And, it should be pointed out, Mr. Obama has a relationship with Mr. Blagojevich, having not only endorsed Blagojevich in 2002 and 2006, but having served as a top adviser to the Illinois governor in his first 2002 run for the state house. In the Democratic gubernatorial primary that year, then-state sen. Obama endorsed former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris. But after Blagojevich won, Obama came around enthusiastically. At the same time, meanwhile, Axelrod had such serious concerns about whether Blagojevich was ready for governing he refused to work for his one-time client.

According to Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., Mr. Obama's incoming White House chief of staff, Emanuel, then-state senator Obama, a third Blagojevich aide, and Blagojevich's campaign co-chair, David Wilhelm, were the top strategists of Blagojevich's 2002 gubernatorial victory.

Emanuel told the New Yorker earlier this year that he and Obama "participated in a small group that met weekly when Rod was running for governor.

We basically laid out the general election, Barack and I and these two."

Originally posted by Animal
Obama's team said that the Obama administration's investigation cleared its members of wrong doing,

yeah. that was funny.
They probed themselves and found themselves clean.

ATS thread -

The firm represents 17 Yemeni nationals and one Pakistani citizen held at Guantanamo Bay. The Supreme Court will soon review the D.C. Circuit’s ruling that ordered the dismissal of a number of habeas petitions filed by Guantanamo detainees; some of our clients are petitioners in the Supreme Court Case. We expect to play a substantial role in the briefing. We also plan to petition the Supreme Court to hear our Pakistani client’s appeal from the D.C. Circuit’s order dismissing his case.

Governor Rod Blagojevich placed responsibility for one key impeachment charge just a door away from the Oval Office. Blagojevich said before the Senate vote that, if he's impeached, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel should be a "co-conspirator."

"If you're impeaching me," Blagojevich told lawmakers," ... let's demand that President Obama fire Rahm Emanuel, because Rahm Emanuel is the one who gave me this idea."


Blagojevich was referring to a charge based upon the I-SaveRx Program, an effort to import prescription drugs from Canada. He reminded lawmakers of concerns that senior citizens have about being able to afford both food and medicine.


"How many of us talked about those things in speeches? How many of us who were familiar with how Congress operates actually had talking points from the Democratic National Campaign Committee and they had that line: Food or medicine, food or medicine? How many of us said all that? And how many of us kept railing against the FDA because they wouldn't allow ... American seniors to go to Canada and get the same prescription drugs, the same medicines made by the exact same companies... for forty to fifty per cent less?"


Blagojevich insisted that the controversial program for which he was being impeached was the brainchild of Emanuel, who inherited Blagojevich's congressional seat before being named Obama's Chief of Staff.