[Rhodes22-list] Politics: Here We Go Again...again!

[Bill Effros]

Brad,

"Now that Barack Obama will be moving to the White House, his seat in 
the U.S. Senate representing Illinois will have to be filled. That's one 
of Obama's first priorities today. He's meeting with Governor Rod 
Blagojevich this afternoon in Chicago to discuss it."

Carol Sowers
KHQA (Channel 7)
Quincy, Illinois
November 5, 2008

"I had no contact with the governor or his office and so we were not - I 
was not aware of what was happening." 
BHO
December 9, 2008

This just in:

December 27, 2008


  US Atty Asks Panel Not to Subpoena Obama Aides

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

*Filed at 3:23 p.m. ET*

CHICAGO (AP) -- The Illinois House committee investigating a possible 
impeachment of Gov. Rod Blagojevich 
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/rod_r_blagojevich/index.html?inline=nyt-per> 
won't subpoena two incoming White House advisers, the committee 
chairwoman said Saturday, shutting down a request from the governor's 
attorney.

In a letter received by the committee Friday, U.S. Attorney Patrick 
Fitzgerald 
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/f/patrick_j_fitzgerald/index.html?inline=nyt-per> 
asked the special investigative committee specifically to not subpoena 
President-elect Barack Obama 
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/o/barack_obama/index.html?inline=nyt-per> 
adviser Valerie Jarrett 
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/j/valerie_jarrett/index.html?inline=nyt-per>, 
incoming chief of staff Rahm Emanuel 
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/e/rahm_emanuel/index.html?inline=nyt-per>, 
U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson 
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/j/jesse_l_jackson/index.html?inline=nyt-per> 
Jr. and Nils Larsen, a Tribune Co. 
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/tribune_company/index.html?inline=nyt-org> 
executive vice president.

Fitzgerald said any such subpoenas ''would interfere with the ongoing 
criminal investigation into the activities of Governor Rod Blagojevich 
and others.''

Blagojevich's attorney Ed Genson had asked the committee earlier in the 
week to issue the subpoenas.

''The ball is in Mr. Genson's court,'' committee chairwoman state Rep. 
Barbara Flynn Currie, a Chicago Democrat, told The Associated Press on 
Saturday. ''We're not interested in undercutting the U.S. Attorney's 
criminal investigation.''

Genson did not immediately respond to a call requesting comment Saturday 
on the committee's decision.

Blagojevich was arrested Dec. 9 on charges accusing him of scheming to 
swap Obama's vacant Senate seat for profit, shaking down a hospital 
executive for campaign donations and other wrongdoing.

Genson has said testimony from Emanuel, Jarrett and Jackson would help 
prove the governor's claim that he didn't do anything wrong in his 
handling of Obama's Senate seat.

Fitzgerald, however, said any testimony by Jarrett, Emanuel, Jackson or 
Larsen ''would overlap with the subject matter of the pending criminal 
investigation.''

Larsen has been reported to be the Tribune financial adviser to whom 
Blagojevich instructed aides to talk about firing editorial writers in 
exchange for a grant to help sell Wrigley Field, home of the 
Tribune-owned Chicago Cubs.

State Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie, the House committee's head, said 
Thursday that the panel received a letter from Genson asking members to 
subpoena Emanuel, Jarrett and more than a dozen others.

On Dec. 22, Fitzgerald had sent the committee a letter asking members 
not to delve into the criminal charges against Blagojevich, saying 
interviewing current or former members of Blagojevich's staff might 
jeopardize his criminal investigation.