The news:
Right after Blago was arrested, Obama claimed he never talked to Blago about the Senate seat. After all, Obama claims he’s had little contact with Blago. NBC Chicago catches Obama in a whopping lie. Some redacted portions of an Obama subpoena request have been unearthed:
Obama had a secret phone call with Blagojevich
Redacted portion: President-elect Obama also spoke to Governor Blagojevich on December 1, 2008 in Philadelphia. On Harris Cell Phone Call # 139, John Harris and Governor’s legal counsel discuss a conversation Blagojevich had with President-elect Obama. The government claims a conspiracy existed from October 22, 2008 continuing through December 9, 2008.6 That conversation is relevant to the defense of the government’s theory of an ongoing conspiracy. Only Rod Blagojevich and President Obama can testify to the contents of that conversation. The defense is allowed to present evidence that corroborates the defendant’s testimony.
To the authors and readers of Caucus of Corruption, this is not at all surprising. While we hadn’t joined these two directly in the book, the clear levels of corruption surrounding both men – and both arisen out of the sewer which is Chicago politics – made it almost a certainty that they’re scandals would meet at some point.
I can’t say that Obama, directly, is a crook – but he was surrounded by them in Chicago and benefited from his connections to the crooks, both personally and politically (his rise to office using dirty means to exclude opponents from the ballot; his swell home courtesy of a crooked real estate deal, eg). And plenty of the Chicago people have followed him to DC.
In the end, this won’t be pretty – we elevated to the White House a man from arguably the most corrupt city in America. The muck has been hidden by the Obama glow, but as that fades, the muck will come to the fore.
UPDATE: Blago is calling in Obama to undercut Rezko…and if Obama doesn’t play ball, then maybe Blago can make life difficult?
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