Friday, April 03, 2009

Rahm-Blago Links


Which version of the Rahm Emanuel-Rod Blagojevich relationship is true? U.S. News and World Report cited:


The Times adds that "in 2006, when Congressman A was making inquiries about the status of state grant money intended for the school, Mr. Blagojevich sent a message, the indictment says, that the brother of the representative (apparently, officials said, Ari Emanuel, an agent in Hollywood) needed to have a fund-raiser for Mr. Blagojevich. The fund-raiser never occurred, the indictment says." Reporting on the "Congressman A" story, the Chicago Tribune describes Emanuel as "a confidant to both Blagojevich and...Obama."

Or is this article from July 2008 more representative? After all they are Rahm's words:


He (Emanuel) and Obama “participated in a small group that met weekly when Rod was running for governor,” Emanuel said. "We basically laid out the general election, Barack and I and these two.” A spokesman for Blagojevich confirmed Emanuel’s account, although David Wilhelm, who now works for Obama, said that Emanuel had overstated Obama’s role.

Did the training take on Blago? Influence peddling needs to be subtle and indirect. But the money can be big.

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