Rahm’s 21 Conversations with Blagojevich and Friends?
I’ve been boring you all by repeatedly pointing to this passage in the complaint against Blago:
This affidavit does not include all calls dealing with the corrupt efforts of ROD BLAGOJEVICH, JOHN HARRIS, and others to misuse the power of ROD BLAGOJEVICH to appoint a United States Senator for the personal gain of ROD BLAGOJEVICH and his family, nor does this affidavit set forth other calls where ROD BLAGOJEVICH and others discussed a possible appointment to the Senate seat based on considerations other than financial gain for ROD BLAGOJEVICH and his family, discussions which took place with greater frequency after efforts to arrange for a private job for ROD BLAGOJEVICH in exchange for appointing a particular candidate to the open Senate seat did not meet with success. [my emphasis]
I have even suggested that, given the narrative Fitz constructs, it is quite likely that those discussions–which took place with greater frequency after Obama told Blago they’d only give "appreciation" and not a high paying job–took place between Rahm Emanuel and Blago’s folks.
Well, who knows who is using Michael Sneed as a mouthpiece this time … but my speculation that Rahm was involved in those "greater frequency" calls seems to be on the right track.
Sneed hears rumbles President-elect Barack Obama’s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, is reportedly on 21 different taped conversations by the feds — dealing with his boss’ vacant Senate seat!
A lot of chit-chat?
Hot air?
Or trouble?
Given the seemingly Rahm-generated leaks so far, it seems we can count on two conversations around November 1 (delivering the list of acceptable candidates, thereby setting Blago off to write a list of things to demand in return), several conversations around November 10 (telling Blago that the only thing he’d get would be appreciation), and then a conversation after Blago planned to start trading around Rahm’s House seat on November 13.
That is, we can account for about 7 conversations between the complaint and the seeming pre-emptive leaking out of Rahm’s camp.
Which would seem to leave phone calls with "greater frequency" in the days after November 13, when Blago kept scrambling for something of value from the President-elect. But note, if I’m right that these conversations are about something of non-monetary value, then they may get even more interesting as we go forward.
Thanks ew.
digg
Those 21 conversations between Rahm and Blago will be x rated
Leen
Dontcha know–it’s a defensive technique. By swearing that much, they ensure the actual tapes can’t be played during prime time.
Reminds me: Did you know that, in Minnesota at least, a political ad is not subject to any sort of decency laws?
Norm Coleman took advantage of that when he, as a last-ditch effort, ran a TV ad featuring Al Franken cussing.
I think I’m hearing you say “wife swapping.”
You know, I actually was thinking about Blago angling for a pre-emptive pardon (I hear they’re all the rage).
And anyway, Rahm is famously tied to his family, and Patti Blago doesn’t seem all that nice. So I’m guessing not on the wifeswapping.
But who knows? It’s Chicago. Anything goes.
ot: Feinstein gets nod to chair intelligence panel
Yeah. We pretty much knew that. I’m a lot more interested, frankly, in membership changes on the committee.
Will Reid remove a Rockefeller from an oversight position over the spooks?
Will telecom mogul Mark Warner get his spot?
Or, will we get someone better, maybe someone like McCaskill or soon-to-be decalred Al Franken?
Sadly, I made an official prediction earlier today that Jello Jay will be removed (!!!) but replaced by the telecom mogul (booo).
Remember how the Bush people could never, ever EVER comment on the Plame investigation because it was always…..ongoing?
I saw that exchange, not so much that I cared what was said – just in the way that you can’t look away from a car wreck. The dialogue writes itself.
Is it just me, or does Krauthammer look like one of the Lizard People?
FWIW, per Kos, ABC is reporting that JJJ previously ratted for Fitz against Blago – something about Blago demanding campaign money in connection with an airport construction project and putting people on the board of the airport….
Interstinger and interstinger.
oops. Should have read:
“Interestinger and interestinger.”
Sorry.
At some point, someone ought to ask how many times Rahm has spoken with Patterson. I hope, for a variety of reasons, that the number is not zero.
Perhaps not zero, though there are others in the Transition who might have more sway with Paterson.
That said, remember that some of these conversations were probably about Rahm’s House seat.
who’s Patterson, and why was Rahm talking about his house seat with him ???
