Democrats Face 'Culture Of Corruption' Issue

WASHINGTON (AP) ~ The Obama administration and the new Congress are quickly handing over to Republicans the same "culture of corruption" issue that Democrats used so effectively against the GOP before coming to power.

Freshman Sen. Roland Burris (pictured), D-Ill., is only the latest embarrassment.

Senate Democrats accepted Burris because they believed what he told them: He was clean. Burris now admits he tried to raise money for Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who authorities say sought to sell President Barack Obama's former Senate seat.

"The story seems to be changing day by day," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Wednesday.

The political mess for the Democratic Party, however, isn't Burris' conduct alone; it's the pattern that has developed so quickly over the past few months.

The chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., is the subject of a House ethics investigation. It's partly focused on his fundraising practices for a college center in his name, his ownership financing of a resort property in the Dominican Republic and his financial disclosure reports.

Federal agents raided two Pennsylvania defense contractors that were provided millions of dollars in federal funding by Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., chairman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee.

Blagojevich was arrested Dec. 9 on federal charges, including allegations he schemed to sell the Senate seat to the highest bidder.

Tom Daschle, the former Senate majority leader from South Dakota, abandoned his bid to become health and human services secretary and the administration's point man on reforming health care; and Nancy Killefer stepped down from a newly created position charged with eliminating inefficient government programs.
Both Daschle and Killefer had tax problems, and Daschle also faced potential conflicts of interest related to working with health care interests.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was confirmed after revealing he had tax troubles.

Obama's initial choice for commerce secretary, Bill Richardson, stepped aside due to a grand jury investigation into a state contract awarded to his political donors.

While the Senate voted overwhelmingly to confirm William Lynn as deputy defense secretary, Obama had to waive his ethics regulations to place the former defense lobbyist in charge of day-to-day operations at the Pentagon.

The No. 2 Senate Democrat, Richard Durbin of Illinois, expressed his anger about the Burris case Wednesday while he was on an official visit to Greece.

"I do believe that the public statements made by Mr. Burris to this point have raised questions ... as to the nature of his relationship with the former governor and the circumstances surrounding his appointment," Durbin said.

Reid said in Nevada, "Now there's some question as to whether or not he told the truth."

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Jackson Jr.'s Backers Tied To Scandal?

Businessmen with ties to both Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson discussed raising $1 million for Blagojevich as a way of persuading him to appoint Jackson to President-elect Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat, a Chicago newspaper reports.

Citing unnamed sources, the Chicago Tribune reports in a story that businessman Raghuveer Nayak (RUG'-oo-veer NAY'-uk) and Blagojevich aide Rajinder Bedi (RUJ'-in-dur BEH'-dee) told attendees at an Oct. 31 meeting that they needed to raise $1 million for the governor to make sure Jackson was appointed to the Senate.

Nayak is a Blagojevich supporter who is also close to the Jackson family. Bedi has also been a Blagojevich fundraiser.

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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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Obama Faces 'Trial By Fire' In Scandal

By David A. Patten/Newsmax ~ Once he assumes office, President-elect Barack Obama will face a severe “trial by fire” over whether to fire U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald and other U.S. attorneys, following Democratic Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s arrest Tuesday for allegedly offering to sell Obama’s vacated Senate seat to the highest bidder.

Ordinarily, legal and political experts say, an incoming president has broad authority to change both the Cabinet and the U.S. attorneys who serve at his request. But with unanswered questions swirling over the degree of interaction Obama's team has had with Blagojevich, and the alarming level of Illinois corruption exposed by the probe, any move to fire Fitzgerald would be highly controversial as a possible conflict of interest.

“There are enough connections between the worlds of Blagojevich and Obama that the whole thing has the potential to grow beyond a colorful Chicago tale of corruption to entangle members of the presidential transition team, to test Obama’s carefully cultivated reformist image, and to distract the president-elect just as he is preparing to take office,” Time.com reported Wednesday.

Many of the concerns revolve around a statement Obama made Tuesday afternoon, which ultimately raised more questions than it answered.

"I had no contact with the governor or his office, and so we were not -- I was not aware of what was happening," Obama said, leaving open the possibility that his staff did have contact with Blagojevich. "And as I said, it's a sad day for Illinois. Beyond that, I don't think it's appropriate to comment."

Obama’s statement evoked concern among the mainstream media that it was too tepid to quell the rising hubbub. “I think it was a very passive statement by Obama yesterday. I don’t think it was enough,” NBC political director Chuck Todd told MSNBC viewers on Wednesday morning.

[It was on MSNBC on Wednesday that Oklahoma City and Washington pollster and political commentator Chris Wilson first warned it would be a mistake for Obama to replace Fitzgerald, saying the smart move would be to leave the prosecutor in place.]

