Rahm Emanuel Gave Blagojevich List Of 'Acceptable' Senate Candidates: Report

President-elect Barack Obama's chief of staff Rahm Emanuel had direct conversations with Gov. Rod Blagojevich about Obama's replacement in the US Senate, FOX News Chicago reports.

Citing "a source familiar with the investigation," Fox says that Emanuel had "multiple conversations" with Blagojevich and his chief of staff John Harris, who was also arrested Tuesday on federal corruption charges, about the seat and that they we're "likely recorded and in FBI possession."

Fox's source said that Emanuel gave the governor's office a list of "candidates that would be acceptable to President-elect Barack Obama" but no "quid pro quo" or "dealmaking" is suspected.

Meanwhile, an angry Emanuel says he won't go to work because of the media stakeout. He told an ABC News cameraman that has received death threats:

The President-elect's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, said today he won't go to the Chicago Presidential transition offices in order to avoid reporters seeking to ask him whether he had contact with Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich about the Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama's election.

Emanuel appeared "beet-red," according to an ABC News cameraman who was invited inside by Emmanuel to use his bathroom this morning.

"I'm getting regular death threats. You've put my home address on national television. I'm pissed at the networks. You've intruded too much, " Emanuel said, according to the cameraman.

Emanuel has refused to comment as to whether he is the un-named Presidential advisor cited in the FBI affidavit filed in the Blagojevich case. "You're wasting your time," Emanuel told a Chicago Sun-Times reporter yesterday. "I'm not going to say a word to you. I'm going to do this with my children. Don't do that. I'm a father. I have two kids. I'm not going to do it."

Comments

[LWM]

Blago's 15 minutes are up; we're on to Shoegate 24/7!

A last love tap from the Iraqis to Bush for all he's done for them.

Now watch the trolls try to blame Rahm & Obama for this too.

[mec57]

Wrong place to post...no one is blaming Obama or Rahm for this.

[pjones006]

Well at least you have the courage to admit to being a a troll. Of course my respect for the Iraqi's went up a few notches.

[Knightskye]

Who invites a cameraman inside to use his bathroom? Seriously.

[bodhibabe]

Obviously, a kind soul.

[saltpeter]

And don't think this at all odd for politicians to connive themselves into posts they are not actually qualified for. When I once worked for Goodwill Industries, the national head of the non-profit organization just happened to be Fred Grandy, a former Republican Congressman from Iowa (who also happened to once play Gopher on The Love Boat). It was obviously a politically motivated position, one in which he was ill-equipped to actually do and, thus, he was forced out in no small part by a coup of the national chapters of Goodwill led by no less than my own chapter's president. He was kicked to the curb because he tried to run a non-profit like a for profit company by hiring a bunch of irrelevant suits for middle management that effectively hindered the quality of services given to the individuals we served. He then went on to teach at a college about running non-profits even though the one he ran, he ran badly and he only received the position because of his political connections and not due to any real knowledge or extensive work in social services. Unfortunately, these kind of quid pro quos happen all the time.

[chercheur]

Aw, poor Rahm, he's "pissed at the networks." They've "intruded too much." You poor dear.

It's a major national scandal involving the president elect's former Senate seat. His chief-of-staff-designate has been involved to the extent of having had conversations with Blagojevich. Now these conversations, as far as it appears, have been perfectly innocent on Emanuel's part, and no one in the media seems to be claiming otherwise, but poor dear Rahm is "pissed" because the networks have "intruded too much."

Grow up. If you want to be White House chief-of-staff, this goes with the turf. Too bad about your privacy, and for the next few years you're going to have to take some steps to protect your kids' privacy as well.So grow up and stop being :"pissed at the networks" just because they're reporting the news. This goes with the territory

[sparkandy]

Makes one wonder about Emanuel's honesty and credibility, doesn't it? It's clear that Obama has nothing to do with any of this, but Emanuel comes across as smarmy and sneaky and I'd bet the farm he knows more about the situation than he'd like for anyone to know.

[Tim303]

No, it doesn't.

[DonCosenza]

It may be news about what Emanuel's interactions with Blogojevich were, but I'm not sure how it's news what Emanuel's home address is.

[mec57]

Agreed...Earth to Rahm: Your privacy is out the window as long as you are in this Administration...funny, you won't be saying that when you are feeding stories to the press that you think will helo Obama out...then you will be chasing down the media in craven fashion, mark my words. So you can't have it both ways.

[pjones006]

He was mad at them releasing his address on the air which is not "part of the territory".

[saltpeter]

People need to remember their righteous indignation about the corruption of Blagojevich trying to insert himself on some high paying token job when GW BUSH sits on the board of some OIL company, defense contractor, or any number of corporations who had a direct benefit of some of his policies. He'll find his way onto the Carlisle Group or such just like his daddy. And Dick Cheney will find a similar gratutity in the form of a multi-million dollar a year for his services as did Phil Gramm working for SBC Financial in exchange for writing legislation that favored deregulating the banking system (and we all know how well that worked out. At least, for Phil Gramm it did).

[theartfulldodger]

I sit and I watch. I drive and I listen. I fly and I read. What do I learn. I live in a country of idiots. Emanuel and Obama have known what Blagojevich is about for years. They would have to be intellectually inferior to all of the trailer park, NASCAR rally, toothless wonders that agree with and support the far right and you dummies to believe that both Obama and Emanual would not have known this guy was poison and crooked and stupid, a combination that even Bush would have stayed far from. It's all recorded by the FBI. THey said he and Obama are in no way implicated. "Blag the impailer" himself is recorded as letting forth a liteny of words that would make the great demon himself blush about Obama's refusal to give him anything, ending with "Fluck him". Rahter than think you would all prefer to lather yourself up like the back end of a mare freash after a hard run and then when proven stupid, stupid does as stupid is, you make up another one.

