CLICK IT FOR THE TICKET
Note: Rahm’s taped conversations are AFTER he was NAMED chief of staff.
(The timeline has been edited as the correct date Rahm was “named” was 11/06/08.)
Some key dates (all can be sourced) ...
9/17/08 0 calls Emil Jones about ethics bill
9/19/08 Blago calls the move a Republican trap, and brings up Rezko’s name in a presser. “I have a theory on what happened in the Rezko situation was a system, you know, sucked him in and then some lines were crossed and then that person found himself actually violating some of the rules,” Blagojevich said.
10/07/08 Blago tells Rezko to tell the truth, the day after federal prosecutors indicated that the convicted fund-raiser might be cooperating with them. Rezko sentencing subsequently delayed.
10/12/08 Rezko starts talking.
10/17/08 Blago sends 0 message via Sun-Times’ Sneed, “Who will it be?”
10/21/08 Order was signed authorizing a 30-day interception of oral communications at Friends of Blago, Blago’s personal office and the conference room and that it was begun on Oct. 22.
??? Feds ask Trib to hold the presses due to wire taps.
10/28/08 “Goodbye gov? Sneed hears a plan is afoot to impeach Gov. Blagojevich following the presidential election next month. Word is the votes are there. Stay tuned.”
10/31/08 “I just don’t want to jinx him and I don’t like the karma of me thinking that far ahead,” Blagojevich said of Obama ‘s prospects in Tuesday’s election. The governor added, “We have had some discussions about a process which we’ll share ... if all goes well.”
11/05/08 Blago meets with 0 regarding senate appointment process. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2146114/posts (Follow up 11/08, both reports pulled 12/10/08.)
11/06/07 Rahn named chief of staff.
??? AFTER being name chief of staff, Rahm has multiple conversations with Blago, giving him a list of names acceptable to 0.
11/07/08 Blago sends second message to team 0 via Sneed, “Sen. Madigan?”
11/10/08 Marathon conference call, more than two hours, between “various Washington, D.C., based advisers,” Blago, his wife, his general counsel, an unnamed adviser, and John Harris, regarding “what (Blago) can get from the President-elect for the Senate seat.” Blago believed the candidate was Jarrett.
7:56 PM ET, CNN reported that “two Democratic sources close to President-elect Barack Obama tell CNN that top adviser Valerie Jarrett will not be appointed to replace him in the U.S. Senate.”
11/12/08 Durbin announces his intent to speak about his senate candidates with Blago.
11/13/08 Durbin asks Blago for a meeting, voices Duckworth as a favorite.
Jarrett accepts cabinet post.
“After several pages of detailing those machinations, the criminal complaint takes an abrupt turn, describing NO WIRETAPS for a period of THREE WEEKS. The complaint says Blagojevich had “numerous conversations” about the Senate seat during that period, but it doesn’t detail any.”
11/14/08 0 announces senate seat resignation, and distances himself from Blago, (courtesy of the WaPo). Resignation meant to ratchet up the pressure on Gov. Rod Blagojevich “to name a successor more quickly than planned.”
11/23/08 Axelrod said, “I know he’s talked to the governor and there are a whole range of names many of which have surfaced, and I think he has a fondness for a lot of them.” (youtube video pulled 12/10/08)
11/26/08 Durbin weighs asking Bush to commute ex-Gov. Ryan
11/27/08 Blagojevich: Bush should let Ryan out of Prison
12/05/08 “Chicago Tribune ran a story on its front page reporting that law enforcement had secretly recorded Blagojevich’s conversations as part of a criminal investigation. Blagojevich immediately instructed Fundraiser A to “undo” the plan to meet personally with the associate of Candidate Five, (JJJ).”
12/09/08 Blago arrested, is accused of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, as well as soliciting bribes.
12/10/08 0 and Durbin call for Blago’s resignation.
OOPS, s/b 11/06/08 Rahn named chief of staff.
(Note to self: Don’t post before coffee.)
I got to thinking last night about the report that ‘many people came and went during the 2 hour conference call’.
Is it possible that these people,(advisors to the President Elect, etc.)dropping in and out of the tapped conversations, were conferring with the President elect over the various ‘offers/demands’ on a separate ‘conference call’?
I am beginning to think that it stands to reason that they were. Why else leave a conference call with Blago and company so many times? Surely not all of these democrat ‘advisors’ are incontinent....lol
Rahm Emmanuel is the “Pres.-Elect Advisor” referenced in a Nov. 13 phone call which was caught on the wiretap.
Advisor B from D.C. and also another D.C. advisor who is not labeled had were wiretapped in conversations on previous days.
Conversations in which Blago was trying to make all kinds of deals.
It was known to BO’s team that Blago was playing let’s make a deal. Despite that the contacts back and forth continued with Rahm Emmanuel even getting into the mix.
BO’s team wanted Blago to wait two years - serve out his term - them he would get the Change to Win job. Blago wanted something right away. BO’s team thought it too risky to do something right away.
This is hardball and some big fish are going to take a fall.
I don’t buy into the premise that BO’s team were put up to do this by Fitz and were just playing along. Fitz didn’t need BO’s team to play along. He had enough on Blago without getting them involved.
Good analysis here:
http://www.floppingaces.net/2008/12/11/more-questions-about-obama-and-blagojevich/
The identity of Advisor B will be very interesting to learn.