Posted on 12/10/2008 5:40:18 PM PST by Clinton's a liar
Blagojevich Meets with Obama to Address Budget Shortfall
Reported by: WMBD/WYZZ News Staff
Monday, Dec 1, 2008 @07:24am CST
WMBD/WYZZ - SPRINGFIELD Governor Rod Blagojevich is turning to the president elect for help in a billion dollar budget shortfall.
The governor will meet Monday and Tuesday Philadelphia with Barack Obama. Their discussion will focus on Illinois $2 billion deficit and how the Land of Lincoln will manage its 2009 fiscal year.
In November, Blagojevich announced a plan to manage the states deficit. Part of that plan requests more than $1 billion dollars in federal money over the next three years, in addition to short-term borrowing to help pay bills on time. Illinois is currently facing a potential $5 billion backlog of unpaid bills.
Obama: I am not going to resign until that $2 mill is safe in my Swiss bank account, that is the last word.
Rod: $1 mill now and 10% off the top for next 6 years is my best offer. It's a heck of a deal.
Psst ... pass it on ... :)
There are ongoing communications on the wiretaps ...
Then, a three week break ...
WITHIN THE TIMEFRAME OF A FEW DAYS Obama resigns his senate seat to put pressure on Blago to RAMP UP his senate seat appointment.
Jarrett PUBLICLY announces shes off the list.
Obama gets a out-of-nowhere blurb in the Wapo that hes not close with Blago.
Durbin makes public statements that he will call on Blago to meet with him, and throws lame duck Duckworth out as a candidate.
YET, we are lead to believe Blago SUDDENLY backs off pertinent calls in his quest for the senate seat pay for play???
..
IMO, Durbin became Fitzs point man, to trap Blago.
11/12/08 Durbin announces his intent to speak about his senate candidates with Blago.
Rahn appointed chief of staff.
11/13/08 Durbin asks Blago for a meeting, voices Duckworth as a favorite.
Jarrett pulls name from senate appointment list, opts for 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 doesnt 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.
..
From Durbins comments we do know that for 12 of those three weeks Blago wasnt returning Durbins calls.
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/durbin-calls-for-special-senate-election-2008-12-09.html
Durbin said he and Blagojevich were not friends, and had a cordial but cold relationship with a lot of communication gaps. When Durbin was first elected to the Senate, he said Blagojevich never returned his call. Last month, when Durbin called Blagojevich to discuss filling the vacancy, he said the governor took 12 days to return the call.
We certainly dont enjoy a close relationship, Durbin said. I found him to be a difficult man to communicate with.
Durbin said he recalled nothing unusual in his conversation with Blagojevich about filling Obamas seat, and that the governor never raised the idea of a position in the incoming administration. Instead, Durbin said he and the governor discussed 20 names.
I asked him to do two things. First, dont appoint a caretaker. Send a senator who will serve and run for election. Second, do it as quickly as possible so we could have a seniority advantage, Durbin said.
..
Ill say it again ...Team 0 wanted Blago OUT, and IMO fired the warning shot back in October ...
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.
..
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NzhiYmFlMDZiNzkxYmZlMThmMTZjNDJlYzYwM2ZhNjY=
The complaint describes in detail several conversations Blagojevich had concerning the Senate seat, starting on November 3, the day before Barack Obama was elected president, and going on for ten days, until November 13. In conversations secretly recorded by Fitzgeralds office during that period, Blagojevich clumsily discussed all sorts of options through which he might profit from the Senate appointment a Cabinet job for himself, a major position with a Democratic-dominated union, a new charity/activist organization that would pay Blagojevich a healthy sum.
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 doesnt detail any. Then, it skips forward to a conversation that took place on December 4. That suggests the conversations that took place in the three weeks after November 13 broke no new ground, as far as Blagojevichs corrupt plans were concerned.
