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Obama Pledges Openness On Blago Contacts
If any of Barack Obama's aides talked to Rod Blagojevich about the Senate seat the president-elect left open, we may be about to find out who it was, and what was said. And that's a lot better than we've been used to over the last few years.
At an appearance moments ago to announce his healthcare team, Obama led off by telling reporters that he has asked his team to gather the facts about contacts with the governor on the subject. "What I want to do is to gather all the facts about any staff contacts that may have taken place" between the governor's office and the transition team, he said. In response to a question, he added that he would present the findings publicly in the next few days.
But Obama said he is "absolutely certain" that if such contacts took place between his team and the governor's office, they would not have included discussion of any kind of "deal" for the seat.
Obama also repeated that he himself never spoke to the governor about the seat. "I did not speak to the governor about these issues," he added.
It's worth noting that Obama's pledge to canvass his staff and present what he's found stands in contrast to the approach taken by President Bush after news reports suggested that a member of his team had improperly leaked the name of a covert CIA operative. Bush at first pledged to get to the bottom of the matter, but soon appeared uninterested in quickly doing so, or in disciplining those members of his administration -- Karl Rove, Scooter Libby, and Richard Armitage -- who were ultimately found to have been the culprits.
We should wait to see if Obama fully delivers on his pledge to reveal what he's found, but so far, he seems to be approaching the issue with greater openness than his predecessor.
Josh
Zachary
BLAGSCAM!
December 11, 2008 11:51 AM | Reply | Permalink
Obama will do as he says on this one.
December 11, 2008 12:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, but did SUBORDINATES speak, among many still-unanswered questions? Obama told us nothing new today; if you believe otherwise, I’ve got palm trees on the South Side of Chicago to sell you.
December 11, 2008 3:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
I never said I didn't think his subordinates had NOT spoken to Blago. I'm convinced they DID because of O's press conference with Al Gore. (His statement was that "we" had no communication with the governor was changed to "I".)
However, this doesn't mean I think there was any brokering of pay or play crap at all. Quite the contrary. I believe Obama is NOT corrupt nor will he condone it in his camp.
He will do what he says - find out what the communications were and reveal them openly.
December 12, 2008 2:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
He has been investigated for over 3 years, how much has that cost! I am not a lawyer but I always read how hard these cases are to prove. I also read about the cost of these cases. I understand we have to set a standard and be willing to go after these lawbreaker when over-sight fails but at what cost? Seriously, we have had a president who in mnay eyes has clearly violated the law year after year and yet he has not been prosecuted. We have a VP who has consistently undermined any oversight of his office, even claiming his office falls outside the executive branch. Pardon me if I do not jump on the gossipy-juicy bandwagon that is Gov. Blago!
December 11, 2008 12:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, but you need to balance that against the cost of letting such actions go unpunished. Governors control huge public resources, and if they think they can get away with using them for personal gain instead of public good, we're losing a lot more than the cost of investigations like this. (Plus, as I recall from the Libby investigation, Fitzgerald is generally quite thrifty -- this isn't a Ken Starr $60 million job.)
Note that I'm not saying that most governors would be corrupt without the treat of prosecution (in fact, I believe most of them pursue the post because they think they can do good), but if that threat weren't there, a lot more corrupt people would seek the office.
And I agree that these principles are equally applicable to the presidential administration. Unfortunately, with the guy who's the boss of the investigators, though he shouldn't be above the law, investigations are inherently political, and with a majority or large minority in Congress willing to go lockstep in putting party interests over country and the rule of law, he can pretty much get away with anything.
December 11, 2008 1:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
Expensive, absolutely. But this doesn't seem like the hardest case to prove.
December 11, 2008 12:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
I am not sooth-sayer but I say give a year or two before any of the dust clears.
December 11, 2008 12:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
But Obama said he is "absolutely certain" that if such contacts took place between his team and the governor's office, they would not have included discussion of any kind of "deal" for the seat.
