Posted on 12/11/2008 7:08:34 AM PST by JRochelle
Barack Obama has flatly said that he has “not discussed the Senate seat with [Rod Blagojevich] at any time.” If that is true — and Obama will undoubtedly be asked the broader question of whether he communicated in any way with Blagojevich on the subject — then the big story in the Blagojevich scandal is the role of intermediaries. Throughout the criminal complaint filed against Blagojevich, there are references to unnamed individuals who play important roles in the scandal — and who know a lot about what went on and who was involved. None of those intermediaries is more intriguing than the person referred to as “Advisor B.”
We first learn about Advisor B in the complaint’s description of a November 7 three-way telephone call between Blagojevich, his chief of staff John Harris, and “Advisor B, a Washington D.C.-based consultant.” It was during this call that the participants talked about a “three-way deal for the open Senate seat,” involving the Service Employees International Union and its affiliated group “Change to Win.” The idea was that Blagojevich would appoint Obama favorite Valerie Jarrett to the seat, and in return, SEIU would make Blagojevich head of “Change to Win,” and then Obama would perform some unspecified act to help “Change to Win.” Harris said such a deal would give Obama a “buffer so there is no obvious quid pro quo for [Senate Candidate One],” according to the complaint. (“Senate Candidate One,” we now know, refers to Jarrett.) “Advisor B said that he liked the idea of the three-way deal,” the complaint says. “Advisor B said they should leverage the president-elect’s desire to have [Jarrett] appointed to the Senate seat in order to get a head position with Change to Win and a salary.”
The next time we meet Advisor B is on November 10, during a two-hour conference call involving Blagojevich, Blagojevich’s wife, Harris, Blagojevich’s general counsel, “and various Washington-D.C. based advisors, including Advisor B,” according to the complaint. Prosecutors have not said how many “various” advisors there were on the call — some apparently came and went during the two-hour session. On the call, Blagojevich conceded that it was unlikely that Obama would appoint him secretary of Health and Human Services or make him an ambassador. Given that, Blagojevich, according to the complaint, “asked what he can get from the president-elect for the Senate seat.” The group discussed a number of options — remember, this call went on for a very long time. It was a laundry list of corrupt possibilities, and, apparently, several people, including some Washington-based politicos, were in on it.
Advisor B pops up again on November 12, in another conversation with Blagojevich. The two discussed forming a non-profit organization to be headed by Blagojevich and funded by some rich Obama supporter. According to the complaint, “Advisor B stated that he likes the idea, but liked the Change to Win option better because, according to Advisor B, from the president-elect’s perspective, there would be fewer ‘fingerprints’ on the president-elect’s involvement with Change to Win, because Change to Win already has an existing stream of revenue and, therefore, ‘you won’t have stories in four years that they bought you off.’”
As I wrote yesterday, the complaint contains a three-week gap — a period in which prosecutors don’t discuss any conversations among the participants. Of that period, the complaint says, “Throughout the past month, ROD BLAGOJEVICH has continued to engage in numerous conversations relating to filling the open Senate seat,” but gives no details. The details do not resume until December 4, the last big day in the Senate-seat plot. On that day, according to the complaint, Blagojevich “spoke to Advisor B and informed Advisor B that he was giving Senate Candidate Five [now known to be Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr.] greater consideration for the Senate seat because, among other reasons, if ROD BLAGOJEVICH ran for re-election, Senate Candidate Five would ‘raise money’ for ROD BLAGOJEVICH, although ROD BLAGOJEVICH said he might ‘get some (money) up front, maybe,’ from Senate Candidate Five to insure Senate Candidate Five kept his promise about raising money for ROD BLAGOJEVICH.” The complaint goes on to say that in a phone call recorded on October 31, Blagojevich said he was approached by an associate of Senate Candidate Five — that is, Jackson — for “pay to play” in which Jackson would raise $500,000 for Blagojevich and an emissary would raise $1 million for Blagojevich, if Blagojevich made Jackson a senator. Jackson has strongly denied all of the allegations.
