* The broken national media is still broken and still goofy.
Case in point. This is no big deal…
Another source said that contact between the Obama camp and the governor’s administration regarding the Senate seat began the Saturday before the Nov. 4 election, when Emanuel made a call to the cell phone of Harris. The conversation took place around the same time press reports surfaced about Emanuel being approached about taking the high-level White House post should Obama win.
Emanuel delivered a list of candidates who would be “acceptable” to Obama, the source said. On the list were Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett, Illinois Veterans Affairs director Tammy Duckworth, state Comptroller Dan Hynes and U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Chicago, the source said. All are Democrats.
Sometime after the election, Emanuel called Harris back to add the name of Democratic Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan to the approved list, the source said.
This is what is called information, not news. The national media seems to be all atwitter that Emaneul is on the federal surveillance tapes. But literally anyone who called the governor’s campaign office during that time period could be on the tapes, so that proves absoultely nothing and it’s just typical DC media goofiness to keep bringing up that subject.
* Buried way down at the bottom of this story from The Hill…
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.
Unless Rahm was wheeling and dealing with Governor Blagojevich on that Senate seat, promising favors like jobs and campaign cash, then this has absolutely zero real impact on Emanuel or Obama, especially since the feds are saying he’s not a target. .
* But this is problematic…
If confirmed as attorney general, Eric Holder may have to consider removing himself from overseeing the Chicago corruption probe that ensnared Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, legal experts say.
Holder was a co-chairman of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, joining in 2007 when the long-running investigation focused on a businessman who had been among the biggest fundraisers for Obama and Blagojevich.
The legal ethics issue that Holder may have to deal with, called recusal, could arise if Holder had conversations about the Chicago investigation with Obama or his staff.
That is gonna haunt him but good.
…Adding… TIME Magazine has a piece called: “Could Blago Cause Trouble for Daley?” which includes this point…
Harris, who served as a deputy police superintendent and city budget director, helped run the Hired Truck program under Daley.
That program wasn’t “run” out of the budget office, but Harris did know a whole lot about what was happening on the 5th Floor.
Way down at the very bottom was this…
Others doubt that Harris presents any threat to his former boss. “Daley has always been smart enough to insulate himself enough,” said one longtime city official. “It’s not money, really, that pushes Daley. Ego and votes do. The feds keep throwing darts at the board and nothing has stuck. They’ve never been able to catch him in a lie. Now Harris may be able to do that, or he may not. All we know is Harris fell in with a den of thieves, and he got hooked up.”
That probably should’ve been at the top. The question is whether Harris was a “buffer” or whether there were buffers between Harris and Daley. If it’s the former, Daley has reason to be worried. If it’s the latter, then this will go away like everything else in Daley World. [h/t to a commenter]
* And while this column is from a totally biased source, it makes some very good points…
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s “conduct would make Lincoln roll over in his grave,” according to U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald. But Mr. Fitzgerald’s statement would, at the very least, make well-regarded former Attorney General Robert Jackson flinch in his. Almost seven decades ago, Jackson admonished a meeting of U.S. attorneys that they should be dedicated “to the spirit of fair play and decency . . . . A sensitiveness to fair play and sportsmanship is perhaps the best protection against the abuse of power . . . .”
In the Dec. 9 press conference regarding the federal corruption charges against Gov. Blagojevich and his chief of staff, Mr. Fitzgerald violated the ethical requirement of the Justice Department guidelines that prior to trial a “prosecutor shall refrain from making extrajudicial comments that pose a serious and imminent threat of heightening public condemnation of the accused.” The prosecutor is permitted to “inform the public of the nature and extent” of the charges. In the vernacular of all of us who practice criminal law, that means the prosecutor may not go “beyond the four corners” — the specific facts — in the complaint or indictment. He may also provide any other public-record information, the status of the case, the names of investigators, and request assistance. But he is not permitted to make the kind of inflammatory statements Mr. Fitzgerald made during his media appearance. […]
Additionally, Mr. Fitzgerald violated another ethical mandate under Justice guidelines for prosecutors: He is supposed to “exercise reasonable care to prevent” law enforcement — in this case the FBI Agent — from making the same type of extrajudicial statements. Mr. Fitzgerald exercised no care.
Special Agent Rob Grant volunteered that when he arrived in Illinois four years ago, he was asked by the media whether Illinois is the “most corrupt state in the United States.” He then answered that four-year-old question claiming, “[I]t’s one hell of a competitor.” Mr. Grant did not stop there. He revealed that the FBI agents who participated in the case were “thoroughly disgusted and revolted by what they heard.”
Fitz should’ve left the breathless bloviating to the DC media.
* Related…
* The Lasting Effects of Political Poison
* Blagojevich and not-so-honest Abe