Read more at www.newsmax.com.

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Wilson Says Obama Should Retain Fitzgerald

Chris Wilson says President-elect Obama will make a mistake if he replaces Chicago federal prosecutor David Fitzgerald before the investiation into Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is concluded.

Wilson, Oklahoma City and Washington-based pollster and political commentator, said on MSNBC this afternoon that Obama should not replace Fitzgerald when he names new federal officials after taking office in January.

Wilson heads Wilson Research Strategies.

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Jesse Jackson Jr. 'Senate Candidate No. 5'

From ABC News ~ Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., is the anonymous "Senate Candidate No. 5" whose emissaries Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich reportedly offered up to $1 million to name him to the U.S. Senate, federal law enforcement sources tell ABC News.

The politician says he is not a target of the Blagojevich investigation.

According to the FBI affidavit in the case, Blagojevich "stated he might be able to cut a deal with Senate Candidate 5 that provided Rod Blagojevich" with something "tangible up front."

Jackson said this morning he was contacted Tuesday by federal prosecutors in Chicago whom he said "asked me to come in and share with them my insights and thoughts about the selection process."

Jackson said, "I don't know" when asked whether he was Candidate No. 5, but said he was told "I am not a target of this investigation."

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Reynolds Cites Illinois Scandal, Wants To Remove Governor's Appointment Authority

State Rep. Mike Reynolds, R-Oklahoma City, wants to remove the governor's authority to fill vacant statewide offices.

Reynolds said that in light of allegations that Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich tried to “sell” an appointment to the now-vacant U.S. Senate seat in that state, he will file legislation that would allow Oklahoma voters, not the governor, to choose the person who fills any vacated statewide office.

If any major office is vacated before the end of the officeholder’s current term that position would remain unfilled until the next general election under the proposal. Currently, the governor is allowed to appoint a successor.

“The Illinois scandal makes clear that the appointment power can easily be abused and we’ve had more than our share of corruption in Oklahoma already,” said Reynolds, R-Oklahoma City. “My proposal will simply remove that temptation and ensure the people of Oklahoma get to choose the people they want in office.”

Reynolds noted that Governor Henry actually endorsed a similar course of action when former State Auditor Jeff McMahan was under federal investigation. During that controversy, Henry urged McMahan to step aside during the investigation. McMahan later resigned from office after being convicted.

Reynolds also noted that vacancies in the state Legislature are filled through the election process and not by gubernatorial appointment.

In recent years, two major statewide officeholders have resigned due to legal troubles: McMahan and former Insurance Commissioner Carroll Fisher. Other vacancies have occurred in the offices of State Treasurer and Corporation Commissioner.

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The Gadfly Says Not So Fast

President-elect Obama's detractors have been quick to try to link him to Illinois Governor Rod Blogojevich's just-unveiled corruption allegations. Surely, the Obama critics claim, Obama must be involved.

Not so fast.

There is no indication, in the public documents filed thus far, or in the prosecutor's comments, that Obama is involved in any way. In fact, the prosecutor went out of his way, several times, to say that.

And there is taped evidence Obama's team wouldn't play Blogojevich's game: The FBI says it taped Blagojevich complaining that Obama advisers were telling him that he had to “suck it up . . . and give this mother----er [the President-elect]] his senator. F--- him. For nothing? F--- him.”

There are joint associations involving the governor and the president-elect that will be fully vetted by federal investigators (and the news media) in the weeks to come.

But guilt by association without facts is irresponsible.

The immediate problem for the president-elect is perception...the perception that he is a product of the worst side of politics, a pay-for-play system that has pervaded, and corrupted, Chicago and Illinois politics for as long as anyone can remember.

Whether Obama will be tainted by the the sure-to-grow scandal remains to be seen. Meanwhile, journalists and bloggers alike might be circumspect in keeping their fingers off their keyboards when it comes to pointing fingers at Obama. ~ Mike McCarville

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Feds Arrest Illinois Governor, Chief Of Staff

From CBS2/Chicago ~ Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich and his Chief of Staff, John Harris, were arrested today by FBI agents on federal corruption charges alleging that they and others are engaging in ongoing criminal activity: conspiring to obtain personal financial benefits for Blagojevich by leveraging his sole authority to appoint a United States Senator; threatening to withhold substantial state assistance to the Tribune Company in connection with the sale of Wrigley Field to induce the firing of Chicago Tribune editorial board members sharply critical of Blagojevich; and to obtain campaign contributions in exchange for official actions – both historically and now in a push before a new state ethics law takes effect January 1, 2009.

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