[Rhodes22-list] Blagojevich Impeachment Inquiry Stalls

[Bill Effros]

Brad,

They found him!  Sadly, the Big O was unable to determine what he said 
that was captured on FBI tape.

(No surprise there, Obama said he barely knew Rezko until the FBI 
produced tapes and recordings of him having lunch with Rezko on a 
regular basis.)

December 16, 2008, 1:08 pm


      Obama News Conference: More on Cabinet, Less on Blagojevich

By Katharine Q. Seelye 
<http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/author/katharine-q-seelye/>

Barack Obama today skirted a question about whether there should be a 
special election in Illinois to replace him in the United States Senate.

Many in Illinois have been calling for a special election, saying that 
any appointment by Gov. Rod Blagojevich 
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/rod_r_blagojevich/index.html> 
would be tainted. But some Democrats may be backing off that idea now, 
apparently worried that a Democrat would not be able to hold the seat in 
this political climate.

Mr. Obama, speaking at a brief news conference in Chicago, where he 
introduced Arne Duncan as his choice for education secretary 
<http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/15/obama-picks-arne-duncan-for-education-post/?scp=1&sq=arne&st=Search>, 
said he would leave the decision up to the state legislature.

He did say that he believed the governor could not serve effectively.

But in a somewhat tense moment during his few minutes with the press, he 
cut off a reporter who asked him to reconcile his earlier statement that 
he would take a "hands off" approach to finding a replacement for 
himself and a report that his top adviser, Rahm Emanuel, had presented 
the governor with a list of possible replacements.

Stopping the reporter midsentence, Mr. Obama told him he didn't want him 
to waste his time asking a question he wouldn't answer. Mr. Obama said, 
as he had yesterday, that he had done a "full review" of the situation 
but at the request of the United States attorney, he would not comment 
on the matter until next week.

He added that he had "not confirmed" the report about Mr. Emanuel's 
presenting the governor with a list of names.

At this point, the cameras cut away from Mr. Obama to show a smiling Mr. 
Emanuel standing in the back of the room.

The reporter tried to press the question but got nowhere, then tossed 
Mr. Obama a softball about his jump shot (forgive the mixed metaphor).

The episode prompted the instant analysts on MSNBC to suggest that the 
press corps needed to get tougher on Mr. Obama and hold him more 
accountable. For one thing, they suggested the reporters demand that Mr. 
Obama take more than three or four questions at a time. And they 
lamented the absence of reporters like Sam Donaldson of ABC News, who 
was famous for using his deep loud voice to demand answers to his questions.

On other matters, Mr. Obama was asked whether he was running out of 
options to jump-start the economy, now that the Fed was lowering its 
interest rates to almost zero.

Mr. Obama said it would not be good policy for him to second-guess the 
Fed, but acknowledged that "we are running out of the traditional 
ammunition that's used in a recession, which is to lower interest rates."

He then made a pitch for his economic stimulus plan.

He was also asked about his commitment to public schools, given that he 
sends his daughters to private school, and whether he agreed with the 
idea of paying students $100 for getting As and Bs. He did not respond 
directly, but did say that the Chicago public schools "aren't as good as 
they need to be."

The last question was whether he would keep his earlier promise to 
appoint Republicans to his cabinet. He has appointed only one or two so 
far, but noted that he has more appointments to make.

"When you look at our entire White House staff and cabinet, people will 
feel we followed through on our commitment to make sure this is not only 
an administration that is diverse ethnically but also politically and in 
terms of people's life experience."

