I’m sure Governor Blah Blah feels like there’s a spike in his gut after the transcript of the Criminal Complaint (PDF) gets read by the public.1
One person it most likely won’t affect is Obama himself, who appears to have been inadvertently cleared by Blagojevich. The Democrat was allegedly captured on a wiretap in multiple conversations in which he discussed an Obama advisor he believed the president-elect wanted appointed. But Blagojevich said he wasn’t willing to do that without some benefit for himself.
“I’ve got this thing and it’s fucking golden, and, uh, uh, I’m just not giving it up for fuckin’ nothing. I’m not gonna do it. And, and I can always use it. I can parachute me there,” Blagojevich said in one conversation, according to the complaint. Elsewhere, the complaint reads:
ROD BLAGOJEVICH said that the consultants (Advisor B and another consultant are believed to be on the call at that time) are telling him that he has to “suck it up” for two years and do nothing and give this “motherfucker [the President-elect] his senator. Fuck him. For nothing? Fuck him.” ROD BLAGOJEVICH states that he will put “[Senate Candidate 4]” in the Senate “before I just give fucking [Senate Candidate 1] a fucking Senate seat and I don’t get anything.”
The next day, according to the complaint, Blagojevich allegedly said, “he knows that the President-elect wants Senate Candidate 1 for the Senate seat but ‘they’re not willing to give me anything except appreciation. Fuck them.’“
[From Rod Blagojevich has had better days – War Room – Salon.com]
Impeachment proceedings? Sure, where do I sign.
The Senate Candidates are not names, but there are clues as to their identity:
Unsurprisingly, since this investigation is in U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald’s district, and since he’s known for this sort of thing, multiple contenders for Obama’s seat are named as “Senate Candidate 1,” “Senate Candidate 2” and so on. It’s hard to say for sure who any of these candidates are, but as with any good blind item, there are plenty of hints. Senate Candidate 1, for instance, appears to be Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett. And based on the complaint’s discussion of a deliberate leak from the Blagojevich administration to a columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, it appears that Senate Candidate 2 is Lisa Madigan, the state’s attorney general.
It’s Senate Candidate 5, though, who might end up being the most interesting contender, because of this passage from this complaint:
In a recorded conversation on October 31, 2008, ROD BLAGOJEVICH described an earlier approach by an associate of Senate Candidate Five as follows: “We were approached ‘pay to play.’ That, you know, he’d raise me 500 grand. An emissary came. Then the other guy would raise a million, if I made him (Senate Candidate 5) a Senator.”
Another passage gives a hint as to the identify of Senate Candidate 5:
ROD BLAGOJEVICH stated he was “elevating” Senate Candidate 5 on the list of candidates for the open Senate seat. ROD BLAGOJEVICH stated he might be able to cut a deal with Senate Candidate 5 that provided ROD BLAGOJEVICH with something “tangible up front.” ROD BLAGOJEVICH noted he was going to meet with Senate Candidate 5 in the next few days.
One intriguing possibility? Illinois Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., who met with Blagojevich about the job just yesterday.
Except that the Sun-Times columnist is probably Sneed, who wrote:
Sneed hears Gov. Blago, who will choose Obama’s replacement in the U.S. Senate, privately feels there may be only one choice that makes sense: His buddy, outgoing Senate President Emil Jones.
• • To wit: Jones is this/close to Blago, who may pay his pal back for being such a staunch ally. Jones would also be a strong ally in the Senate for his political godson — Obama.
• • Hmmm: Isn’t it true Gov. Blago, who truly believes a federal indictment is not in his future, is hoping Jones would be a placeholder until 2010 — when Gov. Rod could opt for a Senate seat or another run at the governorship? Is someone smoking posies?
[From 2 yrs. to dream? Rahm ’em . . . :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Michael Sneed]
Rich Miller has lots more speculation at The Capitol Fax Blog including:
Later on December 4, 2008… ROD BLAGOJEVICH noted he was going to meet with Senate Candidate 5 in the next few days…
ROD BLAGOJEVICH told Fundraiser A to tell Individual D that Senate Candidate 5 was very much a realistic candidate for the open Senate seat, but that ROD BLAGOJEVICH was getting “a lot of pressure” not to appoint Senate Candidate 5. ROD BLAGOJEVICH told Fundraiser A to tell Individual D that ROD BLAGOJEVICH had a problem with Senate Candidate 5 just promising to help ROD BLAGOJEVICH because ROD BLAGOJEVICH had a prior bad experience with Senate Candidate 5 not keeping his word.
As Ambinder reported earlier, that dateline matches up with Jackson’s planned meeting with the governor. Also, I’m not aware of any instances of the governor complaining that Emil Jones had broken his word. It’s time for somebody to come clean. So far, there’s still no response from Congressman Jackson’s office.
oh, and this Tribune page of web coverage is pretty cool
Footnotes:- I have a copy, but have been too busy this morning to read it. [↩]