Fox Report: Emanuel Gave Blagojevich List Of 'Acceptable' Senate Candidates

[Thrill]

President-elect Barack Obama's chief of staff Rahm Emanuel had direct conversations with Gov. Rod Blagojevich about Obama's replacement in the US Senate, FOX News Chicago reports.

Citing "a source familiar with the investigation," Fox says that Emanuel had "multiple conversations" with Blagojevich and his chief of staff John Harris, who was also arrested Tuesday on federal corruption charges, about the seat and that they we're "likely recorded and in FBI possession."

Fox's source said that Emanuel gave the governor's office a list of "candidates that would be acceptable to President-elect Barack Obama" but no "quid pro quo" or "dealmaking" is suspected.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/12/rahm-emanuel-gave-blagoje_n_150517.html

[onehandle]

1. Connection Made! Obama's Going DOWN!

Not.

[jenmito]

41. delete-wrong place

[snowbear]

70. Ok onehandle.....

.
.

Your thread title freaked me out. Two minutes in the penalty box 4 you.

~~~~~~

[ben_meyers]

2. Is this info available from

other than Faux or Huffpo? Both of these "sources" are of questionable value.

[The Backlash Cometh]

3. I'm assuming that it's okay to give input, but it's the pay to play or

political quid pro quo that makes it illegal.

[lligrd]

So, They Suggested Replacements

Nothing wrong with that.

[liberal N proud]

4. That does not mean that he is involved in the corruption

Giving him a list of their preferred candidate would be expected.

[demokatgurrl]

17. Exactly. If the governor were interested in anything

other than fattening his own pocket or promoting himself, wouldn't he WANT Obama's recommendations?
That doesn't mean there's a deal.
Is this story on any RELIABLE source?

[SharonRB]

5. As long as there was no "pay to play," I don't see where this is a problem

I would assume that the president-elect would have some input as to acceptable people, but without the quid pro quo, I don't think there's anything to worry about.

[Patsy Stone]

11. But, but, but...

They're all from CHICAGO; don'tcha see? :eyes:

[SharonRB]

16. And I'm an auto worker because I'm from Michigan

Yeah, right.

:hi:

[avaistheone1]

32. This smacks of the crap Emanuel is famous for at the DLC

...and the Democratic Party is the worse for it. I am serious.

How about the people coming up with a list of acceptable candidates?

[wyldwolf]

36. yeah, right.. sure, uh huh

1. Why is this a bad thing?
2. Can you give some specific crap Emanuel was famous for at the DLC?

[avaistheone1]

42. Emanuel made sure that local Democratic populist candidates were defeated

and instead replaced with the DLC (corporate) sanctioned candidates.

That practice really sucks, and is very undemocratic. It should be illegal imo.

[wyldwolf]

50. 1. That was in his role as chair of the DCCC. 2. So what?

That's how party politics work.

[Patsy Stone]

55. Thankfully, you're not.

:)

Good Shabbos! :fistbump:

[SharonRB]

62. Shabbat Shalom to you!

:hi:

I came home early. There were only three of us in my group in the office today, and they were all gone, so I left work at 3:30. Nice to be home when it's light out.

[Hippo_Tron]

68. That really is the implication, except by that logic Sarah Palin is connected to Ted Stevens

But hey, the risk of being perceived as a hypocrite never stopped a good Republican from spewing bullshit.

[Patsy Stone]

69. Logic

You are very optimistic to think logic figures into this at all. It's all smoke and mirrors.

They've got bupkis.

[Thrill]

6. The Governor's Chief of Staff just resigned

[Vinca]

7. Well . . . duh . . . why wouldn't they ask who might be acceptable?

At the very least it would be a courtesy to the outgoing Senator.

[AtomicKitten]

8. The story already leaked that Emanuel dropped a dime on Blagojevich.

Good thing too considering Blagojevich was under surveillance.

No worries. Blagojevich himself exonerated Obama in his taped conversations saying all he would get from Obama was appreciation. As I recall his response to that was "*&%$ that!"

[beachmom]

28. From this same exact TV station, though. I don't think we should

necessarily believe Fox News Chicago.

[AtomicKitten]

33. Fox News + Chicago ... I think you have a point!

[hay rick]

65. Fox + News + anybody anywhere = the point.

[w4rma]

9. As I expected. Extremely good. (nt)

[Shakespeare]

10. As would be expected. And there's not a damn thing wrong with that.

This whole idea of "did they have contact" is absurd. The only thing that matters is whether favors were offered or negotiated, and it's pretty clear from the wiretap transcripts that they were NOT forthcoming from the Obama side.