Bill Effros

Brad Haslett wrote:
> Bill,
>
> Hey, until the Illinois legislature figures out what to do next, maybe
> we can help Team Obama.   One of their key players is missing.
>
> http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_L6pDyjqqsvY/SUfjxSZ7YtI/AAAAAAAAXew/P9I5DJ8m658/s1600-h/rahmbo+milk
>
> The Big Man himself said yesterday they had done an internal review
> and declared themselves OK.  Come out of hiding Tiny Dancer, the coast
> is clear!
>
> Brad
>
> On Tue, Dec 16, 2008 at 1:34 PM, Bill Effros <bill at effros.com> wrote:
>   
>> The New York Times <http://www.nytimes.com/>
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>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> December 17, 2008
>>
>>
>>  Blagojevich Impeachment Inquiry Stalls
>>
>> By MONICA DAVEY
>> <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/d/monica_davey/index.html?inline=nyt-per>
>>
>> SPRINGFIELD, Ill. --- A committee of the Illinois House considering
>> evidence and testimony in an impeachment inquiry against Gov. Rod R.
>> Blagojevich
>> <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/rod_r_blagojevich/index.html?inline=nyt-per>
>> adjourned its first day of hearings after about an hour on Tuesday,
>> after the governor's lawyer and the federal prosecutor seeking to indict
>> him both expressed concerns.
>>
>> Members of the 21-member committee, appointed Monday, said that United
>> States Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald
>> <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/f/patrick_j_fitzgerald/index.html?inline=nyt-per>
>> had asked for them more details about the witnesses the committee
>> planned to call in its hearings. Mr. Fitzgerald asked the committee for
>> a formal letter outlining its plans, indicating some reluctance about
>> having witnesses testify who might harm the federal case.
>>
>> The lawyer for Mr. Blagojevich, Edward Genson, also objected, saying
>> that he wanted to be present at the proceedings. The committee agreed,
>> and Mr. Genson, who was not at the hearing on Tuesday, said he would be
>> there when the committee reconvenes Wednesday morning.
>>
>> Mr. Genson, a noted Chicago-based criminal defense attorney who
>> confirmed Monday that he had been retained by Mr. Blagojevich, said:
>> "He's not guilty, so we're going to go to court. We're not agreeing to
>> impeachment. If you read these transcripts closely, you'll find that
>> nobody did anything. People are just talking, and that's not against the
>> law."
>>
>> As he put it, "Bad language doesn't make you a criminal." The Associated
>> Press reported that Mr. Blagojevich ignored reporters' questions as he
>> left his house in Chicago on Tuesday morning, carrying a briefcase and
>> gym bag. On Monday, he went to work as usual and signed 11 bills into
>> law, including one that increased tax credits to encourage films being
>> made in Illinois.
>>
>> The confusion over the committee's procedures and plans was the latest
>> indication that many questions remained as to how state lawmakers will
>> pursue impeachment. No Illinois governor has ever been impeached, and
>> the state constitution gives little direction. As a result, many
>> lawmakers here were wrestling with the dimensions of what the committee
>> would be trying to prove and how its work might clash with criminal
>> proceedings by federal prosecutors.
>>
>> In opening statements on Tuesday, members of the committee, which
>> consists of 12 Democrats and 9 Republicans, pledged that despite their
>> criticisms of the governor, they would examine the evidence surrounding
>> him objectively, without preconceptions.
>>
>> Mr. Blagojevich, a Democrat, was arrested a week ago on federal
>> corruption charges that included efforts to make money off his power to
>> appoint a successor to the United States Senate
>> <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/s/senate/index.html?inline=nyt-org>
>> seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama
>> <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/o/barack_obama/index.html?inline=nyt-per>.
>>
>>
>> "Let us remember that we are not Alice in Wonderland --- we are not the
>> Red Queen," Representative Barbara Flynn Currie, a Democrat who is the
>> panel's chairwoman, told her colleagues. "We do not sentence first and
>> then do the verdict."
>>
>> "Frontier justice," she went on, will not carry the day. "We are in a
>> crisis of confidence in state government. We are left with no choice but
>> to initiate an impeachment inquiry."
>>
>> Some said they worried that the impeachment work --- which is expected
>> to occupy many late nights and many weekends --- might take time from
>> what needs to be done to deal with the state's other problems, including
>> a budget deficit and what some lawmakers say has been a virtual halt to
>> state business since Mr. Blagojevich was arrested a week ago.
>>
>> "While the work of this committee continues, I would hope that the work
>> of the state shall also be able to somehow function and that we do
>> whatever is necessary to see to that the services this state is supposed
>> to provide" are taken care of, said Representative Bill Black, a
>> Republican on the committee.
>>
>> Representative Mary Flowers, a Democrat, said the impeachment movement
>> was being propelled by a cloud that was hanging over the state that must
>> be shed so Illinois can reclaim some respect. "It's the land of
>> Lincoln," Ms. Flowers said. "It's the land of Barack Obama."
>>
>> Mr. Blagojevich has not yet been indicted in the criminal investigation,
>> and some experts say the inquiry might create problems for federal
>> prosecutors' criminal proceedings against him, if witnesses are
>> compelled to testify and are granted immunity.
>>
>> "If you grant people immunity, you can really screw up investigations,"
>> said Ronald J. Allen, a professor of law at Northwestern, pointing to
>> the case of Oliver L. North
>> <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/n/oliver_l_north/index.html?inline=nyt-per>,
>> whose conviction in the Iran-contra affair was thrown out because of
>> immunity granted during Congressional hearings. Professor Allen said
>> most at risk were potential cases against people who were involved but
>> have not yet been charged.
>>
>> Randall Samborn, a spokesman for Mr. Fitzgerald, the United States
>> attorney for the Northern district of Illinois, declined to comment
>> Monday on whether prosecutors were concerned that impeachment
>> proceedings in Springfield could interfere with their investigation.
>>
>> Anton R. Valukas, a former United States attorney in Chicago, said Mr.
>> Fitzgerald was likely to show a high level of deference to a legislative
>> process that was about the people's right to make a judgment about who
>> should govern them.
>>
>> Meanwhile, Mr. Obama said at a news conference on Tuesday in Chicago
>> that it was inappropriate for him to comment in detail on the
>> Blagojevich investigation. He said he would let the Illinois legislature
>> decide whether a special election should be held to choose his successor.
>>
>> Mr. Obama also reiterated that an internal report by his staff on any
>> connections between his staff and the governor's office will be released
>> next week.
>>
>> Sharon Otterman contributed reporting from New York.
>>
>>
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