As the staggering corruption allegations unfold against Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, a curious event occurred during the Obama press conference on December 9th. See the video below. President-elect Barack Obama claimed to have had no contact with Blagojevich about the upcoming Senate appointment that the governor is accused of selling to the highest bidder.
“I have had no contact with the governor or his office, so I was unaware of what was happening.”
–Barack Obama on Rod Blagojevich Senate Appointment, December 9th, 2008
But with a little research, ABCNews exposed the Obama-Blagojevich senate seat discussions. Appearing on Fox News Chicago on November 23rd, senior adviser David Axelrod made what was a non-controversial statement at the time which now directly refutes Obama:
“I know he’s [Obama] talked to the governor [about the Senate vacancy] and there are a whole range of names many of which have surfaced, and I think he has a fondness for a lot of them.”
And that makes sense. Given that Blagojevich was (allegedly) tape recorded admitting that he attempted to trade the appointment for an Obama cabinet position (reportedly Secretary of Health and Human Services), Obama’s denial cannot possibly be true. And it would be irresponsible for Obama not to make his opinion known. In fact, Obama insider Valerie Jarrett is thought to be one of the leading candidates.
One might think that Obama is making a Clintonesque statement in an attempt to mislead the public. Oh you know, Obama himself may not have talked with Blagojevich but his surrogates did. But Axelrod tells us that Obama did hold conversations with Blagojevich, and not indirectly but directly.
Anything less would be irresponsible for the president-elect, whose wishes would provide valuable council to the governor and serve the public interest. Why would Obama deny attempting to influence Blagojevich’s choice?
That is the million dollar question that will be answered when the dust settles. Obama’s press conference statement appears to be an early attempt at damage control, but what damage if any is there to control in a Blagojevich Obama connection?
Meanwhile a Chicago television station reported contemporaneously on Obama meeting with Blagojevich on November 5th. Just one week later, Obama inexplicably resigned his Senate seat early, a move which flummoxed his Senate colleagues since it meant he could not lead on the economic bailout bills. Why did Obama resign early?
Illinois governor meeting with Obama today.
In the face of a growing political problem, Obama is keeping a low profile. He has canceled an FBI briefing and his office has been mute on the issue so far other than to belatedly call for the governor’s resignation.
Obama video below. The denial of any contact with Blagojevich occurs at the 3:15 mark.
Obama Blagojevich Video (Press Conference)
Axelrod on Obama-Blagojevich (Video)
December 9th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
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December 9th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
Its starting to look like the next four years with all these dems in power the U.S. Attorney and gang are going to have their hands full.
When you have such a large majority being in power theres going to be very little opposition to most anything the dems want to do for at least the next two if not four years.
Trust me, theres plenty of leeway for corruption in the present atmosphere.
Seeing as how Obama has brought in many Clinton cronies and loyals it seems almost inevitable with the old Clinton cabinets record.
The only president ever impeached on grounds of personal malfeasance
– Most number of convictions and guilty pleas by friends and associates*
– Most number of cabinet officials to come under criminal investigation
– Most number of witnesses to flee country or refuse to testify
– Most number of witnesses to die suddenly
– First president sued for sexual harassment.
– Second president accused of rape**
– First first lady to come under criminal investigation
– Largest criminal plea agreement in an illegal campaign contribution case
– First president to establish a legal defense fund.
– First president to be held in contempt of court
– Greatest amount of illegal campaign contributions
– Greatest amount of illegal campaign contributions from abroad
– First president disbarred from the US Supreme Court and a state court
Theres more.
December 9th, 2008 at 6:42 pm
[…] two children, Anne and Amy. As you know, Gov. Blagojevich and his Chief of Staff, John Harris were arrested this morning on corruption charges in Illinois. Ms. Mell’s father, Richard ( Dick ) Mell was instrumental in […]
December 10th, 2008 at 9:26 am
But Micky we had money in our pockets and the whole world loved us. Gosh don’t you want that again.
Our country has lost it’s moral compass and the saddest part is that many don’t care.
December 10th, 2008 at 9:45 am
Two observations.
1. It seems to me that Obama is being very quite about this. Why is he not outraged that his seat was up for sale. He is the next President of the United State for God sakes. He should be calling for the resignation of Blagojevich and offering his full cooperation.
