http://thehill.com/leading-the...e-seat-2008-12-13.html
Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), the incoming White House chief of staff, spoke with members of Gov. Rod Blagojevich's administration about potential replacements for President-elect Obama?s vacant Senate seat, according to the Chicago Tribune, which cites wiretaps of the conversations.
Emanuel is not and has not been accused of wrongdoing, but unlike the president-elect, he has refused to discuss whether he talked with the administration about the appointment. Obama said on Thursday he had not spoken with members of the Blagojevich administration about his replacement in the Senate.
The wiretaps show Emanuel called John Harris, Blagojevich's chief of staff, the Saturday before the election to give him a list of Obama-approved nominees, the Chicago Tribune reported this morning. Harris, like Blagojevich, was arrested Tuesday morning on fraud and conspiracy charges and has since resigned from his post.
Those Emanuel characterized as having Obama?s backing included top adviser Valerie Jarrett, former congressional candidate and state Veterans Affairs director Tammy Duckworth, Dan Hynes, the state Comptroller, and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.). Later, Emanuel called Harris again to include Lisa Madigan, the Illinois Attorney General.
Jarrett appears in the 76-page criminal complaint filed against Blagojevich and Harris as ?Senate Candidate 1,? referred to several times as a close adviser to the president-elect. In the complaint, Blagojevich appears to be actively trying to cut deals in exchange for naming Senate Candidate 1 to the post.
Schakowsky has said she believes she is either ?Senate Candidate 3? -- whose name is mentioned in an off-hand fashion only once -- or that she is not contained within the complaint at all.
Hynes and Madigan, both of whom have won multiple terms statewide, are seen as potential candidates for governor in 2010. Had Blagojevich decided to seek a third term, both would have considered primary challenges, a factor Blagojevich no doubt considered as he thought about the pick. Madigan is likely ?Senate Candidate 2? in the complaint.
Duckworth, who lost a bid for an open congressional seat in 2006 to Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.), is an Iraq war veteran who serves in Blagojevich's administration. The 40-year-old Duckworth was one of Emanuel?s favorite candidates when he headed the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and she spoke this summer at the Democratic National Convention.
Many believe Emanuel makes his own appearance in the criminal complaint, showing up as an unnamed adviser to Obama. Blagojevich curses the unnamed adviser in conversations with aides because, he says, the adviser seems unwilling to meet the governor's demands.
?He asks me for the Fifth CD thing. I want to be in his head,? Blagojevich is heard saying with regard to the unnamed adviser. Emanuel succeeded Blagojevich in representing Illinois' Fifth Congressional District. It is not clear to what Blagojevich is referring.
It will certainly be interesting to see if there are more tapes or if there was another attempted deal for the 5th district.
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Harvey
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Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), the incoming White House chief of staff, spoke with members of Gov. Rod Blagojevich's administration about potential replacements for President-elect Obama?s vacant Senate seat, according to the Chicago Tribune, which cites wiretaps of the conversations.
Emanuel is not and has not been accused of wrongdoing, but unlike the president-elect, he has refused to discuss whether he talked with the administration about the appointment. Obama said on Thursday he had not spoken with members of the Blagojevich administration about his replacement in the Senate.
The wiretaps show Emanuel called John Harris, Blagojevich's chief of staff, the Saturday before the election to give him a list of Obama-approved nominees, the Chicago Tribune reported this morning. Harris, like Blagojevich, was arrested Tuesday morning on fraud and conspiracy charges and has since resigned from his post.
Those Emanuel characterized as having Obama?s backing included top adviser Valerie Jarrett, former congressional candidate and state Veterans Affairs director Tammy Duckworth, Dan Hynes, the state Comptroller, and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.). Later, Emanuel called Harris again to include Lisa Madigan, the Illinois Attorney General.
Jarrett appears in the 76-page criminal complaint filed against Blagojevich and Harris as ?Senate Candidate 1,? referred to several times as a close adviser to the president-elect. In the complaint, Blagojevich appears to be actively trying to cut deals in exchange for naming Senate Candidate 1 to the post.
Schakowsky has said she believes she is either ?Senate Candidate 3? -- whose name is mentioned in an off-hand fashion only once -- or that she is not contained within the complaint at all.
Hynes and Madigan, both of whom have won multiple terms statewide, are seen as potential candidates for governor in 2010. Had Blagojevich decided to seek a third term, both would have considered primary challenges, a factor Blagojevich no doubt considered as he thought about the pick. Madigan is likely ?Senate Candidate 2? in the complaint.
Duckworth, who lost a bid for an open congressional seat in 2006 to Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.), is an Iraq war veteran who serves in Blagojevich's administration. The 40-year-old Duckworth was one of Emanuel?s favorite candidates when he headed the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and she spoke this summer at the Democratic National Convention.
Many believe Emanuel makes his own appearance in the criminal complaint, showing up as an unnamed adviser to Obama. Blagojevich curses the unnamed adviser in conversations with aides because, he says, the adviser seems unwilling to meet the governor's demands.
?He asks me for the Fifth CD thing. I want to be in his head,? Blagojevich is heard saying with regard to the unnamed adviser. Emanuel succeeded Blagojevich in representing Illinois' Fifth Congressional District. It is not clear to what Blagojevich is referring.
It will certainly be interesting to see if there are more tapes or if there was another attempted deal for the 5th district.
---
Please add this contribution to one of the current threads about this topic.
Thank you.
Harvey
Senior AnandTech Moderator
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