Blagojevich / Obama / Emanuel and the murky world of Chicago mob politics

On Tuesday 9th December President Elect Obama denied that he, or any of his staff, had conversations with Governor Blagojevich (or Blago's staff) over his successor for his Senate seat - which is (was) in the gift of the Governor .

Thursday Dec 12th President Elect Obama said he had never spoken to Blagojevich about the Senate vacancy and was "confident that no representatives" of his had engaged in any dealmaking over the seat with the governor or his team. He also pledged Thursday that in the "next few days" he would explain what contacts his staff may have had with the governor's office about the Senate vacancy.

On Friday Dec 13th Rahm Emanuel wasn't present at President Elect Obama's press conference and when seen later in the day refused to answer questions about any contacts he had with Balgojevich.

Today's (Monday 15th December) Chicago Herald Tribune reports from unnamed and unidentified sources ;

1. Rahm Emanuel, President-elect Barack Obama's pick to be White House chief of staff, had conversations with Gov. Rod Blagojevich's administration about who would replace Obama in the U.S. Senate.

2. They claim that communications between Emanuel and the Blagojevich administration were captured on court-approved wiretaps.

Also that contact between the Obama camp and the governor's administration regarding the Senate seat began the Saturday before the Nov. 4 election, when Emanuel made a call to the cell phone of Harris (who resigned Friday). The conversation took place around the same time press reports surfaced about Emanuel being approached about taking the high-level White House post should Obama win.

5. Emanuel delivered a list of Democratic candidates who would be "acceptable" to Obama- the list included Obama adviser and very close friend Valerie Jarrett, Illinois Veterans Affairs director Tammy Duckworth, state Comptroller Dan Hynes and U.S. Rep. Janice Schakowsky of Chicago.The JTA 9/12/08 (the trusted global source of news, opinion and features for the Jewish people) points out that Schakowsky, is the only Jewish contender to replace Obama.

6. Sometime after the election, Emanuel called Harris back to add the name of Democratic Attorney Gen. Lisa Madigan to the approved list.

7. Janice Schakowsky (co-founder of the House Out of Iraq Caucus) said she spoke to Emanuel on Thursday 11th December and he seemed unfazed by the controversy.

Schakowsky also spoke of a conversation she had with Emanuel shortly after he was named chief of staff. She said she called Emanuel "to get some intelligence" on whether Obama might approve of her selection as senator.

On Tuesday 9th December Schakowsky called for Blagojevich to resign from office immediately, failing that the state legislature should begin impeachment proceedings.

It is worth recalling that Janice's husband Robert Creamer, in 2005 got 5 months and was placed on house arrest for 11 months after he finishes his prison term for check kiting and money laundering and was accused of swindling nine financial institutions of at least US$2.3 million while he ran a public interest group in the 1990s. .

On his release he became the highly paid political consultant for Democrats such as Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, Congressman Lane Evans, and Chicago Alderman Joe Moore

Arianna Huffington calls his recent book, Stand Up Straight: How Progressives Can Win, (Amazon) a master’s class in electoral politics and he is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post .... To Vilify Obama for his Ability to Inspire is to Ignore the Principal Lesson of the Last Three Decades of American Politics osted February 19, 2008

He is also a consultant on political campaigns through his company Strategic Consulting Group. .... "Whether it's fighting to end the War in Iraq, stopping the privatization of Social Security, passing universal health care, or electing a Democratic Congress, SCG has worked at the center of America's most important political struggles." Listed clients include ; ACORN ,
Americans Against Escalation in Iraq , Blagojevich for Governor (D-IL) , Jan Schakowsky for Congress (D-IL) etc., etc.,

Meanwhile Governor Blagojvich has called in the services of a top defence attorney ... see pic