I suspect I’m mixing apples an oranges here. you’re talkin bout Gov Patterson of New York, and also that Rahm had conversations with blagoff’s people about his house seat, right ???
so why would blagoff an Rahm talk about the House seat ???
are both of them ignorant about how house vacancies are filled ???
and why ain’t we getting Pro Quid Pro here
Rahm answers 21 questions, and KKKARL answers 21 questions
only seems fair …
There are several possibilities for what the content on the Blago Rahm conversation about his seat was. It was fairly well known in IL that Rahm wanted teh election to happen in a way that would make it easier to put a seat warmer in that seat. So he may have requested that Blago time it in a particular way. Alternately, Blago may have tried to suggest he WOULD appoint a seat warmer (which would have been illegal) as a “favor” for Rahm.
Slow down, please.
My question was simply one of appearances. If Rahm gave a list of acceptables for the senate seat to Blago, then it would be very nice to hear that he did same with Patterson. Because, if so, then about 90% of the wingnuttery can be brushed off like dandruff from a black satin smoking jacket.
Not only that, you would expect, as a courtesy, the gov to solicit the opinion of the outgoing senator about aht person’s replacement. I assume that Gov. Patterson would give a great deal of weight to Hilalry’s opinion about who should get her seat, and Obama would be justified in expecting that same courtesy from Blago.
Except that Blago seems to be a pig
Which brings me to a question: If the panel decides to proceed with impeachment proceedings against Blago, is there a possibility that it will interfere or in any way damage the criminal case that Fitz is building?
That’s what this halt to the impeachment proceedings is about.
Courtesy of Bob Geiger.
Fed cut fed funds rate to a target of zero to 0.25%. It was 1.00%. Larger than expected cut.
You think it’ll do any good?
Not much. You’ve shot all the ammo from the Fed cannon as one commentator on CNBC said. The statement had other comfort food, such as rates will remain low for a long time, do everything they can to fight deflation, etc. So they really really have no ammunition left.
They can still act as the lender of last resort, but since there is no demand for credit, the supply of credit is irrelevant (though might become relevant at some point in the future).
The only way out is massive federal spending.
eCAHN’s econ:
We’ve shot our wad 35 days before the new guy takes over.
You have a way with words. *g*
Is Rahm the fall guy or was he pretending to represent Obama when he made deals with Blago?
Or is the GOP getting into a funny leak war with Rahm?
I don’t think it likely the GOP is leaking. While Sneed may not be the highest standard of journalism, she is unlikely to accept a “leak” from someone who has utterly no way of knowing.
This leak tends to hurt Rahm and Obama, though not much, since there is no substance to it. Therefore, who gains? Possibilities:
1) Someone in USAtty Office – very unlikely. Very tight shop. Why would they do it?
2) Someone with Obama who wants to embarrass Rahm – not likely. Rahm isn’t hurt ultimately unless something comes out that’s illegal, and if so, and if a rival knows it, why not mention it.
3) Someone with Blagojevich – likely; it takes a little bit of heat off, and one thing they need to do is delay until the spotlight goes away; they’re in a position to know who spoke and when;
And … if there were any problematic calls, they wouldn’t care to share that, but they WOULD want to keep Rahm thinking about it, because they may see Rahm as their only hope of getting Fitz leashed in.
(Well, if there were enough posters like Kassandra to sway public opinion, that might also help Blags; as an Illinoisan who knows my state has been sold off, I’d just like to call bullshit on the idea that it doesn’t matter if a governor gives $100 million of my money to Tribune Co. for editorial support, only pays pediatricians if the hospital pays him off first, and decides to expand our highways at a time when the mass transit system could use that money merely because the asphalt lobby has given him more money!)
Bottom line, all we really learned from this leak is that the Blagojevich people are likely continuing to defend the governor in the media, and that there were a large number of calls between Rahm and Blags. The rest is speculation.
If it’s not money or a job, I agree a deal for a future pardon is probably what he was after. I there were really that many calls, I hope Rahm had the sense to tell Fitz he was being pressured. If not, it will probably look bad (not illegal, but bad PR). However, I think there is still the possibility that Rahm kept talking so the Feds could get him on tape with as much incriminating stuff as possible.
