POLITICO – President-elect Barack Obama’s aides plan to release a report this week absolving incoming chief of staff Rahm Emanuel of any impropriety in his contacts with the disgraced Illinois governor’s office, Democratic sources tell Politico. Share/Save Read More →

By Sunlen Miller  (ABC NEWS) – The Obama Transition Team has completed their internal investigation – promised last week by President-elect Barack Obama – detailing any contact their staff had with members of Illinois Gov Blagoveich Share/Save Read More →

By Steve Chapman "I was appalled and disappointed by what we heard in those transcripts," Barack Obama said Thursday about the documented misconduct of the governor of Illinois. That's right. He was appalled. And it took him only 48 hours to realize it. Share/Save Read More →

By Maggie Haberman Top Barack Obama adviser Rahm Emanuel gave aides to Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich a list of candidates he could appoint to the Senate who would be "acceptable" to the president-elect, according to a new report yesterday. Share/Save Read More →

BY FRAN SPIELMAN & ABDON M. PALLASCH President-elect Barack Obama’s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, refused to take questions from reporters this morning about whether he was the Obama “advisor” named in the criminal complaint against Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Share/Save Read More →

Barack Obama says he had no contact with Gov. Rod Blagojevich over his vacant Senate seat, but the sequence of events in the FBI complaint suggests he might have caught wind of the governor's alleged dealings.  Barack Obama insists that he and his staff were not involved in the alleged schemes Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich cooked up to sell off the president-elect's vacant Senate seat. Share/Save Read More →

By Craig Gordon & Carrie Budoff Brown President-elect Barack Obama said Thursday morning that he is “confident” no one representing him took part in any pay-to-play dealings with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich over filling Obama’s U.S. Senate seat, and pledged to release details of contacts between his team and the governor’s office in the next few days. Share/Save Read More →

By Jake Tapper  News organizations still have plenty of questions for President-elect Obama and his Transition Team about their involvement and possible conversations with Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Apparently so do many Americans. Share/Save Read More →

By Allahpundit, Hot Air HOT AIR – Sweet catch by Tapper, showing why he got that promotion. Obama today… “I had no contact with the governor or his office and so I was not aware of what was happening, ” Obama told reporters today in Chicago. “It’s a sad day for Illinois. Beyond that, I don’t think it’s appropriate to comment.” Share/Save Read More →

BY NATASHA KORECKI Gov. Blagojevich and his chief of staff John Harris were arrested at their homes this morning in a probe involving the governor’s quest to fill Sen. Barack Obama’s Senate seat. Share/Save Read More →

By Andrea Billups The FBI on Wednesday raided the county offices of a former Illinois state senator who is a poker-playing buddy of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama. According to Chicago authorities, the FBI visited the offices in Joliet, Ill., of Will County executive Larry Walsh, a longtime friend of Mr. Obama's, and his chief of staff Matt Ryan. Share/Save Read More →