that there has been more involvement between the two camps than had previously been suggested. ...

Sources: Rahm Emanuel Spoke with Blagojevich about Senate Seat on Multiple Occassions
Stop The ACLU — ... has an exclusive that Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s chief of staff, spoke with Governor Rod Blagojevich on “multiple occasions” about the Senate succession of Obama’s open seat. He is likely to be on FBI wiretaps: None of this means Obama or Emanuel are guilty of participating in Blago’s crimes, but it certainly shows them being less than honest. This entire scandal has damaged Obama’s halo before he has even got to sit on the throne. Also see Hot Air

Silence of the Rahm’s
Pundit Review — ... When it comes to being the guy behind the guy, there is no one more conspicuous than Rahm Emanuel. As chief of staff for President-elect Barack Obama, he’s usually at Obama’s news conferences, standing off to the side, glowering like some fiercely loyal mini-me. But Emanuel wasn’t there Thursday when Obama faced reporters to answer questions about federal charges against Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D-Dead Meat), accused of trying to sell Obama’s Senate seat to the highest bidder. Ed Morrisey at Hot Air is speculating (that’s what happens when you go silent) that there are ...

WFLD-TV (Chicago Fox affiliate) - Rahm Emanuel spoke with Blagojevich, Harris about filling Obama’s seat
No Runny Eggs — (H/T - Ed Morrissey) I’ll start with the standard disclaimers that this comes from an unnamed source, that Barack Obama’s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, has not been named in the criminal complaint against Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich (D) and Blagojevich’s chief of staff, John Harris, and that the report referenced below does not actually state that Emanuel was actively selling the seat to Blagojevich and Harris. WFLD-TV, the Fox affiliate in Chicago, aired a report last night asserting that a “reliable source familiar with the ...

Things Not Looking Too Good For Emanuel
Nice Deb — ... it’s an ongoing investigation. I think it would be inappropriate for me to, you know, remark on the situation beyond the facts that I know. And that’s the fact that I didn’t discuss this issue with the governor at all,” he said. Well, it turns out that Emanuel did have multiple conversations with Blagojevich about the Senate seat, and those conversations were probably surveilled by the FBI. Ed Morrissey writes at Hot Air: That doesn’t necessarily mean that Emanuel knew about ...

Today’s embarrassing Blagojevich-related revelations.
RedState: Conservative News and Community — ... name=”allowFullScreen” value=”true”></param><embed src=”http://www.youtube.com/v/NVeGsE3-RFw&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1″ type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” allowfullscreen=”true” width=”425″ height=”344″></embed></object> (Video via Hot Air) Second, the timing on this fundraiser was truly awful for the person it was apparently supposed to help: Blagojevich ...

Throw out the playbook
The Moderate Voice — ... If Obama really wants to represent a breath of fresh air, he and his team might consider taking some advice from the opposite side of the aisle, as suggested by Ed Morrissey. ...

Rahm Emanuel May Have Talked to Blago About Senate Succession
Patterico's Pontifications — On multiple occasions. Ed Morrissey reports that, if it’s true, Emanuel will probably show up on the FBI wiretaps. It’s unlikely that anything stunning will show up, like clear and explicit financial negotiations over the seat. After all, Emanuel hasn’t been arrested by the feds. Then again, as Ed points out, it’s unlikely that Emanuel tipped off the feds, given the way he’s been running from the press. The interesting thing will be whether any unsavory discussions came up that arguably generated a duty to inform Obama or the ...

A Proper Response From Rahm Emanuel
Rhymes With Right — ... after the Emanuel kids sang at that concert – and Emanuel was pretty gentle in how he rebuffed the reporter in question. Every public official has a private life and is entitled to a bit of family/personal time, and Emanuel was drawing a healthy line to guarantee that he would get to be a Dad. What’s not to respect there? And given Rahm’s reputation, I’m actually amazed there weren’t a few curse words – which I would have been hard-pressed to condemn under the circumstances. H/T Hot Air , ...

Ed Morrissey: Right On Target
A Chequer-Board of Nights and Days — See here . One needn't think that the Obama campaign has done anything wrong to agree with Morrissey's contention that (a) of course the Obama campaign has had contact with Governor Blagojevich about a candidate who should be selected to fill the Senate seat, (b) "contact" does not necessarily mean "acquiescence to extortion," and (c) there really isn't any reason for Rahm Emanuel to be quiet about the issue of whether he helped the feds get Blagojevich. I will, for the moment, assume that this is merely a poor attempt at controlling a news cycle. But Team Obama had better ...

Ed Morrissey: Right On Target
RedState: Conservative News and Community — ... See here. One needn’t think that the Obama campaign has done anything wrong to agree with Morrissey’s contention that (a) of course the Obama campaign has had contact with Governor Blagojevich about a candidate who should be selected to fill the Senate seat, (b) “contact” does not necessarily mean “acquiescence to extortion,” and (c) there really isn’t any reason for Rahm Emanuel to be quiet about the issue of whether he helped the feds get Blagojevich. ...

Related: chicago sun times articles about senate seat
Scandal in IllinoisFirst Read
The Chicago Tribune’s lead story: “The predawn rousting of Gov. Rod Blagojevich from his Ravenswood Manor home Tuesday marked a stunning climax to a tale of alleged public corruption unmatched in Illinois' storied history of elected scoundrels ...