2. Obama in his statement changed the pronoun from “we” to “I”. So what is he hiding. What does he know.
We have the third term of Clinton with Obama and he is just a slick as Bill.
Also, when I see Obama at these hourly press conferances, I think I am watching SNL or some movie. He will (if he stays in office) act like the president for the next long 4 years.
Please hold on and fasten your seat belts, the ride is getting ready to be a rough one. Thank you for choosing Obama Lines.
December 10th, 2008 at 10:44 am
[…] Obama, yesterday (a quote that seems strangely barely present on Google News, and on Google Web): “I have had no contact with […]
December 11th, 2008 at 10:20 am
[…] Obama, yesterday (a quote that, strangely enough, seems barely present on Google News, and on Google Web): "I have had no contact with the governor or his office, so I was unaware of what was happening.â€? […]
December 12th, 2008 at 8:33 pm
[…] Pundits provides us with the answer: …with a little research, ABCNews exposed the Obama-Blagojevich senate seat discussions. […]
December 15th, 2008 at 4:59 pm
Ronald Reagan’s Criminal Administration:
“By the end of his term, 138 Reagan administration officials had been convicted, had been indicted, or had been the subject of official investigations for official misconduct and/or criminal violations. In terms of number of officials involved, the record of his administration was the worst ever.”
1. James Watt, Reagan’s Secretary of the Interior was indicted on 41 felony counts for using connections at the Department of Housing and Urban Development to help his private clients seek federal funds for housing projects in Maryland, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Watt conceded that he had received $500,000 from clients who were granted very favorable housing contracts after he had intervened on their behalf. In testifying before a House committee Watt said: “That’s what they offered and it sounded like a lot of money to me, and we settled on it.” Watt was eventually sentenced to five years in prison and 500 hours of community service.
2. Although not convicted, Edwin Meese III, resigned as Reagan’s Attorney General after having been the subject of investigations by the United States Office of the Independent Counsel on two occasions (Wedtech and Iran-Contra), during the 3 short years he was in office.
3. E. Bob Wallach, close friend and law classmate of Attorney General Edwin Meese, was sentenced to six years in prison and fined $250,000 in connection with the Wedtech influence-peddling scandal.
4. Lyn Nofziger – Convicted on charges of illegal lobbying of White House in Wedtech scandal.
5. Michael Deaver received three years’ probation and was fined one hundred thousand dollars after being convicted for lying to a congressional subcommittee and a federal grand jury about his lobbying activities after leaving the White House.
6. The Iran-Contra scandal. In June, 1984, at a National Security Council meeting, CIA Director Casey urged President Reagan to seek third-party aid for the Nicaraguan contras. Secretary of State Schultz warned that it would be an “impeachable offense” if the U.S. government acted as conduit for such secret funding. But that didn’t stop them. That same day, Oliver North was seeking third-party aid for the contras. But Reagan, the “teflon President” avoided serious charges or impeachment.
7. Casper Weinberger was Secretary of Defense during Iran-Contra. In June 1992 he was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of concealing from congressional investigators and prosecutors thousands of pages of his handwritten notes. The personal memoirs taken during high level meetings, detailed events in 1985 and 1986 involving the Iran-Contra affair. Weinberger claimed he was being unfairly prosecuted because he would not provide information incriminating Ronald Reagan. Weinberger was scheduled to go on trial January 5, 1993, where the contents of his notes would have come to light and may have implicated other, unindicted conspirators. While Weinberger was never directly linked to the covert operations phase of the Iran-Contra affair, he is believed to have been involved in the cover-up of the ensuing scandal. According to Special Prosecutor Lawrence Walsh, Weinberger’s notes contain evidence of a conspiracy among the highest ranking Reagan Administration officials to lie to congress and the American public. Some of the notes are believed to have evidence against then Vice-President George Bush who pardoned Weinberger to keep him from going to trial.