Is it possible that Fitz told him to keep the lines of communication open hoping Blago would keep digging the ditch deeper? I hope so. Maybe that would explain the reporting and subsequent denial of “overzealous reporting” that Rahm tipped them off. If he was stringing them along, that would one possibility. If he did, could Blago’s lawyers argue entrapment? I am assuming not since they have him on tape demanding other quid pro quos.
Final thought, there must be something of greater value on the tapes concerning the Senate seat which Fitz doesn’t want Blago’s lawyers to know about or else he would have given the all clear to PE’s team to talk about it. If Rahm were really a subject of investigation then Fitz would want him on the public record ASAP contradicting the tapes and thereby showing he knew what he did was illegal.
I think pardon request on tape is a good probability of being up Fitz’s sleeve.
So far I haven’t seen any evidence that Blogo has been caught directly requesting anything in return for the senate seat. Has anyone else?
What do you mean evidence?
Beyond his proposal that he get a $300,000 job to the head of the local SEIU in exchange for giving Jarrett the seat? Or the suggestion he had been offered $1.5 for the seat for JJJ (which has since been all but confirmed by the Trib, including naming who did the offering).
We don’t know what the outcome of the November 10 conversation was–what Blago went to Obama’s team with (it seems quite possible that was on tape, but Fitz didn’t share it). And we don’t know what Blago said to Rahm afterwards (though we do know he spoke with Rahm). And we don’t know what conversations happened between December 5 and December 9, though we do know there was a fundraiser tied to getting JJJ the seat and we do know JJJ and Blago met.
What I mean is that there is plenty of evidence that Blogo wanted to ask for jobs, donations, etc. in exchange for the senate seat, but is there any evidence that he directly ASKED someone to provide them?
Yes, as I said, he ASKED the SEIU local to arrange for him to get a $300,000 job that did not otherwise exist.
And while we don’t necessarily have the Blago conversation with (apparently) Nayak, we appear to have him acknowledging that it happened and money was offered, as well as public source confirmation that such a conversation happened.
And that’s all before the stuff that Fitz points to, but doesn’t reveal.
Thanks
It would be good for the country and good for Obama ultimately if there was enough there to force him to dump Emanual. The guy is not to be trusted. He certainly doesn’t share my values. In my view he represents much of what has been wrong with the Democrats over the past eight years.
Anchor on CNBC sez Fed move sets the stage for Obama’s big stimulus plan.
Geez, market & commentator reaction to Fed move is optimism, based on “the Fed is doing everything they can.” My reaction is the opposite, because the Fed has nothing left and the economy is still plunging down.
Forex value of dollar plunged, but that is of marginal significance as a stimulus since exports are not that big a % of the U.S. economy and foreign economies are weak.
bonddad is similarly worried.
But then you bloggie economists have been wrong so often, of course.
Not.
This whole Blago thing was cooked up to distract us from the Senate Torture Report. Not that he didn’t do it, but that it’s par for the course for politicians to have these dirty strategies. You can just pick and choose your victims when you have enough surveillance because selling access, seats, quid pro quos happens all the time.
I think Glenn Greenwald might agree
Senate Report Links Bush to Detainee Homicides; Media Yawns
http://www.informationclearing…..e21478.htm
And then we have Cheney just spitting in everyone’s face during that ABC interview. Waterboarding is fine with Dick
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comm…..rview-iraq
That ABC interview with Cheney was the all time creepiest
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/stor…..038;page=1
we should all stop, and realize something here
blagoff was trying to operate a criminal enterprise with a Senate Seat
cunningham, foggo and company were trying to operate a criminal enterprise with OUR NATIONAL SECURITY APPARATUS
corruption in a senate seat doesn’t endanger EVERY AMERICAN ON THE FUCKING PLANET
corruption in our national security apparatus DOES ENDANGER EVERY AMERICAN ON THE FUCKING PLANET
so when the repuglitards start with the false equivalency arguments, be ready to skew their fucking sorry asses for supporting a pack of traitors who endangered their lives
This is beginning to sound like a conspiracy to commit a conspiracy to me. Oh quick! Impeach the guy, he’s so CORRUPT! More kabuki and no real hard crime…..yet.
