Rahm’s in Africa, Barack’s in Hawaii, and the proverbial stuff is about to hit the fan. According to the Associated Press, the “internal investigation report” into Obama staff involvement in the Rod Blagojevich Senate seat sale scam shows that Barack Obama, Rahm Emanuel and Valerie Jarrett have been questioned by the US Attorney’s office, and that Emanuel had “one or two” direct conversations with Blagojevich, and did so without Obama’s approval at least once:
The report was released Tuesday as a transition official disclosed that Obama and two of his top aides, Rahm Emanuel and Valerie Jarrett, have been interviewed in connection with the federal investigation into Gov. Rod Blagojevich. The transition official, speaking on a condition of anonymity before the report’s public release, also confirmed that Emanuel had been captured on wiretaps taken as part of the investigation.
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Emanuel had one or two conversations with Blagojevich and four with Harris on the subject of the Senate seat, according to the review. The report said Obama authorized Emanuel to pass on the names of four people he considered to be highly qualified to take over his seat — Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes, Illinois Veterans’ Affairs Director Tammy Duckworth, Rep. Jan Schakowsky and Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.
“In later telephone conversations, Mr. Emanuel — also with the president-elect’s approval — presented other names of qualified candidates to Mr. Harris including Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Ms. Cheryle Jackson,” the report said. “Mr. Harris did not make any effort to extract a personal benefit for the governor in any of these conversations. There was no discussion of a Cabinet position, of 501c(4), of a private sector position or of any other personal benefit to the governor in exchange for the Senate appointment.”
The report said that earlier, Emanuel recommended Jarrett for the Senate seat without Obama’s knowledge, and Jarrett later accepted a job as a senior White House adviser.
So, now we know, US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald’s office has “interviewed” Obama, Emanuel and Jarrett, and Rahmbo had “multiple conversations” with Blago’s office, but “nobody knows nothin’ ’bout sellin’ no Senate seats.” Right. Merry Fitzmas? We also know that Rahmbo did not come forward of his own accord:
In the meantime, the transition official said, Emanuel was interviewed by federal officials who replayed a wiretapped conversation for him. He then was able to give Craig more details about what he said, and those details were included in the final report, the transition official said. Transition officials discussed the final version with Obama on Monday as he vacationed in Hawaii.
While George Stephanoploulis had previously reported that Emanuel spoke to Blagojevich once, and his staff four times, and let it go at that, the New York Times had told us there was more to it than that:
Rahm Emanuel, the Illinois congressman selected by Mr. Obama as his White House chief of staff, had a handful of contacts with the governor’s office. At least two other names also are expected to be mentioned in the review, including Michael Strautmanis, a longtime aide to Mr. Obama who once worked for Mr. Blagojevich.
Valerie Jarrett, a close friend to the Obama family who is a co-chairwoman of the transition effort, could also be referred to in the report. Her name was raised as a possible candidate for the Senate seat, but she withdrew from consideration last month and took a position in the White House.
Oh, and who is Michael Strautmanis, you ask? Wikipedia says:
Michael Strautmanis is an American lawyer. President-Elect Barack Obama announced on December 5, 2008, that Strautmanis will serve as Chief of Staff to the Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Relations and Public Liaison.[1] He is currently Chief Counsel and the Director of Public Liaison and Intergovernmental Affairs on Obama’s presidential transition team.[2][3]
Previously Strautmanis served the Clinton administration as Chief of Staff to the general counsel at the United States Agency for International Development and served Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich and the American Association for Justice.[3]
A Chicago, Illinois native,[3] Strautmanis was educated at the law school of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He started his career as a paralegal in Michelle Obama’s law firm.
Though he seems expendable, since his conversations with Blago obviously occurred before he was named to the staff, he has a longer official relationship with Obama as Senior Adviser for Obama for America and his presidential campaign. His current boss is either Valerie Jarrett, senior advisor and assistant to the president in charge of intergovernmental relations, or Tina Tchen, or both. The question remains, why did the New York Times mention his name when Greg Craig’s sketchy memo to the president-elect did not?
We now know more than we did about the whole thing, but the information is coming in at dribs and drabs. Wonder why? Hmmmm. I also wonder why Obama had seemed so sure about what was in the report last week when he didn’t have all the details until he got to Hawaii? And, did Rahm plan his African vacation before or after he heard himself on tape?
Stay tuned.
