AP Joins Mud-Tossing At Rahm Emanuel

The Associated Press has joined other media and some bloggers in throwing mud at Rahm Emanuel, President-elect Barack Obama's chief of staff.

While The AP regularly issued glowing reports about Obama and pilloried John McCain and Sarah Palin during the campaign, several of its reporters now seem ready to throw Emanuel under the bus for his contacts with Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich even though there's evidence Emanuel would have nothing to do with Blagojevich's "pay for play" scheme to sell Obama's Senate seat to the highest bidder. The AP asserts that Emanuel's political ties to Blagojevich constitute "a troubling liability" despite the fact Emanuel, like the governor, has been a well-connected Illinois pol for years. It would be extra-ordinary if they did not have political ties.

Here's today's primary story from The AP:

Gov. Rod Blagojevich is legendary in Illinois political circles for not picking up the phone or returning calls, even from important figures like the state's senior senator, Dick Durbin.

But there was always one call Blagojevich regularly took, say his aides, and that was from Rahm Emanuel - his congressman, his one-time campaign adviser and, more recently, and troubling for Emanuel, one of his contacts with President-elect Barack Obama's transition staff.

The friendly rapport Blagojevich and Emanuel shared over the years has suddenly become a troubling liability for Emanuel and the new president he will serve as chief of staff.

Read the entire story at www.newsmax.com.

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Republicans: Where's Obama's Openness?

From Fox News ~ Republicans are criticizing President-elect Barack Obama's silence over contacts his aides may have had with disgraced Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, saying he is breaking promises to bring openness to government.

"While it is encouraging that the president-elect has stated his office will disclose contacts with the scandal-ridden governor, it remains disappointing that his actions are in response to political pressure," Republican National Committee Chairman Robert M. "Mike" Duncan said.

"Americans expect the highest degree of transparency from their elected leaders, rather than promises of openness on the campaign trail," he said.

Obama said Friday he will release in a matter of days the results of an internal investigation into what conversations his aides and advisers may have had with Blagojevich, who has been accused of trying to sell Obama's Senate seat.

Obama's staff has declined to respond to even basic questions, like who is conducting the probe, how long it will take, what issues are being explored and whether they are working with federal investigators. While Obama has promised openness throughout his service, his staff has locked down on inquiries for now.

The Obama transition team's refusal to talk has contributed to a maelstrom around Obama's incoming White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, a Chicago congressman likely to have been in contact with the governor. Blagojevich was arrested this week in a corruption scandal.

But Emanuel is not a target of the probe, according to people who have been briefed on the investigation.

The two people spoke on a condition of anonymity because the criminal investigation is ongoing. One is a person close to Emanuel, who said he has been told by investigators that he's not a subject of their probe.

Asked if any conversations between Emanuel and Blagojevich were captured on government wiretaps, Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said, "I honestly don't know." Other transition officials refused to respond to inquiries.

There are no suggestions that Obama or his aides were involved in the alleged sale of his seat. U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said prosecutors were making no allegations that Obama was aware of any scheming. And Blagojevich himself, in taped conversations cited by prosecutors, suggested that Obama wouldn't be helpful to him and the governor called Obama a vulgar term. Even if the governor was to appoint a candidate favored by the Obama team, Blagojevich said, "they're not willing to give me anything except appreciation."

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