Credibility is hard to gain and easy to loose. I bet your friends don't even listen to you and your comrads in neo-con propaganda anymore.

[PrairieDog]

Of course they knew Blago's reputation. But he IS the one charged with picking the replacement so giving a list of "acceptable" candidates make some sense even though the (future) Obama administration has no power to approve or disapprove the choice.

[brodon]

Lies. . .. . . .all lies !!

[WritusMaximus]

Emanuel knows the truth. Why is he keeping mum?

[mb32]

The Trib reported this weekend that a couple of Obama aides said that Fitzgerald asked them not to speak. I think that they would love nothing better than to get this out in the open and off their plate. It's the best option politically, but if they did speak and we learned that the feds had asked them not to speak, people would still be upset with them saying that they interfered with an investigation. Even the Trib delayed the story on wiretapping because the feds asked them. Is anyone accusing the Trib of not being transparent?

[GeniusHockey]

[raddick]

It amazes and amuses me to see people acting like Bush started all the problems in this country. It is so ridiculous. Then you have everyone lamenting that the hatred of America increased under Bush without remembering that America was always hated: For Vietnam, for Grenada, For Iraq 1 and 2, For Iran, For Bay of Pigs, for Panama, For Chile, For Israel, For the Cuban embargo. I mean guys, it is a fiction and a fraud to pretend or even believe that America was the most loved nation on Earth. America has been hated as much as it has been loved and folks need to remember that. There was never a "golden age" of universal love, except now with Obama. But that too shall pass before long.

[candy1710]

Rahm Emanuel won't show up for work because he's been staked out? Baloney. Cat got your tongue Rahm? Where's your statement on this entire matter? All he is doing is ducking the press, because he can't answer the question. The question of corruption around Obama, with Rezko in prison, was ignored by the press for too long. My guess is Rahm will end up falling on his sword for Obama, like Susan McDougal did for Clinton. And yes, this is very relevant John McCain for the press to cover.

[mec57]

I also think that Jesse is going down in all of this too...frankly, I would be sad to see that.
Clearly the amateurism and inexperience of the Obama team in this matter is coming to the fore, from even what should be pros like Rahm and Axelrod...get your stories straight, boys...Politics 101.

[raddick]

I do hope that the folks on this site and on the left will remember that Obama is a politician who will have enormous power over our lives and will be willing to watch him and hold him accountable when he does anything that violates his oath of office or the constitution. I hope just because he is a democrat you are not willing to give him a pass. It is hard I know cuz I voted for him too. However, if Rahm did anything unethical or anything that could stain his presidency then Obama must fire him. The media must be relentless in holding all politicians feet to the fire.

[arrtimus]

You must have overlooked the 11th commandment "thou shalt not question Obama".

[lisa12345]

This is a good point but remember that lefties are hard on their politicians, almost as hard on them as they are with the Repubs. Sometimes I think too hard, I used to cringe about Clinton when the libs got on him back in the day. It is going to be a long hard climb for us, reforming both parties and ending corruption. But it is time for the two aristocracies to go. Hopefully this incident will lead to a change in law that requires elections instead of appointments for empty seats that have been vacated.

[mec57]

Patronage is not the way to go...yes, there have been appointed pols who have done wonderfully, but it is time to let the people be the ones to choose who they want leading them...after all the s--t Illinoisians have been through with so many crooked Governors, it is about time they got to take back their state.

[berrycooda]

And.... away we go again...

Are we going to have a "shoe throwing party" in the U.S. too.....

[mec57]

If Rahm keeps up the victimhood or Axelrod switches his story again we will.

[bluemango]

The media needs to get on with it they always make a big deal out of nothing that is the Governas problem he is a big boy he can take responsibality for his own mistakes they are just trying to create an interst where there is none people care more about their pocket book and the car industary.

[Bobleblah1]

This is all very amusing.
We told you Rahm Emanuel was dirty. But No!
Your Hollywood love for Obama and any and every stupid thing he does blinded you.
This is just the beginning of Emanuel scandals. You folks who are not from Chicago have no idea.
This guy is Dirty. and all the spin and rationalization and straight up lies in the world will not change that.
People like Emanuel are incapable of behaving in a lawful manner. This guy and Hillary and all the other Clinton stooges that Obama has suicidally put into his cabinet will be the seed of his destruction.
They will submarine his presidency with cover from within. But why feel bad for him, he was stupid enough to let them in, so he will have to live with their criminality until it destroys his credibility.

[lisa12345]

But doesn't he almost have to let them in? He is a newbie to politics for the most part. If he did not appease the top Dems by picking people they wanted, they would have made his life pretty rough, right? He kinda had to. The problems in the party are not going to magically change, we have made inroads but we have only just begun! We have to work with what we have.

[mec57]

The Chicago media had sounded the clarion bell ages ago...all it took was a little trip on Google to find hundreds of stories that warned of problems to come.

[pocahontas1957]

Get Blag%&**@itch OUT!!!! Lets clean up and regain this country back to the people!!!!! Wasn't dealing with Bush enough???? Let us not take anymore.

[AdamAnt12]

OOPPS!! Obama's number 1 man caught wiith his hand in the cookie-jar!!!

[DMcMillan]

Does anyone have any facts that Emanuel did something illegal or unethical in his conversations with Blago?

[arrtimus]

It would have been interesting to see if Blago had any takers on his offer. But we may never know.
I wonder who Patrick Fitzgerald voted for?