8. Raymond Donovan, Secretary of Labor indicted for defrauding the New York City Transit Authority of $7.4. million.
{ Republicans will point out that Donovan was acquitted. And that really matters in Donovan’s case, because he was a Republican. But it didn’t matter for Clinton or any of his cabinet, most all of whom were acquitted, because they were Democrats!}
9. Elliott Abrams was appointed by President Reagan in 1985 to head the State Department’s Latin American Bureau. He was closely linked with ex-White House aide Lt. Col. Oliver North’s covert movement to aid the Contras. Working for North, Abrams coordinated inter-agency support for the contras and helped solicit illegal funding from foreign powers as well as domestic contributors. Abrams agreed to cooperate with Iran-Contra investigators and pled guilty to two charges reduced to misdemeanors. He was sentenced in 1991 to two years probation and 100 hours of community service but was pardoned by President George Bush.
10. Robert C. McFarlane was appointed Ronald Reagan’s National Security Advisor in October 1983 and become well-known as a champion of the MX missile program in his role as White House liaison to congress. In 1984, Mc Farlane initiated the review of U.S. policy towards Iran that led directly to the arms for hostages deal. He also supervised early National Security Council efforts to support the Contras. Shortly after the Iran-Contra scandal was revealed in early 1987, McFarlane took an overdose of the tranquilizer Valium in an attempt to end his life. In his own words: “What really drove me to despair was a sense of having failed the country.” McFarlane pled guilty to four misdemeanors and was sentenced to two years probation and 200 hours of community service. He was also fined $20,000. He received a blanket pardon from President George Bush.
11. Oliver North – Convicted of falsifying and destroying documents, accepting an illegal gratuity, and aiding and abetting the obstruction of Congress. Conviction overturned on appeal due to legal technicalities.
12. John Poindexter, Reagan’s national security advisor, – guilty of five criminal counts involving conspiracy to mislead Congress, obstructing congressional inquiries, lying to lawmakers, used “high national security” to mask deceit and wrong-doing.
13. Richard Secord pleaded guilty to a felony charge of lying to Congress over Iran-Contra.
14. Alan D. Fiers was the Chief of the Central Intelligence Agency’s Central American Task Force. Fiers pled guilty in 1991 to two counts of withholding information from congress about Oliver North’s activities and the diversion of Iran arms sale money to aid the Contras. He was sentenced to one year of probation and 100 hours of community service. Fiers agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in exchange for having his felonies reduced to misdemeanors and his testimony gave a boost to the long standing criminal investigation of Lawrence Walsh, Special Prosecutor. Fiers testified that he and three CIA colleagues knew by mid-1986 that profits from the TOW and HAWK missile sales to Iran were being diverted to the Contras months before it became public knowledge. Alan Fiers received a blanket pardon for his crimes from President Bush.
15. Clair George was Chief of the CIA’s Division of Covert Operations under President Reagan. In August 1992 a hung jury led U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth to declare a mistrial in the case of Clair George who was accused of concealing from Congress his knowledge of the Iran-Contra affair. George had been named by Alan Fiers when Fiers turned state’s evidence for Lawrence Walsh’s investigation. In a second trial on charges of perjury, false statements and obstruction of justice, George was convicted of lying to two congressional committees in 1986. George faced a maximum five year federal prison sentence and a $20,000 fine for each of the two convictions. Jurors cleared George of five other charges including two counts of lying to a federal grand jury. Those charges would have carried a mandatory 10 months in prison upon conviction. Clair George received a blanket pardon for his crimes from President George Bush.
16. Duane R. (Dewey) Clarridge was head of the CIA’s Western European Division under President Reagan. He was indicted on November 29, 1991 for lying to congress and to the Tower Commission that investigated Iran- Contra. Clarridge was charged with five counts of perjury and two counts of making false statements for covering up his knowledge of a November 25, 1985 shipment of HAWK missiles to Iran. Clarridge was also suspected of diverting to the Contras weapons that were originally intended for the Afghan mujahaddeen guerrillas. Clarridge received a blanket pardon for his crimes on Christmas Eve 1992 from President George Bush.
17. Environmental Protection Agency’s favoritism toward polluters. Assistant administrator unduly influenced by chemical industry lobbyists. Another administrator resigned after pressuring employees to tone down a critical report on a chemical company accused of illegal pollution in Michigan. The deputy chief of federal activities was accused of compiling an interagency “hit” or “enemies” list, like those kept in the Nixon Watergate period, singling out career employees to be hired, fired or promoted according to political beliefs.
