Posted by Jim Lindgren:
Obama’s Report Does Not Mention the Two Corrupt Contacts Alleged in the US
Attorney’s Affidavit.
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2008_12_21-2008_12_27.shtml#1230110725
The [1]report released Tuesday by the Obama camp discloses, not only
direct contacts between the Obama staff and Governor Blagojevich and
his staff, but two other specific indirect contacts. It does not,
however, disclose the only two contacts mentioned in the U.S.
Attorney�s complaint and affidavit by which Blagojevich directed
intermediaries to convey his corrupt bargain to the Obama camp.
Perhaps they occurred; perhaps they didn't. Obama's report never says.
Valerie Jarrett. Here is the US Attorney�s [2]affidavit regarding a
Nov. 12 conversation in which Blagojevich asked a SEIU union official
(almost certainly Tom Balanoff) to convey his interest in a job to
Valerie Jarrett (or another Obama staffer):
109. On November 12, 2008, ROD BLAGOJEVICH spoke with SEIU
Official, who was in Washington, D.C. Prior intercepted phone
conversations indicate that approximately a week before this call,
ROD BLAGOJEVICH met with SEIU Official to discuss the vacant Senate
seat, and ROD BLAGOJEVICH understood that SEIU Official was an
emissary to discuss Senate Candidate 1�s interest in the Senate
seat.
During the conversation with SEIU Official on November 12, 2008,
ROD BLAGOJEVICH informed SEIU Official that he had heard the
President-elect wanted persons other than Senate Candidate 1 to be
considered for the Senate seat.
SEIU Official stated that he would find out if Senate Candidate 1
wanted SEIU Official to keep pushing her for Senator with ROD
BLAGOJEVICH. ROD BLAGOJEVICH said that �one thing I�d be interested
in� is a 501(c)(4) organization.
ROD BLAGOJEVICH explained the 501(c)(4) idea to SEIU Official and
said that the 501(c)(4) could help �our new Senator [Senate
Candidate 1].� SEIU Official agreed to �put that flag up and see
where it goes.�
110. On November 12, 2008, ROD BLAGOJEVICH talked with Advisor B.
ROD BLAGOJEVICH told Advisor B that he told SEIU Official, �I said
go back to [Senate Candidate 1], and, and say hey, look, if you
still want to be a Senator don�t rule this out and then broach the
idea of this 501(c)(4) with her.�
Did Balanoff convey this message? The Obama Report never says one way
or the other.
The Obama camp does disclose what is probably the earlier conversation
referred to in the affidavit:
On November 7, 2008 -- at a time when she was still a potential
candidate for the Senate seat -- Ms. Jarrett spoke with Mr. Tom
Balanoff, the head of the Illinois chapter of the Service Employees
International Union (SEIU). Mr. Balanoff is not a member of the
Governor�s staff and did not purport to speak for the Governor on
that occasion. But because the subject of the Governor�s interest
in a cabinet appointment came up in that conversation, I am
including a description of that meeting. Mr. Balanoff told Ms.
Jarrett that he had spoken to the Governor about the possibility of
selecting Valerie Jarrett to replace the President-Elect. He told
her that Lisa Madigan�s name also came up. Ms. Jarrett recalls that
Mr. Balanoff also told her that the Governor had raised with him
the question of whether the Governor might be considered as a
possible candidate to head up the Department of Health and Human
Services in the new administration. Mr. Balanoff told Ms. Jarrett
that he told the Governor that it would never happen. Jarrett
concurred.
Mr. Balanoff did not suggest that the Governor, in talking about
HHS, was linking a position for himself in the Obama cabinet to the
selection of the President-Elect�s successor in the Senate, and Ms.
Jarrett did not understand the conversation to suggest that the
Governor wanted the cabinet seat as a quid pro quo for selecting
any specific candidate to be the President-Elect�s replacement. At
no time did Balanoff say anything to her about offering Blagojevich
a union position.
There are several details to note about these two paragraphs in the
report:
1. As noted, this is a different conversation than the one that
Blagojevich on Nov. 12 requested the SEIU official to make. Steven
Greenhouse of the New York Times [3]quotes a source at SEIU as
saying, �All the official did, they said, was listen to Mr.
Blagojevich and his chief of staff and ferry some messages for
them.�
2. Note that Jarrett claims that, though a job for Blagojevich was
broached, she did not consider it a quid pro quo.
3. There is no statement one way or the other whether Jarrett
informed Obama or anyone else in the Obama camp about the job(s)
Blagojevich wanted.
