Ace of Spades comments:
Obama's lawyer Gregory Craig (remember him?) says prosecutors interviewed Obama.
President-elect Barack Obama and two of his top advisers were interviewed last week by federal prosecutors probing Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's alleged bid to sell Obama's vacated Senate seat, according to a report issued today by an Obama lawyer. The lawyer, Gregory Craig, concluded that Obama and his aides engaged in no improper conduct in connection with the Senate opening.
Problematic? I don't believe that Obama would care enough about the Senate seat to risk his own neck engaging in bribery. However, I also think that Obama and Emanuel knew how the Chicago game was played and would not react with righteous indignation to the solicitation of a bribe -- they might steer Blago away from such a thing towards safer waters, but would not outright rebuke him.
So the problem comes if Obama's team's statements to Blago were more nuanced when it comes to improper solicitations than they're admitting. And their statements to prosecutors about their discussions had better be accurate, or else they risk an obstruction of justice charge.
Fitzgerald wouldn't have the guts for that. But it will be interesting to see how his information and Obama's claims match up.
Fred Barnes had a similar reaction on Fox News this evening. Team Obama exonerated itself two evenings before Christmas, with Obama in Hawaii and Emanuel in Africa, and neither one answering questions. Team Obama is hoping the furor will die. The press are torn. They like a juicy story, but they like Obama more. You can bet that editors are not going to send investigative teams out to pursue this story now that the self examination has shown that Obama is still a virgin.
John Hinderaker has doubts: Obama Absolves Himself
Barack Obama's campaign has investigated itself, and has found itself to be beyond reproach. Bernie Madoff can only envy the press relations that allow Obama's self-exoneration to be reported straight.
Darleen at Protein Wisdom has a screen shot of the MSM's reaction:
Jim Lindgren at Volokh says: Obama’s Report Does Not Mention the Two Corrupt Contacts Alleged To Have been Ordered by Blagojevich.
The Report released Tuesday by the Barack 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.
...
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 Government’s affidavit) been recently directed to contact Obama staffers to discuss simultaneously the Senate seat and Blagojevich’s desire for a job.
DRJ at Patterico ...
The AP’s first summary of the report says “no one close to Obama suspected that the governor might be trying to sell Obama’s Senate seat as prosecutors allege.” It also states that Emanuel and Jarrett have been interviewed in connection with the investigation.
“We were clueless” is not what I was hoping to hear.
Here's the memo
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