And the REAL criminals…walking away with our money; this is beginning to look like a. Great. Big. Smokescreen.
NYT:In Blagojevich Case, Is It a Crime, or Just Talk?
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12…..al.html?em
Kassandra
That article is really stupid, frankly.
First of all, Blago was arrested for two crimes. The first was for his actual actions pertaining to the Wrigley Field stuff–on which he HAD already taken action. (So the article ignores one of two charges entirely.)
And the honest services charge pertains to three things: The Wrigley Field stuff, the senate seat, and a number of legislative actions about which Blago makes clear he is deciding based SOLELY on his ability to get campaign donations, and not on the best interest of IL (for example, he was going to cut off millions for pediatric care because he didn’t get a donation, inventing the excuse that the state didn’t have the funds even while make it clear that the decision was about funds).
Has anyone ever counted up shrubs appointments of fundraisers.
No supercomputer, sorry.
What I would love to get him for is his appointmnet of fundraisers to the Presidents Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. It did things like put a bunch of top secret intelligence in Ray Hunt’s hands at the same time as he was negotiating deals with the Kurds.
Eli up at the Mothership on Darth Cheney
Unheard of! A resigning senator – and elected President – recommending a list (not one favorite) to his state governor for appointment as his replacement, since no election to fill his unexpired term is required. Could it be, yes, it is, politics, done the way it’s supposed to be?
Apart from the usual backstabbing, what the Right seems to object to is that Karl Rove wasn’t asked for his list of candidates, and that Mr. O didn’t just tell Blago who the new guy would be, with the dismissive, “That’s the way we’re gonna do it.” How will the republic survive with Big Dick in retirement? (How will Shrub? Will he remember who he was?) Will the former veep find a political blue pill to keep him firmly involved in the life of the nation’s capital?
A very interesting message from Former Gov of Min Jesse Ventura:
http://52.thelastoutpost.com/v…..nment.html
Many of my posts talk about past experiences in a family for more than 26 years who are directly involved with those around Blago, especially Rezko. My youngest son is involved with Rezko to my dismay. The family often bragged about being a CIA Asset when questioned why they aren’t concerned about being prosecuted. Obama is considered to have been their assistent with setting up their drug distribution business in Florida. Remember Clyde O’Connor?
Mexico drug plane used for US ‘rendition’ flights: report – Sep 4, 2008
http://afp.google.com/article/…..-xUcQEZbVg
The family told me a number of times that there are many CIA operatives around the Illinois area including the Political area. There is a lot more to this unfortuntely and not enough time to writw about it.
Please nejoy the message from Jesse.
Marty Didier
Northbook, IL
Huh? Can you tell who is his person who writw[s] that a US senator was somebody’s assistent. Is he as flaky as his spelling?
RedHead,
In relation to the Marty DIdier post, I’ll say!
He also writes that the Rezko’s said they couldn’t be prosecuted because they were CIA assets! Umm, dude, the guy’s already been convicted!
Rahm would have had access to wiretaps of Blaggo (and had total knowledge of Blaggo’s) activities even prior to Fitz obtaining warrants or initiating taps. Rahm’s sources are far more “wired” than those of the US Government.
It is very likely that Rahm approached Fitz with the offer to sting Blaggo at the outset.
Rahm has his own intelligence sources (think foreign government / interest group). There is no way “they” would have allowed Rahm to become entrapped. Not Any Chance.
OT, it appears Cheney energy taskforce invitees excluded car companies and most of their unions, though NAM, and Teamsters were there in some capacity.
Благо.
I did manage to get hold of and transcribe part of one of the Rahm-Rod conversations last Saturday.
What’d you do to get it … build a floating Dock for Mr. Toobz ?
That Fitz is quite a talker.
Yesterday we learned that, in addition to his being able to secure the fruits of what is claimed to be an exhaustive internal investigation of the Transition Team, he was able to talk the Supreme Talker Elect into parking his Teflon re-sealing program for 10 days.
Toay we learn first that he’s been able to secure an unrestricted preview access to the contents of the Illinois state legislature’s Blagovich impeachment file, and not just that, but has been able to talk the critical elements to the Illinois state legislature’s power apparatus into parking the the urgent and vital business of its impeaching the government to try to get the state off the nation’s Most Corrupt list and get on with state governance.