Great, but what about the notion of a 3-way deal among Obama, the SEIU, and Blago? In other words, did anyone from Obama's team talk to anyone about a "deal" for the seat?
The response from Obama is pretty clear as far as it goes but there are other specific questions that need to be asked.
December 11, 2008 1:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Actually my bad, Obama's comment was more unequivocal than that, and specifically said that none of his staff were involved in any deal-making.
Of course there are still plenty of other specific questions to ask...
December 11, 2008 2:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
How long did the Valerie Plame affair take to settle - wasn't it several years. Wilson first published his op-ed in the NY Times in July 2003, Novak then leaked her name a week later. Libby wasn't convicted of perjury, obstruction of justice, and lying to the FBI until June of 2007. Here's a timeline on the CIA leak matter:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4764919
But this being Chicago (where I live), this scandal with Blagojevich is going to go on much longer, involve many more people, and be very sordid.
I do think Obama is being very sincere and will assure transparency as members of his own team are questioned in the days ahead. I thought he handled the press conference this morning quite responsibly by dealing with the issue up front before switching to his Health Care appointments.
December 11, 2008 1:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Valerie Plame affair was never settled. Everyone (including Scooter, thanks to W) got off. That includes Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, and Richard Armitage. Oh, and W for not doing what he promised to do about it.
December 11, 2008 2:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
I was only comparing how much time the CIA leak case took to come to even the jury verdict. I know it was never entirely settled and there is a unprecedented amount of corruption in the Bush administration that will never be brought to trial. There are not enough "Patrick Fitzgeralds" on the planet to deal with all the corruption of the Bush years. I just hope there is adequate security protecting Fitzgerald. He's our only hope here in Chicago.
Blagojevich is not going to be behind bars anytime soon, but eventually he will get what he deserves. And so will "a few" others.
December 11, 2008 2:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think the Plame affair is a lousy comparison here, because the crime came pretty much directly from the president's office. A better comparison might be the US Attorney scandal, where the White House was not involved front and center and still stonewalled right into the courts, or the Cheney energy task force scandal, where ditto.
December 11, 2008 1:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Here is the problem that does not exist and what apparently is about Blag "the self-impaler".
Blag admitted on tape that in his mind that all he would get is 'gratitude' from what he called is a MotherF....r, either that was a presumption based on previous actions by the Obama...(concievable), OR that was mentioned early on by a staffer appropriately with any hint or the use of coded inferences (possible) OR...Blag is dilusional and was making it up for the small audience and justifying in his circle the justification of selling the seat (more possible) and why I heard the reason for the estrangement from his father-in-law was Blag's delusions.
either there is nothing on the tapes to suggest that Obama team even entertained a play and Fitzgerald has confirmed this...
December 11, 2008 2:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, but did SUBORDINATES speak, among many still-unanswered questions? Obama told us nothing new today; if you believe otherwise, I’ve got palm trees on the South Side of Chicago to sell you.
December 11, 2008 3:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
Based on the transcripts I have read, even if Obama and his entire staff never spoke with anyone associated with Drago's office, Drago himself might have imagined they did. This guy is way too far out there to be believed any more.
December 11, 2008 4:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Let me give you an insight of IL basic politics now. Blag was persona non grata for a long time and actually considered a dead man walking Governor. He showed up at parties like a relative who couldn't be refused entry.
Now what I have heard today is most plausible is that Blag was talking to other powers or his people were talking to other powers...like Daley's people or Emil Jones the former IL Senate Leader who told Blag or his people that all he would get is "gratitude"....as in knowledge or if some "hypothetical" supposition conversation took place. Now Blag 'the delusional' gets the supposition and of course explodes and call Obama a M.....F....r, because Obama is clean and he knows it, that is why he is a M.....F....r
Everyone is holding Obama as guilty by association...except Fitzgerald
December 11, 2008 5:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
wingnuts are desperate to hang anything on Obama.
really, really desperate because they know he is not going to have any bimbo eruptions.
December 11, 2008 8:20 PM | Reply | Permalink