The next day, December 5, the Chicago Tribune published an article reporting that Blagojevich was under surveillance. Blagojevich immediately stopped his efforts to sell the Senate seat and began to work on his legal defense. But from the actions described in the criminal complaint, there are some key players who remain unknown and, so far, uncharged. Anyone who wants to understand the Blagojevich scandal will have to learn more about Advisor B.
Fitz has so much stuff on Obama that the Dems force Obama out. It would have to happen before the Electors meet for Hillary to take his place -- after that, I assume Biden would move up to Prez.
I think you're right on that. It's either Rahm or Axelrod --more likely Rahm because Axelrod breathes slightly more rarified air than Rahm and perhaps smarter and less impulsive.
In any case, I don't think "advisor B" will turn out to be some low-level type we've never heard of.
I've wondered that too; but some (including Rush, on-air right now) are questioning whether Fitz --by going public *too early* with the Blago complaint-- is in the tank for Obama?
Byron York seems to imply that Fitz's intel flow was hampered by the "Chicago Tribune publish[ing] an article reporting that Blagojevich was under surveillance."
Freakin' Trib. They go after Blago - yet protect Obama.
Yes, reports indicate that the Dec. 5 story in the Trib. ended the prospect of further info from wiretaps -- the questions is WHO leaked that vital info to the Trib. and why? Was it Fitz's office ready to shut down its own investigation, or someone else acting to torpedo the investigation?
Either way, letting Blago and others know about the wiretaps ensured they would go into CYA mode and there would be no more incriminating recordings. Did Fitz decide his investigation had run its course or was that someone else leaking?
No, from what I’ve seen Obama had his own realtor who was Miriam someone.....
BUT, Patti Blago may well have been Rezko’s realtor in the transactions — I have yet to see anything confirm or deny that..... Patti Blago DID apparently work as some kind of a “business partner” with Rezko for around a decade!! She also did receive real estate commissions from Rezko transactions at times..... So she may well have been involved in advising the transaction, whether or not she was a realtor of record.
Good to know. I hope there is some Chicago investigative journalist looking to make a national name for himself digging around about this.
Reporters could start on FR for some quick info - there was a thread on Patti B. last night:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2146647/posts?page=14#14
Looking For INFO-Patricia BlagoJevich Was The Realtor In Rezko-Obama House Deal?
To: tcrlaf; All
Had to dig this article out of the Internet Archive/Wayback Machine, so I hope the link works for others. There is an interesting article from 2006 about the Rezko prosecution. Patti B. might easily have worked with Rezko/Obama on their shared real estate transactions, but I have not yet found any confirmation of that.
“Rezko had a spot in the front row at the last inauguration, when he was advising Rod Blagojevich on sensitive appointments to powerful state jobs. First Lady Patti Blagojevich was a Rezko business partner for about a decade, receiving more than $38,000 in real estate commissions from him in 2004.”
Patti Blagojevich Was Business Partner of Rezko’s for a Decade!!
14 posted on Wednesday, December 10, 2008 9:52:25 PM by Enchante (Obama, time to throw your good pal Gov. Blago under that bus!!)
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“B” could be the Forehead (Begala).
http://www.nypost.com/seven/12112008/news/politics/senate_sale_govs_wife_spewed_curses_in_c_143688.htm for starters FRiend.
I've read some of the transcripts. One of the advisors told Blago he'd have to "suck it up" for a couple of years, so as not to appear to be an obvious quid pro quo.
“You’re wasting your time,” Emanuel said. “I’m not going to say a word to you. I’m going to do this with my children. Dont do that. I’m a father. I have two kids. I’m not going to do it.”
Straight out of the mob boss handbook. Retreat to your kid’s recital when they start closing in and give em a good dose of righteous indignation. What fun this will be. This and DeMint rallying the right to riot is pretty impressive in the same day.
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