Obama’s Big Illinois Headache Called Rod Blagojevich

Mr. Obama was certainly more assertive in his condemnation of the Illinois scandal than he had been a couple of days ago, and he stated flatly that he had no involvement with the selling of his Senate seat.

The U.S. attorney had also said there was no indication that Mr. Obama was in any way involved. But Mr. Obama did note that his staff was still gathering facts about whether anyone on his team might have been involved, leaving the door open that some inconvenient news could emerge. It seems unlikely that Mr. Obama’s statements today will put these questions to rest.

And poor Mr. Daschle! Like Al Gore on Monday, Mr. Obama’s co-stars were overlooked as reporters questioned Mr. Obama about the scandal. Still, in the health-care question, Mr. Obama indicated quite clearly that the Bush tax cuts may not be rolled back as fast as he had promised, if at all. In the end, of course, dealing with health care and the rest of the economic emergency in this country will have a more lasting effect on his presidency than the current scandal in his home state. – from NYT

President-elect Barack Obama said Thursday morning that he is “confident” no one representing him took part in any pay-to-play dealings with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich over filling Obama’s U.S. Senate seat, and pledged to release details of contacts between his team and the governor’s office in the next few days.

“I have never spoken to the governor on this subject. I am confident that no representatives of mine would have any part of any deals related to this seat. I think the materials released by the U.S. Attorney reflect that fact,” Obama said at a Chicago news conference. “I’ve asked my team to gather the facts of any contacts with the governor’s office about this vacancy so that we can share them with you over the next few days.”

Obama said he personally wasn’t interviewed by the federal prosecutors and suggested no one on his transition team was either – but did not answer a specific question about what role, if any, his transition team played in the investigation.

“I have not been contacted by any federal officials, and we have not been interviewed by them,” Obama said. “As is reflected by them, we were not perceived by the governor’s office as amenable to any deal-making.” – from Politico

President-elect Barack Obama attempted Thursday to clear himself and his staff of any taint connected with charges the Illinois governor put Obama’s Senate seat up for sale, saying Thursday he was “absolutely certain” there was no involvement with the alleged dealmaking.

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was arrested Tuesday, accused of trying to sell Obama’s Senate seat for campaign cash or a lucrative job inside or outside government. The governor has ignored calls for his resignation and retains the power to appoint Obama’s replacement.

Obama said he was “as appalled and disappointed as anybody” by the allegations. And he said that neither he nor his transition team have been a part of the continuing federal investigation.

- from Yahoo