I just heard on MSNBC that the results of Obama's internal review into contacts with Blagojevich is completed. The review showed no contact between Obama and Blagojevich. The review also confirms that Emmanuel's contact with Blagojevich were as stated by the media -- only to discuss replacements that Obama would find acceptable, with no quid pro quo discussions.
MSNBC reported that the Obama team will not release the internal review until Dec. 22 AT THE REQUEST OF PATRICK FITZGERALD.
Fifteen minutes later, MSNBC had a talking head on discussing the internal review and stating how unbelievable it is that the Obama's PR machine won't release the details of the internal review.
Here is a brief article:
WASHINGTON - President-elect Barack Obama's team says an internal review shows his staff "was not involved in inappropriate discussions" with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich over the selection of Obama's Senate successor.
An Obama spokesman says Monday in a statement that Obama's lawyer Gregory Craig has kept federal prosecutors informed of the internal review "in order to ensure our full cooperation with the investigation" into allegations against the governor. Blagojevich was arrested last week on federal fraud and bribery charges, including allegations of a scheme to profit from his power to appoint Obama's replacement.
Obama spokesman Dan Pfeiffer says he won't release details of the review at least until the week of December 22 at the request of prosecutors.
Again, note. Obam will not release details until next week AT THE REQUEST OF THE PROSECUTORS.
Would the Repubs and media talking heads prefer that Obama was completely and immediately transparent even if it was a hinderance to the prosecutor? Can't we just trust that the independent prosecutor isn't lying when he says that Obama is not linked?
UPDATE:
The AP keeps beating a dead horse.
But spokesman Dan Pfeiffer also said the office won't release details of its review until the week of Dec. 22 at the request of prosecutors "in order not to impede their investigation of the governor."
That's Christmas week, when few people will be paying attention and when Obama plans to be celebrating the holiday in Hawaii — not in Chicago, which has been the focal point of the federal investigation.
The U.S. attorney's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The brief statement did not address several issues raised over the past week since the criminal complaint against the governor was filed.
It did not say whether Obama's incoming White House chief of staff, Rep. Rahm Emanuel, was heard on a wiretap providing the governor's top aide with a list of names that the president-elect favored. Nor did it say who, if anyone, on Obama transition's team had made contact with the governor or his aides concerning a replacement for Obama.
So, every source says that Emanuel and the Obama "team" did nothing wrong, but that isn't good enough? Is it possible that Emanuel's voice was taped in the wiretap while in the process of doing nothing wrong? That, my friend, would be a bombshell!
According to the AP, Obama isn't being honest about being transparent:
On Thursday, Obama, who has promised transparency, said he had ordered an internal review of whether his staff had any involvement in the scandal and promised divulge contacts his staff has had with Blagojevich's office in a matter of days.
"What I want to do is to gather all the facts about any staff contacts that may have taken place between the transition office and the governor's office," Obama said at the time. "And we'll have those in the next few days, and we'll present them. But what I'm absolutely certain about is that our office had no involvement in any dealmaking around my Senate seat. That I'm absolutely certain of."
But since then, Obama's staff has declined to respond to even basic questions, like how long the review would take, who was leading it and what issues were explored.
Wait, he ordered the review on THURSDAY and released results on MONDAY. But, because the prosecutor asked, he isn't releasing all of the details for another week. So, that isn't being transparent, accountable, timely, and responsible?
In the same article, the AP quotes other sources saying that there is no connection:
Two people who have been briefed on the investigation had told The Associated Press that Emanuel is not a target of the probe. They spoke on a condition of anonymity because the criminal investigation is ongoing. One is a person close to Emanuel, who said he has been told by investigators that he's not a subject of their probe.
There are no suggestions that Obama or his aides were involved in the alleged sale of his seat. U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald has said prosecutors were making no allegations that Obama was aware of any scheming. And Blagojevich himself, in taped conversations cited by prosecutors, suggested that Obama wouldn't be helpful to him and called him a vulgar term. Even if the governor was to appoint a candidate favored by the Obama team, Blagojevich said, "they're not willing to give me anything except appreciation."
Oy. Obama must be buddies with Blago. If they were not friends, Blago would never call him a vulgar term. Plus, Blago was expecting payback from Obama. We all know that appreciation is code for $500,000.