“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.”
I don’t believe they were put up either, but after the 11/10 marathon phone call Team 0 drastically changed course. They were tipped off, IMO, and either played along with the Feds or threw out a ruse.
How did they change course?
If they were playing along, why did they act so surprised and so defensive upon learning about the arrest. They weren't prepared to deal with the arrest and made some mistakes - Axelrod's poor excuse for what he said publicly and Obama's slip up on his statement saying, "we", then saying "I".
If they were playing along, they would have said so right away and been hailed as heroes who rode in on their white horses to conquer evil.
Rahm Emmanuel is uncharacteristicly quiet and unapproachable.