The Fox in Charge of the Henhouse: Obama ‘Investigates’ Emanuel, Blagojevich Connection

Yeah, this will be a real thorough report.

Barack Obama has said that when all is revealed, it will be clear that neither he nor his staff had any contacts with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich that could be considered improper.

The president-elect’s office says it will release on Monday the promised report giving a full accounting of those contacts, and Obama aides say the official under the most scrutiny — Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel — will be exonerated after weeks of innuendo that they have long said was unfair.

Journalists, readers and viewers may be busy wrapping presents, lighting their menorahs or just eating when the report is released — while Mr. Obama is in Hawaii and out of public view.

But there will be no revelations worth burying during the holidays anyway, transition sources say.

Nobody has accused Mr. Obama or his staff of legal wrongdoing. But the transition team’s sometimes awkward handling of the issue has raised anticipation of just what the report might say — and what the fallout might be.

The day of Mr. Blagojevich’s arrest, the president-elect said he couldn’t comment on the governor’s alleged efforts to sell Mr. Obama’s vacated Senate seat. The next day, he did comment, calling for Mr. Blagojevich’s resignation and offering assurances that neither he nor his aides were involved in any deal making.

Then he promised to account for any and all contacts between his staff and the governor’s, setting a release within days. Finally, he said the account was complete, but he wouldn’t release it until Christmas week.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2008/12/22/obama-contact-gov-blagojevich/

For someone with ‘no involvement’, they sure are scrambling to hide it.

……Barack Obama’s incoming chief of staff Rahm Emanuel had a deeper involvement in pressing for a U.S. Senate seat appointment than previously reported, the Sun-Times has learned. Emanuel had direct discussions about the seat with Gov. Blagojevich, who is is accused of trying to auction it to the highest bidder.

Emanuel talked with the governor in the days following the Nov. 4 election and pressed early on for the appointment of Valerie Jarrett to the post, sources with knowledge of the conversations told the Sun-Times. There was no indication from sources that Emanuel brokered a deal, however.

A source with the Obama camp strongly denied Emanuel spoke with the governor directly about the seat, saying Emanuel only spoke with Blagojevich once recently to say he was taking the chief of staff post.

But sources with knowledge of the investigation said Blagojevich told his aides about the calls with Emanuel and sometimes gave them directions afterward. Sources said that early on, Emanuel pushed for the appointment of Jarrett to the governor and his staff and asked that it be done by a certain date.

At least some of the conversations between Emanuel and Blagojevich were likely caught on tape, sources said.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/blagojevich/1337789,CST-NWS-rahm18good.article

Aside from the economic policy, foreign policy, and national security fuck ups that will likely occur during Obama’s regime, there’s going to be a crapload of Chicago skeletons parading out of the closet.