I’m hesitant to defend anybody in the Blagojevich Scandal until more of the facts are known, but BarbinMD has posted exactly what I wanted to say on the matter. It appears that the event that precipitated Blago’s downfall was a phone call Barack Obama made to president of the Illinois Senate Emil Jones Jr. in September requesting that Jones Jr. throw his support behind a new ethics bill. The ethics bill quickly passed and is set to go into effect in January. Blagojevich reacted to this by ramping up his corrupt efforts to raise cash before the new law precluded him from doing so. When Fitzgerald got wind of Blago’s efforts, he was able to secure a wiretap warrant. The rest is history.
In spite of this, there are a host of articles out there that attempt to tarnish Obama’s reputation and good name by tying him to the governor’s corruption. But the facts we have right now are exculpatory.
1. It was Obama’s successful push for an Ethics Bill that precipitated the governor’s downfall.
2. The prosecutor explicitly stated that there is no hint of wrongdoing by the president-elect.
3. Barack Obama denies haven’t any direct discussions with the governor.
4. The governor said, on tape, that the Obama Team was “not willing to give me anything except appreciation. Fuck them.” He also called Obama a ‘motherf*cker’.
Based on the set of facts we have right now, Obama looks admirably unscathed. In fact, it looks like his advocacy of higher ethics standards is what led to Blago’s exposure as a rank crook.
It’s always possible that some new facts will emerge that change this narrative, but it’s the height of irresponsibility to use the available facts to suggest guilt by association.
