Blagojevich investigators met with Obama

updated 8:35 p.m. ET Dec. 23, 2008

WASHINGTON - President-elect Barack Obama and two of his top aides met last week with federal investigators building a corruption case against Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, accused of trying to swap Obama's Senate seat for cash or a lucrative job.

The interviews with Obama, along with incoming chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and adviser Valerie Jarrett, were disclosed Tuesday in an internal report produced for Obama on contacts with Blagojevich. The report supported Obama's insistence last week that there had been no inappropriate contact with the governor's office by Obama or his staff.

Obama delayed releasing his report until U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald's staff had completed the interviews with Obama and his two top aides, incoming White House attorney Greg Craig said in the review he wrote for Obama.

Obama, who was accompanied by lawyer Robert Bauer in the interview, had no contact with the governor or his aides, the report states. Prosecutors have said Obama is not implicated in the case.

"We are satisfied there was nothing inappropriate that took place here, either in terms of conversations or communications or contacts, between transition officials and the governor's office," Craig said after releasing the report.

'Appropriate and acceptable'
Emanuel was the only Obama transition team member who discussed the Senate appointment with Blagojevich, and those conversations were "totally appropriate and acceptable," Craig said Tuesday. No one on Obama's transition team discussed any deals or had any knowledge of deals, Craig's report said.

Sources have said Emanuel is not a target in the case. Jarrett also is not a target of the federal investigation, a transition official said. Both were accompanied by lawyers for their interviews with the prosecutor's staff, Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

Craig's report identified close Obama friend Eric Whitaker as someone approached by one of Blagojevich's top aides to learn "who, if anyone, had the authority to speak for the president-elect" about the Senate appointment.

The report states that Obama told Whitaker that "no one was authorized to speak for him" and that "he had no interest in dictating the result of the selection process."

Blagojevich was charged on Dec. 9 with plotting to use his governor's authority to appoint Obama's Senate replacement and make state appointments and contracts in exchange for cash and other favors. He has denied any criminal wrongdoing and has resisted multiple calls for his resignation, including one from Obama.

Blagojevich attorney Edward M. Genson, who has said allegations that the governor was trying to sell or trade the Senate seat are built on nothing but talk, said Obama's report proves his point.

"I've said from the beginning that there was nothing inappropriate, and this just corroborates what I've said," Genson said.

Accusations of scheming
Prosecutors have accused Blagojevich of scheming with aides and advisers to reap some personal benefit in the Senate appointment, starting days before Obama's Nov. 4 election through Dec. 5. Their conversations are characterized and quoted in the criminal complaint, including discussions about swapping the appointment if Obama provided a Cabinet post, an ambassadorship and help raising millions for a private foundation that Blagojevich could tap for personal use.

But Obama's report says none of Blagojevich's aides reached out to the president-elect's staff. Only the contact with Whitaker is noted in the report.

Emanuel's contacts with the governor and his staff are identified in Obama's report.

During Emanuel's interview Saturday with federal authorities, he listened to a taped recording of at least one conversation he had with Blagojevich's office, according to a transition official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss information not included in the report.

Craig's report states that Emanuel had "one or two telephone calls" with Blagojevich and four conversations with John Harris, the governor's chief of staff who later resigned after being charged in the federal case. Craig told reporters Emanuel said he couldn't be sure it was only one call.

Harris' lawyer, James Sotos, declined to comment Tuesday.

Emanuel on vacation in Africa
Emanuel left for a long-planned family vacation in Africa on Tuesday and was not available for comment.

The report was released in Washington while Obama was vacationing in Hawaii. The president-elect did not make himself available for questions.

The report said Obama authorized Emanuel to pass on the names of four people he considered to be highly qualified to take over his seat — Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes, Illinois Veterans' Affairs Director Tammy Duckworth, Rep. Jan Schakowsky and Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.

Obama later offered other names of what he thought were qualified candidates, including Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Chicago Urban League Director Cheryle Jackson, the report said.

"Mr. Harris did not make any effort to extract a personal benefit for the governor in any of these conversations," the report said. There was no discussion of a Cabinet position, creation of a nonprofit foundation for Blagojevich, a private sector position or of any other personal benefit for the governor, according to the report.

The report said that earlier, Emanuel recommended Jarrett for the Senate seat without Obama's knowledge, and Jarrett later accepted a job as a senior White House adviser.

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