Blago/Obama Report: The Waiting Is The Hardest Part
UPDATE, 10:55 AM: MSNBC reports the Obama team will not be releasing the Craig report today.
By now, the general consensus is that Pres.-elect Obama's Chief Of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, has been cleared of any wrongdoing after an internal investigation into Obama transition team contact with IL Gov. Rob Blagojevich. The investigation was completed by incoming WH counsel/ex-Clinton lawyer Greg Craig over a week ago and yesterday, ABC's Stephanopoulos (another ex-Clintonite) reported he got an early look at it. Today, the rest of the media is wondering when it will get the same privilege.
According to the "This Week" host, the report mentions a few contacts between Emanuel and Blago over who could replace Obama in the Senate. Emanuel is said to have pushed Obama family friend/incoming WH Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett for the seat, but Stephanopoulos said the report finds Emanuel refused to participate in Blago's pay-for-play/IL-politics-as usual scheme to ensure Jarrett's selection. Overall, the Stephanopoulos report on the Craig investigation confirms what Obama has been saying about his team's contacts with the IL Gov. all along -- namely that, though there was contact, there was nothing illegal.
Questions remain as to whether the report will silence right wing critics who are picking over Blago's bones, looking for anything that might stick to Obama. It is, after all, an internal investigation conducted by a clear Obama ally. But Stephanopoulos' reporting also mirrors the statements of IL US Atty Patrick Fitzgerald, who said from the get-go that there's no evidence Obama's people knew of Blago's alleged corruption surrounding the Senate seat.
Either way, no questions will be answered until more reporters get to see the Craig report, though you can bet many more will be asked. Light could finally be shed today with a public release from the Obama team (but no one knows for sure). We could have another 24 hours of thumb-twiddling speculation in front of us.
(EVAN McMORRIS-SANTORO)