Are We Looking at President Biden? Update
By Larry Johnson on December 9, 2008 at 8:17 PM in Current Affairs
(UPDATE–Tony Rezko provided the prosecutors information used to build the case against Blagojevich. A new tidbit from reading the complaint.)
Don’t kid yourself, Barack Obama is not sleeping well tonight. He has played the pay to play game since he got involved in Chicago politics. He is not clean on this. For example, according to a source with direct knowledge, Barack Obama used Tony Rezko as an intermediary with Governor Blagojevich to get people on his staff and in his district state appointed jobs. Will Blagojevich keep his mouth shut? I don’t think so.
But Blagojevich is the least of Barack’s problems. Let’s meet Blagojevich’s Chief of Staff, John Harris.
The Chicagoist has the full story, but here are the relevant portions:
Sure, everyone knows who Gov. Rod Blagojevich is, but who’s this John Harris guy? Well, Harris was apart of Mayor Daley’s administration from 1996 to 2005. . . .
In 2005, Harris resigned as budget director when City Hall was ensnared in Hired Trucks, political hiring and minority contracts scandals that were quickly circling around the Daley administration. Harris, who oversaw the Hired Trucks Program, made headlines during the scandal when it was revealed that he had ties to Victor Reyes, a former high-ranking Daley aide who ran the now infamous Hispanic Democratic Organization. Harris and Reyes were acquaintances and went on a fishing trip together in 2003. Harris also sat on a city panel that recommended a $1 billion construction contract to a company that employed Reyes as a lobbyist. Harris wasn’t charged with any wrongdoing but the damage was already done. . . .
During his time in City Hall, Harris oversaw the administrative side of the Chicago Police Department and would later help usher in the O’Hare runway expansion project. At that time, Harris served as a deputy to Aviation Commissioner Thomas Walker, who was largely a figurehead. Behind the scenes, Harris and then CTA President Frank Kruesi (grandfather of the CTA doomsday and mastermind behind Meigs Field) were considered to be the brains behind the department. Daley, however, bypassed Harris when he appointed someone else to oversee the all-important construction phase of the runway expansion plan, a sign that seemed to indicate that Harris was on the outs with Daley. But the two seemed to pact things together when Daley appointed Harris as budget director.
Harris knows where the bodies are buried and he is likely to sing. He doesn’t want his salad tossed in the joint by a big beefy guy named Bubba. So who does he finger? I believe the first guy in the crosshairs will be Mayor Daley. Both Harris and Blagojevich will be racing against each other to become the most valuable player for the prosecution.
I doubt that David Axelrod is sleeping well either. Axelrod had close ties with Blagojevich. He ran his first campaign for the House. He very well may not see the inside of the White House as a Senior Advisor. I think he is in play.
Obama supporters should not take to much solace in the one questions asked but not really answered at today’s press confab. The question the press should have asked Obama, which was not asked nor answered is this:
Did you or any member of your staff or your political team have conversations with Governor Blagojevich or any member of his staff about who should be selected to replace you?
There is some good news for Barack. He apparently rebuffed Blagojevich’s efforts to shake him down. But, rather than come out today and admit that he talked to Blagojevich about possible choices (nothing wrong with that) he lied to the press conference and claimed to have had no conversation. Simply not true. David Axelrod admitted they had talked and, if you read the indictment, Blagojevich talks about the conversation.
As noted in previous articles today, Barack and Michelle played the Chicago game. Michelle was appointed to boards and got paid. Barack got a sweetheart land deal with Tony Rezko. Now that there is some blood in the water, I don’t think this is going away.
There also is this tidbit from the indictment:
Rezko was a principal fundraiser for ROD BLAGOJEVICH. His criminal trial focused on allegations that Rezko and Stuart Levine, a member of the board of trustees of the Teachers Retirement System and the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board, engaged in a scheme to defraud the State of Illinois of Levine’s honest services by demanding kickbacks, as well as political contributions to the campaign of ROD BLAGOJEVICH, in return for the exercise of Levine’s official influence. Relevant evidence presented at the Rezko trial is summarized below.
Guess what? Rezko also was a principal fundraiser for Barack Obama.
This could go a variety of ways. It may be just an unfortunate blip on the Obama presidency. His team is praying that’s the case. But Patrick Fitzgerald and the FBI could be sitting on some other tapes/wiretaps that are damaging to Obama. We also do not know what Rezko is saying at this point nor do we know what Blagojevich and Harris will spill. Under a worst case scenario, Obama becomes a target and Joe Biden finds himself moving to the Oval office. This scandal is not going away. But hey, it is the Chicago way.
by Ronald Scott
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