"Hello, let me speak to Mr. Fitzgerald."
(Over at the castle, U.S. Blues asks:
DG- you're closer to the action so I am curious if you can comment on my understand of things. It seems to me that Obama got tired of Blogo and, one phone call later, Blogo was in handcuffs.
This leaves me with the impression that Obama knows how to play the game of Chicago politics. If this supposition is correct it leaves me drooling to see how he chops up the GOP come 1.20.09.
The short and honest answer is, nobody who is talking knows anything, and nobody who knows anything is talking.
But the longer, juicier answer is that the known facts admit a certain, compelling logic out of which one can easily reverse-engineering the notion that someone near the intersection of Team Obama and the governor's stunningly ruthless, fire-sale approach to public policy suddenly found it necessary to put the U.S. Attorney's office wise to what was going on. And it is this necessarily-speculative-but-not-unfounded reasoning elevates the idea of a highly-placed dime-dropper above other kinds of routine, every-day water-cooler conspeculation ™ (conspiracy + speculation).
Do people even have water coolers anywhere anymore? And do they still gather 'round them so the office griot can tell sad stories of the death's of kings?
Here are some snips from what one of the city's more wired-in political writers had to say on the subject:
Blagojevich, Obama and who dropped the dime
Posted by greg hinz at 12/10/2008 11:40 AM CST on Chicago Business
The demise of Rod Blagojevich continues to make so much news, I almost don't know where to start.
...
Here's what's known:
In bringing the charges on Tuesday, Mr. Fitzgerald conceded that he'd junked his normally careful, methodical investigative pace in favor of warp-speed action on alleged illegalities that occurred as recently as two weeks ago. Why such an extraordinary shift in tactics? He cited "imminent" pending matters, including the vacancy of Mr. Obama's former Senate seat.
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In conversations taped by the feds, Mr. Blagojevich repeatedly gripes that Mr. Obama isn't offering him anything for picking Mr. Obama's choice to the Senate. The choice, referenced only as "Senate Candidate 1," almost certainly refers to Valerie Jarrett, a longtime Obama friend and associate. Numerous sources confirm that Ms. Jarrett indeed wanted the seat — and Mr. Obama wanted her to have it — until she abruptly pulled her name out of the running in mid-November.
Mid-November is when Mr. Blagojevich is roundly griping on the tapes that Team Obama won't give him anything for a Jarrett pick. No Cabinet job, no ambassadorship, no nothing, Rod complains, according to the feds. "They're not wiling to give me anything except appreciation. F--k them."
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Moreover, Mr. Blagojevich likely did not figure out on his own that the Obama folks were going to stiff him. Someone told him, someone who talked to them. And neither Mr. Emanuel nor Ms. Jarrett is the type to take kindly to being extorted or being pushed around. From my experience, either is quite capable of sending a message to Pat Fitzgerald.
So, at a minimum, it looks like Mr. Blagojevich literally tried to shake down the president-elect, and the president-elect and/or his folks wisely walked away from any transaction. The question is, did his folks do more?
The timing of Mr. Fitzgerald's request for the phone taps, Oct. 21, is a bit early for Ms. Jarrett to be moving for the Senate seat. So perhaps Mr. Fitzgerald had another tipster, and then got lucky with the tapes on the Big Senate Sale. Certainly FBI agents in early October were receiving tips that Mr. Blagojevich was trying to cash in before a new state ethics law takes effect this New Year's, and that likely prompted the request for the court order. Perhaps Mr. Blagojevich's former chief of staff, John Wyma, who appears to be referenced in the charges, played a role.
On the other hand, Mr. Obama has all the reason in the world to put distance between himself and Radioactive Rod. What better way than to put Mr. Blagojevich in a nice cell somewhere?
Who did in who? That remains a really good question.
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The rest available at your one-stop
Corrupt Governor Update Site here