18. Anne Gorscuh Burford resigned amid accusations she politically manipulated the Superfund money.
19. Rita Lavelle was fired after accusing a senior EPA official of “systematically alienating the business community.” She was later indicted, tried and convicted of lying to Congress and served three months of a six-month prison sentence. After an extensive investigation, in August 1984, a House of Representatives subcommittee concluded that top-level EPA appointees by Reagan for three years “violated their public trust by disregarding the public health and the environment, manipulating the Superfund program for political purposes, engaging in unethical conduct and participating in other abuses.”.
20. Neglected nuclear safety. A critical situation involving nuclear safety had been allowed to develop during the Reagan era. Immense sums, estimated at 200 billion or more, would be required in the 1990s to replace and make safe America’s neglected, aging, deteriorating, and dangerous nuclear facilities.
21. Savings & Loan Bail-out. Hundreds of billions of dollars were needed to bail out savings and loan institutions that either had failed during the deregulation frenzy of the eighties or were in danger of bankruptcy.
22. Reckless airline deregulation. Deregulation of airline industry took too broad a sweep, endangering public safety.
Additionally:
23. Richard Allen, National Security adviser resigned amid controversy over an honorarium he received for arranging an interview with Nancy Reagan.
24. Richard Beggs, chief administrator at NASA was indicted for defrauding the government while an executive at General Dynamics.
25. Guy Flake, Deputy Secretary of Commerce, resigned after allegations of a conflict of interest in contract negotiations.
26. Louis Glutfrida, Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency resigned amid allegations of misuses of government property.
27. Edwin Gray, Chairman of the Federal Home Loan Bank was charged with illegally repaying himself and his wife $26,000 in travel costs.
28. Max Hugel, CIA chief of covert operations who resigned after allegations of fraudulent financial dealings.
29. Carlos Campbell, Assistant Secretary of Commerce resigned over charges of awarding federal grants to his personal friends’ firms.
30. John Fedders, chief of enforcement for the Securities and Exchange Commission resigned over charges of beating his wife.
31. Arthur Hayes, Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration resigned over illegal travel reimbursements.
32. J. Lynn Helms, chief of the Federal Aviation Administration resigned over a grand jury investigation of illegal business activities.
33. Marjory Mecklenburg, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources resigned over irregularities on her travel vouchers.
34. Robert Nimmo, head of the Veterans Administration resigned when a report criticized him for improper use of government funds.
35. J. William Petro, U.S. Attorney fired and fined for tipping off an acquaintance about a forthcoming Grand Jury investigation.
36. Thomas C. Reed, White House counselor and National Security Council adviser resigned and paid a $427,000 fine for stock market insider trading.
37. Emanuel Savas, Assistant Secretary of HUD resigned over assigning staff members to work on government time on a book that guilty to expense account fraud and accepting kickbacks on government contracts.
38. Charles Wick, Director of the U.S. Information Agency investigated for taping conversations with public officials without their approval.
As of March 27, 2007, it was only an indictment, but Bloomberg News was reporting that David Stockman, President Reagan’s budget director, was indicted on charges of defrauding investors and banks of $1.6 billion while chairman of Collins & Aikman Corp., an auto parts maker that collapsed days after he quit.
December 16th, 2008 at 5:16 am
Hmmm…and yet, Obama and his transition team have now been cleared by the U.S Attorney in the case! Would you like a little ketchup with your crow? You “Righties” kill me! Faux News throws you an unresearched bone and you begin frothing at the mouth for the taste of blood! If the next four years are going to be this much fun…I can hardly wait! Oh…by the way…next time…at least build a story on something a LITTLE more substantial than innuendo and hearsay! ROFLMAO!
December 16th, 2008 at 6:45 am
doug sargent, you are the cut and paste king, but you could have saved a lot of space by simply copying and pasting the URL:
http://www.liberalslikechrist.org/about/Reagan.html
December 16th, 2008 at 8:07 am
Doug sargeant.
I’ve got one like that on Clinton.
Its about 10 times longer.
Wanna see it ?
———————————————–
dalerius.
The investigation hasn’t even begun bro.
So far he’s clear, and he may well remain that way.
But, until the cohorts and culprits are lined up in the court room you know what you can do with your crow.
Substantial stories ?
Like the ones Obama tells ?
If the last 2 years are any example of how Obama is going to operate, believe it or not, I almost feel sorry for you guys.