All for a guy who appears to have no useful allies or friends, has been abandoned by even close family and close aides, has no resources, is in desparate financial straits without no apparent way out, charges announced, passport turned over, his very presence radioactive for anyone but the paparazzi, utterly disabled from being able to make the slightest power move without the sword of Fitzocles coming down on his ridiculous coif, totally immobilized into irrelevance, by all appearances as doomed as those turkeys in the background at the Palin Pardon Party.
Seems all a bit much to catch this hirsute bird, especially since, indeed because of, the Complaint and accompanying Affidavit, it’s plain he’s already ‘caught’ in any and all ways that really matter … don’t it?
And yet this is supposed to be the same guy who ‘apparently’ can’t even out-talk Tony frickin Rezko from getting a postponement from his appointment with Samarrah? What gives?
Well…
Consider Rezko and his comical sidekick Ali Ata appear to have been MacBlago’s main political henchmen.
Consider Atta and former MacBlago BFF Stuart Levine each gave critical testimony in this spring’s Trial of Rezko.
Consider that, whereas R-thoritarians had been wetting their Depends for months, the MSM was salivating to the point of constituting a biohazard, over the prospect that the Amazing to-that-point Bambi the Bubble Boy Wonder was about to have his bubble burst from being named in critical dispatches from the witness box at said Trial of Rezko.
Consider that contrariwise, and with advance notice [which one would assume most likely to have come from a leak on the prosecution side] when Atta did hit the stand, whose name was on his lips that-was-not-Obama?
Karl frickin’ Rove …
as in:
‘Tony? Tony he, tol’ me he an’ Bobby Sjell was pahtnerd up to tee it up wit’ Kahl Rove to get dis Fitzwhadevuh DA character oudda our hair and rode oudda town. No, I never did talk aboudit wit’ Bobby Sjell, an’ as to Kahl Rove, well to be trut’full I never did actual meatup wit’ da gennelmun. But yunno Tony, me an’ Tony was togedder a long time, right, so I got no reason ta t’ink he was tryin’ to mess wit’ my mind right’
[See various items in anthrology collected at Fauxsnoose: http://tinyurl.com/2wmehw%5D
Yes, ladies and gentleman, boys and girls: the very same Karl Rove who foiled Fitzgerald on their last death-defying encounter ending with the Trial and Sentencing [and Subsequent Commutation] of I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Lately of the White House and the OVP [subnom. And The Narrow Escape of one K. Rove, esq], that Karl Rove was reported having his name intoned on the moors of the Chicago courtrooms, in case prosecuted out of the office of one P. Fitzgerald [the same], in a manner that clearly implicated the same Tony Rezko as being involved with him in arranging, or plotting, or discussing, or all the above, the removal of the same P Fitz… the same P Fitz now seen with his entire office sitting atop Governor MacBlago’s coif … the same P Fitz who has managed to talk the all relevant parts of the Democratic party machine, state and federal, into a time out, while he gets everyone to stand still and give him some peace and quiet while he … executes a bit of an arabesque…
and apparently one all relevant parts of the Democratic party machine wish to see … and very much – and…
all of a sudden, the news comes out from Rove’s cave to put up a full R-thoritarian press on Holder.
I’m just sayin’.
Second City is doing a show called “America: All Better!” which I hope I’m seeing later this week. One of the cast members plays Rahm:
Fascinating stuff…
I’m inclined to believe the “fifth cd thing” was a product of Blago’s desperate little brain. I highly doubt the voters in the fifth district would appreciate a long rumored to be corrupt Governor maneuvering to change the rules and deny them their vote in order to appoint a placeholder. If Blago did propose it, I can’t see anyone in their right mind entertaining the idea. Who would want to run for re-election under those circumstances? And what would the President think about his Chief of Staff’s commitment to the job?
But the timeline and increase in calls is interesting… Possible Emanuel was working with the Feds by this time? I never believed that rumor (Fox News *cough*)… But IF he did entertain Blago’s ideas how could the President-elect be so certain that his staff did “nothing inappropriate”? I assume he is in communication with the D.A. because he said their investigation was the reason he did not release their internal report yesterday. Maybe there is something in the internal report that covers the period of those increased phone calls. The D.A. must have left that out of their report for a reason.