And then, on December 4, something changed, and that change was the presence of the person referred to in the complaint as Candidate Five. If the complaint is correct, in Candidate Five, Blagojevich finally found a prospective senator who might come up with money $500,000 for Blagojevichs political organization in return for the Obama seat. From the criminal complaint:
On December 4, 2008, ROD BLAGOJEVICH spoke to Advisor B and informed Advisor B that he was giving Senate Candidate 5 greater consideration for the Senate seat because, among other reasons, if ROD BLAGOJEVICH ran for re-election Senate Candidate 5 would raise[] money for ROD BLAGOJEVICH, although ROD BLAGOJEVICH said he might get some (money) up front, maybe from Senate Candidate 5 to insure Senate Candidate 5 kept his promise about raising money for ROD BLAGOJEVICH. (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, hed raise me 500 grand. An emissary came. Then the other guy would raise a million, if I made him (Senate Candidate 5) a Senator.)
The complaint goes on to say that on that same day, December 4, Blagojevich told a person referred to as Fundraiser A that he was elevating Candidate Five on the Senate list in the hopes that Candidate Five would provide something tangible up front. Blagojevich told Fundraiser A to reach out to an associate of Candidate Five and say that Blagojevich was under pressure to appoint somebody else and wanted to know if Candidate Five would really come up with the money, especially because, in the words of the complaint, Blagojevich had a prior bad experience with Candidate Five not keeping his word. (That, of course, suggests that Candidate Five is probably a well-known political figure in Illinois; no definitive word yet on who that is.) Blagojevich told Fundraiser A to meet personally with the associate of Candidate Five and, in the words of the complaint, communicate the urgency of the situation.
The dealing seemed very close to a climax and an explosive political scandal. And then, on the morning of December 5, the Chicago Tribune ran a story on its front page reporting that law enforcement had secretly recorded Blagojevichs 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. Blagojevich instead turned his energy to preparing his legal defense.
The deal was off, blown, apparently, by the Tribunes report. For anyone who has watched the case, the astonishing thing is that Blagojevich, prior to December 5, could possibly have assumed that he wasnt under surveillance. But he apparently did, making for some of the juiciest political wiretaps in years. And he appeared to be moving toward actually making a corrupt deal to sell Obamas Senate seat when he finally, belatedly, figured things out. And that seems to be the best explanation for why prosecutor Fitzgerald went public on December 9, instead of letting the case continue for a while longer.
..
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 Rezkos 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, Blagos 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 dont want to jinx him and I dont like the karma of me thinking that far ahead, Blagojevich said of Obama s prospects in Tuesdays election. The governor added, We have had some discussions about a process which well 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
11/07/08 Blago sends second message to team 0 via Sneed, Sen. Madigan?
11/12/08 Durbin announces his intent to speak about his senate candidates with Blago.
Rahn appointed chief of staff.
11/13/08 Durbin asks Blago for a meeting, voices Duckworth as a favorite.
Jarrett pulls name from senate appointment list, opts for 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 doesnt 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 hes 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.
12/05/08 Chicago Tribune ran a story on its front page reporting that law enforcement had secretly recorded Blagojevichs 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 calls for Blagos resignation.
Thanks for the work. This is most damning.
WOW You’ve got a most thorough timeline going there!
Like I said, all items can be sourced by anyone with news data bases.
I thought about interfacing Fitz’s complaint, but felt the news quips told another compelling story.
bump to read post 82 in AM
Does anybody know when Zero will bury his grandmother?
Probably the same time Aunt Zetuni gets sworn in as a citizen and O's brother gets a new house.
Obama doesn’t seem to care who knows he’s a liar. If he met with all those Governors, each and every one of them knows he’s lying through his teeth.
Wonderful for the standing of the Commander in Chief, isn’t it.
It’s good to have you back with us. We need your keen insight and fortunately your screen name is still appropriate. :)
Reports are that Blago’s wife did the RE deal for Obama and Rezko...
Good catch. Better read it quick though before it too disappears down the memory hole.
Weeks of missing wiretap information during the time that Team Obama might have been negotiating a deal?
Wow, I missed that info.
Yeah, Goldenrod’s focus of economic issues was how much Obama’s seat would be worth adjusted to inflation.
Good observation and great comment. I vaguely noticed some vintage screen names but it didn’t connect.
You’ve been posting/lurking for a long time. Cheers.
Thanks CAL!
Team 0’s negotiations appears to have been a set up, with Durbin working with Fitz.
Thanks, Faith, I appreciate your kind words.
Rush dubbed him a Cabbage Patch Kid this morning. I thought that was funny.
A new house? Oh boy! I'd love to help pick out the drapes!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.