[Rhodes22-list] Blagojevich Impeachment Inquiry Stalls

Tue Dec 16 19:12:47 EST 2008

Bill,

Here's a fun game.  Check out this Politburo, er, State of Illinois website -

illinois.gov/govgazette/pdfs/Gazetteedition_2008Nov.pdf

Not there?  Try this cached version at a private website -

http://24ahead.com/images/Gazetteedition_2008Nov.pdf

Airbrushing?  How very Soviet of them!

Brad

On Tue, Dec 16, 2008 at 4:37 PM, Bill Effros <bill at effros.com> wrote:
> 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/>
>>> Printer Friendly Format Sponsored By
>>> <http://www.nytimes.com/adx/bin/adx_click.html?type=goto&page=www.nytimes.com/printer-friendly&pos=Position1&sn2=336c557e/4f3dd5d2&sn1=fcdd2034/2d875738&camp=foxsearch2008_emailtools_810910e_nyt5&ad=slumdog_f_88x31_11-12&goto=http://www.foxsearchlight.com/slumdogmillionaire/>
>>>
>>>
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>> 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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