Obama Claims He “Was Not Aware Of What Was Happening” With Blagojevich
An interesting claim from Obama:
President-elect Obama said Tuesday afternoon that he had not been in contact with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) and “was not aware of what was happening.”
But according to section 104 of the affidavit filed by federal authorities today someone in the Obama camp was talking to Blago’s people:
Later in the conversation, ROD BLAGOJEVICH said he knows that the President-elect wants Senate Candidate 1 for the Senate seat but “they’re not willing to give me anything except appreciation. Fuck them.”
It appears, for now at least, that Obama’s people were declining to engage Blago in any quid pro quo, but it does put Obama in an awkward spot. Did he really not know that Blago wanted something in return for the Senate appointment or is he lying?
And if Obama knew, was it his camp that reported this to federal authorities? Because if it wasn’t, Obama’s in some hot water for essentially being complicit in covering up the shady dealings of a political ally.
