Internal report fails to dispel cloud over Obama in Blagojevich corruption case

1 comment

December 24, 1:08 PM

by Judah Freed, Political Issues Examiner

Gov. Rod Blagojevic at the State of Illinois Building in
Chicago on Dec. 19, 2008. Blagojevich faces a federal
corruption complaint but says he is not guilty of any
criminal wrongdoing and plans to stay on the job.
(AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

Prosecutors with the staff of U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald have previously said, on and off the record, that their investigation is not targeting Obama, incoming chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, nor Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett, the one person most suspected of discussing the "pay to play" scheme with Blagojevich.

The report is backed by the surveillance transcripts released by Fitzgerald that recorded Blagojevich complaining aloud that Obama's team was unwilling to give him anything more than "appreciation."

The internal report was written by designated White House attorney Greg Craig, who asserts that nobody on Obama's transition team discussed any quid pro quo deals with Blagojevich or the governor's staff, adding that nobody on Obama's team had any knowledge the governor was trying to sell the senate seat.

Craig's report actually was ready for release on December 15, but its release was delayed for a week until prosecutors had finished interviewing Obama and key members of his transition team.

The only relatively new information in the Craig report was the names of all six people whom Obama authorized Emanuel to share with Blagojevich as qualified for Obama's old senate job. Suggesting good replacements is legal and routine.

According to the Craig report, the people suggested were Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes, Illinois Veterans' Affairs Director Tammy Duckworth, U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill), U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill), Attorney General Lisa Madigan, and Chicago Urban League Director Cheryle Jackson.

Within days after the Blagojevich was arrested on December 9, Madigan asked the Illinois Supreme Court to deem Blagojevich unfit for duty, but the state's high court rejected her petition last week

The Illinois legislature instead has begun impeachment proceedings. That effort suffered a setback yesterday when Fitzgerald said refused to make his criminal investigation findings available to the legislative committee that's investigating the governor. Fitzgerald wants to save his evidence for the criminal trial.

Blagojevich continues to assert that he's innocent of all charges, vowing to fight every effort to remove him from office.

The upshot is that all but the most critical state business has ground to a halt in Illinois as the corruption scandal dominates the attention of government officials.

The Craig report, meanwhile, would seem to totally clear away all concerns about any possible wrongdoing by Obama, who's celebrating the holidays with his family in Hawaii.

The political reality, however, the internal report naturally would be expected to clear Obama and his team, which does nothing to quash rumors of a cover up.

A moer significant fact is that Craig's internal report carries no legal weight. Only Fitzgerald, the U.S. prosecutor, has the legal power to a completely quell any and all speculation about Obama knowledge of Blagojevich's alleged crimes. If it's merited, that absolution may be months or years away.

Until then, even after the former senator takes the oath of office as president on January 20, look for conservative Republicans and progressive Democrats to raise doubts about Obama's involvement with Blagojevich whenever they wish to apply political pressure to the White House.

Consequently, whether justified or not, Obama begins his term under a cloud that no speeches about hope or change can dispel. The cloud is small and far away, but it still threatens to rain on Obama's inaugural parade.

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