4. Jarrett's denial is much narrower than Emanuel's and does not
cover the 501c(4). Her denial is: �At no time did Balanoff say
anything to her about offering Blagojevich a union position.� It
does not mention �the idea of this 501(c)(4)� that Blagojevich
requested on Nov. 12 to be conveyed to her. Further, this denial
is much narrower than an earlier denial in the Report regarding
Emanuel�s contacts: �There was no discussion of a cabinet
position, of 501c(4), of a private sector position or of any other
personal benefit to the Governor.�
5. Regarding the Nov. 7 conversation, the statement �Mr. Balanoff . .
. did not purport to speak for the Governor on that occasion� does
not foreclose the possibility that Balanoff did purport to speak
for the Governor on a later date. The NY Times�s union source said
that he did �ferry some messages� for the Governor.
Individual A: The other indirect contact mentioned in the [4]affidavit
is this one:
Nov. 13: �ROD BLAGOJEVICH asked Advisor A to call Individual A and
have Individual A pitch the idea of the 501(c)(4) to
�[President-elect Advisor].� Advisor A said that, �while it�s not
said this is a play to put in play other things.� ROD BLAGOJEVICH
responded, �correct.��
There is nothing in the Report about this contact, if it occurred.
Dr. Eric Whitaker. The second indirect contact disclosed in the Obama
report, one previously unknown, is between Dr. Eric Whitaker and a
Deputy Illinois Governor:
In the period immediately following the election on November 4,
2008 � on either November 6, 7 or 8 � Deputy Governor Louanner
Peters called him at his office and left a message. When he
returned the call, Ms. Peters asked who spoke for the
President-Elect with respect to the Senate appointment. She
explained that the Governor�s office had heard from others with
recommendations about the vacant seat. She stated that the
Governor�s office wanted to know who, if anyone, had the authority
to speak for the President-Elect. Dr. Whitaker said he would find
out.
The President-Elect told Dr. Whitaker that no one was authorized to
speak for him on the matter. The President-Elect said that he had
no interest in dictating the result of the selection process, and
he would not do so, either directly or indirectly through staff or
others. Dr. Whitaker relayed that information to Deputy Governor
Peters.
Dr. Whitaker had no other contacts with anyone from the Governor�s
office.
Observations:
1. Note that, unlike the Jarrett disclosure above, the Whitaker
disclosure ends with a blanket denial of further contacts: �Dr.
Whitaker had no other contacts with anyone from the Governor�s
office.�
2. Note that no dates are given for when Whitaker relayed the
information that �The President-Elect said that he had no interest
in dictating the result of the selection process.� It wouldn�t
surprise me if this message was not sent to Peters until the
campaign started putting out the word on Nov. 10 that Jarrett was
no longer a candidate for Senate.
Rahm Emanuel. In the section on Rahm Emanuel�s discussions with
Blagojevich and his staff is this interesting statement:
In those early conversations (Nov. 6-8) with the Governor, Mr.
Emanuel recommended Valarie Jarrett because he knew she was
interested in the seat. He did so before learning -- in further
conversations with the President-Elect -- that the President-Elect
had ruled out communicating a preference for any one candidate. As
noted above, the President-Elect believed it appropriate to provide
the names of multiple candidates to be considered, along with
others, who were qualified to hold the seat and able to retain it
in a future election.
The Report implies that Emanuel�s 5-6 early discussions with
Blagojevich and his staff about the Illinois Senate seat were not
authorized by Obama. That would be surprising, but not impossible. If
we ever see the transcripts of these conversations, it will be
interesting to see whether Emanuel purported to be acting for himself
or for Obama.
Bottom line: The report discloses that Valerie Jarrett was informed of
Blagojevich�s interest in a cabinet position, but is silent on whether
she was informed of his desire for a lucrative job with a charity.
Further, the report is silent about whether Obama himself knew of
Blagojevich�s interest in a cabinet or charitable job.
Obama�s report does not purport to be a complete list of all the
contacts between his staff and emissaries for Blagojevich, only of
direct contacts between the two staffs, plus two specifically
disclosed indirect contacts. The report does not indicate one way or
the other whether the two contacts mentioned in the government�s
affidavit by which Blagojevich intended to have his desire for a
lucrative job conveyed to the Obama camp ever took place. It mentions
the contacts made by people who had not (at the time of the
conversations) been directed to shake down Obama, but fails to mention
the two contacts (if they occurred) by people who had (according to
the Givernment�s affidavit) been recently directed to contact Obama
staffers to discuss simultaneously the Senate seat and Blagojevich�s
desire for a job.
Assuming that Obama is not operating under any restrictions from
Patrick Fitzgerald, when Obama returns to work in a week or so, it
will be up to the press to find out from him whether the two corrupt
contacts alleged in the affidavit to have been ordered by Blagojevich
ever occurred and if Obama learned before December that Blagojevich
was seeking a job.
References
1.
http://change.gov/page/-/hem5zet3nalm2/2008%2012%2023%20PTT%20Contacts%20Memo.pdf
2. http://www.chicagotribune.com/media/acrobat/2008-12/43789434.pdf
3. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/12/us/politics/12union.html?_r=2
4. http://www.chicagotribune.com/media/acrobat/2008-12/43789434.pdf
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