[WeDidIt]

12. Precisely what I thought would have happened

This was exactly what I thought would have been the contact between teh Obama transition team and Blago's office.

[Quixote1818]

13. Good for Emanuel. Sounds like they handled it perfectly. nt

[H2O Man]

21. I agree. n/t

[democrattotheend]

14. Obama should have put that out 2 or 3 days ago

Totally legit, but why not come out with it right away rather than getting beaten up for 3 days for not disclosing? Now I am afraid it looks like a damaging revelation even though it's not.

[redstate_democrat]

15. Maybe Obama didn't know Rahm was talking to Blago.

This "list" would probably be news to Obama. Obama didn't want anyone in particular for that seat and said he wanted no parts of it.

[democrattotheend]

20. He probably didn't, but in three days you'd think Rahm would have told him

What he said yesterday at the press conference was perfect, but I think he'd have been better off if he said all that 48 hours earlier. If he had said he did not know if anyone on his staff had talked to Blago about his replacement but promised to find out and disclose it when the story first broke I think fewer people would be under the misconception that he did something wrong or has something to hide. Part of that is sloppy journalism...they keep talking about "Blagojevich trying to sell Obama's Senate seat" without always specifying that Obama had nothing to do with it, but I also think the Obama team could have handled this a little better by reacting quicker.

[makinguphumans]

39. I agree. This delay does him no good.

[Vattel]

71. Careful

Obama never said that he "did not know if anyone on his staff had talked to Blago." He implied that contacts had been made.

[WeDidIt]

19. He probably wanted time to vet everything that happened

Every nuance and every detail was probably gone over several different times.

Team Obama doesn't fuck around. They take their time and make certain they only ahve to explain things ONCE.

It frustrated me to no end during the primaries, but by the time the GE rolled around I was very used to it.

It gives you a short term hit, but in the long term it plays out because there's no going back to correct yourself.

[polichick]

18. msnbc says Harris has resigned.

[ClarkUSA]

22. Is this all Faux News has? This is standard practice and is not unethical or illegal.

:shrug:

[FVZA_Colonel]

23. Going anywhere beyond the surface, this isn't bad.

Even Fox is saying nothing corrupt or illegal happened. The media will spin this as "OHMYGODCORRUPT!!!," but giving your opinion on who you'd want to see follow you isn't a bad thing.

[ProSense]

24. Are these conversations that Fitzgerald didn't know about?

This is all BS. No one even knows if this report is accurate.

[redstate_democrat]

30. It sounds like Fitzgerald's office is leaking like a broke down faucet.

They leaked JJJ's name, and probably leaked this too to get Rahm to come in and "talk".

[Jennicut]

25. I wonder if Blago called Rahm a mother f*er

[beachmom]

26. Not sure about this source. They said Rahm tipped off Fitzgerald

a couple of days ago. Then that was denied.

Frankly, we're going to have to wait for Fitzgerald or the official Obama team, to find out anything.

[Jennicut]

27. This was the same source? Then screw them. They are not legitimate.

[beachmom]

29. Exactly. Why do DUers automatically believe this story?

[rvablue]

31. No news here. Everyone does this when they vacate a seat. Make recommendations for a replacement

so any RWer that tries to go on TV and make hay of this is full of sh*t.

ABC news interviewed a retired Republican congressman last night (his name escapes me) who said that it is perfectly normal and an accepted tradition that a vacating Senator makes suggestions as to who might replace him/her.

[wyldwolf]

34. Who wouldn't do this?

[oviedodem]

35. Bye Bye Rahm; don't let the door hit you on the way out!!!

[wyldwolf]

37. right now, those who think Rahm did something wrong based on this story are in the minority here

:shrug:

[geek tragedy]

38. What did he do that was wrong? n/t

[phleshdef]

44. You are drawing a very foolish conclusion.

The story sais nothing that makes Rahm look bad nor do we even know if its true, considering this is the same source that said Rahm was the one that tipped the feds off to Blago in the first place (which was later denied).

[polichick]

40. Makes sense that Rahm would let the gov know who they like best...

