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What makes you think it was anyone on the transition team? According to the Complaint, it was a union official who approached Blagojevich on behalf of Jarrett and heard what the governor wanted.

The complaint also mentions consultants who told Blagojevich to “suck it up” and give Obama what he wanted for nothing. I suspect that the consultants had put out feelers on behalf of Blagojevich and been told by someone on the transition team that Obama wasn’t interested in any deals.

Flap,

Those are legitimate questions and I certainly think that Obama should answer them. However, I think it unlikely that the consultants or the union official would have been as blatant as Blagojevich when reaching out to Obama’s transition team. I think that Axelrod or Emmanuel could have cut them off long before they reached the point of suggesting a quid pro quo.

What is more interesting to me is what the Obama guys knew about Blagojevich eightteen months ago that made them decide to freeze out Blagojevich from the start. I wouldn’t be surprised if Obama gets away without ever answering that question as the right is going to make itself look silly trying to prove some contact between Blagojevich and the transition team.

I think you are dreaming Flap. There won’t be any fall to take. Obama, Axelrod, and Emmanuel all knew that Blagojevich was a ticking time bomb. I think their plan from the beginning was to cut Blagojevich and his representatives off before they could even suggest some sort of deal by saying, “We would love to see Jarrett get it but you have to choose whoever you think would be best for Illinois.” I think Axelrod misspoke because he assumed that Obama had already told Blagojevich what they planned to tell him.

I don’t think that Obama will ever fire Fitzgerald. Nothing makes Obama look better than the fact that a tough prosecutor like Fitzgerald has never laid a finger on him. He can always promote Fitzgerald to some important job in the justice department in Washington if he wants to get him out of Chicago.

If there are any ties between Blagojevich and Obama’s transition team, it is highly likely that they will show up on Fitzgerald’s tapes. I don’t think that Obama would have been as cocky as he was at the news conference today if he wasn’t damn sure that his people were clean. It may even turn out that they were cooperating with Fitzgerald.

I’m not claiming that this proves Obama’s purity. I just think that he’s a hell of a lot smarter than Blagojevich. I think he knew that the good press he could get by helping to bring down a hack like Blagojevich more than outweighed the potential benefit of getting his pick for the senate seat. Moreover, if Lt. Gov. Quinn gets to make the selection, Obama may still get his choice.

It is equally possible that Team Obama went to the FBI. Since everybody knew that Blago was under investigation anyway, there was more to be gained from ratting him out than making a deal with him.