And now this rumor from Sneed… If Blago (or more likely his lawyer) is still brazen enough to leak to her, maybe he is trying to put the pressure on Emanuel to defend himself (i.e. more leaks) in the hope of finding out what is in that internal report that the D.A. doesn’t want released just yet.
The idea Rahm wants his seat back is from a Sneed column a month ago. It’s got to come from Rahm. It makes no sense in any other way, and Rahm didn’t bother to deny it. Many Chiefs of Staff don’t last longer than that anyway. There was no push-back to suggest that Obama was upset about the idea.
I read the denial from the Emanuel camp when the rumor appeared in another source, and there is one the Sneed column:
http://emptywheel.firedoglake……the-house/
“The flip side: The rumor is being denied by Rahm’s office.”
And within that piece by EW is a link to a Gawker story claiming Blago as the source for Sneed:
http://gawker.com/5105531/chic…..rite-patsy
Quit the BS, Raina. That’s not a Gawker story claiming Blago as the source for Sneed’s piece on Rahm. That’s a Gawker story claiming Sneed gets fed pieces by Blago.
To outsiders who may misunderstand, Sneed gets fed stuff by all the major players in town, including Rahm. What is laughable is that she was fed a dozen Senate possibilities by Blag’s folks and never questioned the change, or pointed out how unreliable her source was since he kept switching his story
But the Rahm-keeping-his-seat story wasn’t a Sneed original. Crain’s political blog broke it, and that is no doubt where Sneed picked it up. Greg Hinz was still covering it a week later. He had multiple sources, including people in the Mayor’s office.
There’s a weird tendency here, that we would have laughed at during the Plame case, to simply assume that any Democrat anyone has ever heard of couldn’t have done wrong. So we’ve had wild ideas that Rahm tipped off the Feds; that Jesse’s people couldn’t possibly have been involved in anything murky.
It’s the old “if it’s news, it must be good news for Republicans” theory updated for our side, with a local twist. “If it’s news, it must be good news for Democrats we’ve heard of, though anyone we haven’t heard of is capable of anything.”
With all due respect, it was you who put forth that Emanuel had never bothered to deny the story. As I said, I read the rumor in another source and there was a denial, and there was one in Sneed’s report as well.
That said, I should have phrased it as “Blago is alleged to be A source of Sneed’s.” I did not mean to suggest that Emanuel never talks to her, or could never be the source of this story. That said, I don’t see the point of leaking a story and issuing a denial to your own leak at the same time. Aren’t leaks usually floated to gauge the response before they are denied?
Of course I don’t see the point of collaborating with an unpopular Governor to change the rules and deny people their vote in order to appoint a placeholder, thereby infuriating the same people you expect to vote for you in two years, either.
Add the facts that you have Blago on tape hatching the plan, and Obama on record denying his staff has done anything “inappropriate,” and I think it’s even more unlikely that the originator of the plan, or the leak, was Emanuel.
But maybe I’m missing something… feel free to clue me in.
Another Hintz column regarding Emanuel’s Congressional seat… If he wanted to run for re-election, these two scenarios sound much more plausible – and he wouldn’t have needed Blago’s help at all.
http://www.chicagobusiness.com…..siness.com
First, you are indeed right that there was a denial from Rahm’s office. I was wrong.
Certainly more than one person, including someone close to the Mayor, believed that Rahm wanted the seat back, and were trying to make that happen by putting a seat-warmer in for 2 years. Sneed and two Hinz columns mention it, and Hinz has multiple sources. Who knows, it’s conceivable that Rahm didn’t know about those discussions, but it seems unlikely. I think Marcy said or implied this would be illegal, but I can’t for the life of me figure out why. Among other things, Lincoln made such a bargain, though (and I don’t remember the details any more) either he or the other guy reneged or tried to. The Whigs believed in rotation in office, in no one holding the same office for very long, because it tended to concentrate power. Though this principal wasn’t held by everyone.
For all the talk in Illinois of how democracy is too damn expensive, Rahm’s seat definitely requires an election, and if he’d go ahead and resign, that election could be merged into the school board elections at much lower cost than if it’s held as a special. He’s apparently holding on till he can nail down exactly who the replacement will be.