What am I saying ?
Hell, even the last couple of months has shown me enough to know that the next 4 years are going to probably the most tumultuous unproductive 4 years in our country’s history
December 16th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
Sorry Micky…but try and keep up with the rest of us:
http://www.kansascity.com/news/nation/story/938507.html
“…a review by his attorney shows he had no direct contact with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich about the appointment of a Senate replacement.”
By the way…before anyone else hurts your feelings…let me be the first to say that there is really no Easter Bunny either!
Two days ago, I watched Faux News spewing forth a 15 minute diatribe on the apparent association between Obama and Blagojevich! At the end of this spiel, they spent exactly 30 seconds saying that the entire preceeding report had been complete conjecture, gossip and finger-pointing! So…how does it feel to be manipulated? LOL
No! Don’t attempt an answer! Just repeat after me, “Ditto-head…ditto-head…ditto-head…”
ROFLMAO!
December 16th, 2008 at 5:42 pm
Dalerius.
ROTFLMFAO BIGTIME.
All you got is some cheesy Kansas rag that is taking quotes from Obamas attorney saying hes cleared ?
“President-elect Barack Obama said Monday a review by his attorney shows he had no direct contact with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich about the appointment of a Senate replacement.
The review also shows transition aides did nothing inappropriate, the president-elect said.
Obama had pledged to make the review public, but said he decided to hold off because prosecutors asked for a delay and “I don’t want to interfere with an ongoing investigation.”
And yea, he says his transition team had nothing to do with anything then why did he dodge the Emanuel questions ?
“Obama, fielding questions at a news conference Monday, sidestepped when asked if Emanuel had spoken with aides to the governor about potential Senate appointees.”
Sorry bub.
The investigation is not over so I wouldnt get up on your high horse yet because theres nothing saying that new evidence wouldnt bring him back into the picture.
NOW, if you paid attention I said that “so far” he’s clear, and he may well remain that way. Which means I wasnt disputing your assertion that hes been cleared.
Also, if you paid attention I said we would have to wait and see who they start indicting and dragging into court.
THAT my friend is when the real action begins.
This is just gettin started Holmes.
If I were you I would buy some popcorn and kick back.
By the way, whos “us” ?
You seem to be the only one on this thread that seems to see things thru some distorted means of wishful thinking.
Well, maybe the sargent too, but does he really count.
All I can say is that Obama had better stop being so opaque and vague with all his statements. All he needs is to try and account for something and leave out one bit of info that could come back and bite him in the rump.
You know, like the very first statement he made about this where we had to find out from Axelrod that it wasnt true ????
December 17th, 2008 at 9:38 am
Hey Diarrhea,
You should try and keep up with the rest of us yourself. Obama is not the clean cut kid he tries to portray. He is sleazy lawyer from Chicago (Like there are any other kind from there) and he knew what was happening because this is not the first time there has been scandals there.
How cute is it for you to call Fox News Faux News? That is so funny. You are repeating the standard that all liberal repeat. When in a debate, name call.
I guess you would consider MSNBC and CNN fair and balanced. Do you think Keith Olbermann is fair? If you do then you must believe in Santa and the Eater Bunny too.
There is no such thing as a “ditto head” in the sense that you used. Years ago, and you would know this if you ever stopped talking and listened to Rush for a few days, people would call the show and spend time telling Rush they felt like he did about being a conservative and having conservative values and how we want our country back from liberal that have are far to the left. Then there was a caller who just said “Dittos” which means “Me too”. After that, people would call and say “Ditto” and then get to their comment or question.
You see to be a conservative means that you are a thinker and free to express your thoughts and disgust with our politicians left and right. We do not listen to Rush or Sean to get our marching orders. Unlike most of the left that simply repeats the talking point of the day. Crap like “Bush Bad”, War Bad”, Taxes Good”, Clinton really Good”, “It was just about sex.”, “Obama is for hope and change and change and hope and is hoping for change and will be changing all hope to change and change into hope. Unlike Bush who for 8 years has not made any sense when he is talking”.
If he, Obama< is not involved in this, great. But there will be a scandal with his fingerprints all over it. History is the best teacher and from history we have the Clintons. Corrupt to the bone and in Obama’s cabinet. How bright is this guy?