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In January, the Sun-Times reported that Emanuel called Wyma in the days after the presidential election with a message for Blagojevich: Obama would not offer anything but “appreciation” in return for the appointment of an Obama favorite to the vacated Senate seat. It is unclear why Emanuel contacted Wyma rather than Blagojevich or the governor’s chief of staff, John Harris. At the time, unbeknownst to Blagojevich, Wyma had turned against him, secretly providing information to federal investigators about the governor’s alleged pay-to-play schemes.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/blagojevich/1393503,CST-NWS-wyma23.article

Emanuel had pal make call to Blago
PROBE | Aide worked with feds, told gov he'd get nothing for Senate: sources

January 23, 2009

EXCERPT

The report, commissioned by Obama after Blagojevich's Dec. 9 arrest, was an account of contacts between Obama’s staff and the governor's office. In response to the message from Wyma, Blagojevich was caught on tape saying: “They're not willing to give me anything except appreciation; [expletive] them.”

In October, Wyma began secretly providing information to the feds about Blagojevich.

In November, Wyma called Blagojevich's staff with the message from Emanuel, sources said. There's no indication that Wyma knew of a probe involving allegations related to the Senate seat. Wyma had provided information to the feds about pay-to-play allegations, according to the criminal complaint.

Wyma’s call on behalf of Emanuel was uncharacteristic, sources said. Before that, it was Emanuel who pushed for a Jarrett appointment.

The revelation that Emanuel allegedly asked an intermediary to contact Blagojevich's camp raises questions about whether Emanuel sought to distance himself from Blagojevich at a time when he has said he was unaware of alleged deal-making by the governor. Wyma’s attorney, Zachary Fardon, would not comment. An Emanuel spokeswoman referred to the Obama report.