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Obama or Someone Close to Him Spoke with Blagojevich About Senate Appointment

By Larry Johnson on December 10, 2008 at 6:23 PM in Current Affairs

Why is the Obama team turning an opportunity for making the case that they did the right thing in rejecting Blagojevich’s effort to shake them down into a story that will dog them and may blow up? Sometime between 7 November and 10 November, someone on the Obama team spoke with Illinois Rod Blagojevich and would only promise the greedy Governor “appreciation.” If you look at p. 66 of the criminal complaint you can read that Blago is telling his indicted co-conspirator, John Harris on 11 November about that conversation:

Later in the conversation, ROD BLAGOJEVICH said he knows that the President-elect wants Senate Candidate 1 for the Senate seat but “they’re not willing to give me anything except appreciation. Fuck them.”

How does Blagojevich know what the President-elect wants unless he has spoken to Barack or Axelrod or Emmanuel?

I do not understand why Barack is digging a hole for himself. As presented in last night’s story by Uppity Woman, Obama and Axelrod were telling different stories–Barack claimed he had not talked with Blago but Axelrod said yes.

The A.P. told the story this way:

Obama told reporters he was “saddened and sobered.”

“I had no contact with the governor or his office and so I was not aware of what was happening. As I said, it is a sad day for Illinois. Beyond that I don’t think it’s appropriate to comment,” he said.

Obama senior adviser David Axelrod had said on November 23 in an interview with Fox News Chicago that Obama had “talked to the governor and there are a whole range of names many of which have surfaced, and I think he has a fondness for a lot of them.”

Axelrod issued a brief written statement on Tuesday saying he had been wrong.

“I was mistaken when I told an interviewer last month that the president-elect has spoken directly to Governor Blagojevich about the Senate vacancy. They did not then or at any time discuss the subject,” Axelrod said.

Either Barack or one of his senior aides talked to Blagojevich about possible replacements and it is on tape. You can be sure of that. And, unless Fitzgerald is sitting on some tape more damning, it appears that the Obama team wisely resisted the Blagojevich shake down. Why can’t Obama admit that? Very curious.