Hopefully, the Obama team will make its contact statement soon.

[jenmito]

43. That's good news! It means he gave a list of preferred replacements but would only give "gratitude"

for one of those picks.

[FloridaGrl]

45. So???

[brianna69]

46. Rahm - getting death threats

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Blotter/ConductUnbecoming/story?id=6449745&page=1

I get the feeling that earlier report about Rahm making contact with the Feds was probably legit hence the death threats he is now receiving.

[happychatter]

47. they have what, 300 hours of tape? and they said "no suspicions" RE Obama?

that should be the end of the damn story

[Undercurrent]

48. So what?

This is not PaytoPlay. This is normal.

Even Fux reports that there was nothing more to it.

[makinguphumans]

49. So, Obama knew Emanuel gave the gov the list.

So why did he say there was no contact? a few days ago.

[Teaser]

51. I'll take mine with extra cheese, please

.

[countingbluecars]

52. Obama said that he himself

had no contact. He also said that there was no contact involving "pay for play" on the part of his staff. He never said that there was no contact.

[makinguphumans]

53. thanks for the correction.

[countingbluecars]

54. You are welcome. n/t

[brianna69]

57. He said he had no contact with Blogo

himself and that they would provide all the info in regards to contact made by aides in the transition to the govenor's office in a few days. It is normal for them to provide a list of candidates they think would make good replacements.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

61. I don't know! Vewwy suspicious.

And when is Barry gonna produce that original birth certificate, huh?

[brianna69]

56. Blagojevich chief of staff John Harris resigns

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2008/12/blagojevich-chief-of-staff-harris-resigns.html

[spanone]

58. so?

[Frank Booth]

59. If true, this is EXTREMELY disappointing.

This report makes it sound like the Obama team wasn't willing to kick Blago a little something for his trouble. That senate seat's a fucking valuable thing, but apparently all Obama was willing to offer was "appreciation."

I'm beginning to think that Obama and his staff are a bunch of ingrates.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

60. Oh noes!!11!1eleventy!1

Tis the smoking gun, I guess. :eyes:

[Bjorn Against]

63. They have every right to make suggestions...

If there is no evidence of any under the table deals then THERE IS NO STORY. Of course they talked about a replacement candidate, that is what you would expect from ANYONE in Obama's position in this type of situation. Obviously the Obama team is going to have preferences for who they would like to see in there, and there is nothing wrong with sharing those preferences. We know there were no deals made because Blagojovich was very clearly upset with them for not making any deals. It is sickening that our media would take any conversation a person had and try to frame it as if it were a criminal offense, there is no crime in talking to the Governor of your home state no matter how much FOX may want that to be a crime. If they have evidence of any deals they need to put that evidence forward, if they don't have evidence then they need to stop making false accusations.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

64. BFD.

[brianna69]

66. Sources: Emanuel not target of Illinois probe

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EMANUEL?SITE=KMOV&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gOkBnooW9IxEXUFyd5JqdP1-VIJgD951DQ900

[ncteechur]

67. Big fucking deal. So did half of us if he had read DU.

[Vattel]

72. So far no evidence of anything even slightly inappropriate

on the part of Obama or his staff. But the lesson of the Clinton years is that every time mud is slung, the target ends up looking dirtier. In the next four years Obama will be relentlessly accused of impropriety. The narrative is already out there: "Obama is participates in the "Chicago way;" he's a part of a nefarious web of corrupt Chicago politicians." These things must be dealt with effectively. It doesn't take a very big change in public perception to change the results of an election in 2012.

[ShortnFiery]

73. BFD

:eyes:

[treestar]

74. Doesn't mean they had anything to do with the corruption

Without it, Emanuel could still have done this.

[annabanana]

75. Count on FOX to run with this Crapola!

He sent him a list, said he'd "appreciate" consideration for those candidates...

And then Blogo told him what he though of his APPRECIATION. .

big fuckin' whoop