 Gov. Rod Blagojevich, D-Illinois |
President Bush’s opinion of the corruption arrest of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich isn’t public, at least for now, according to the spokeswoman for the White House.
Questions about the federal case against Blagojevich – he was arrested Tuesday on allegations he tried to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama – were raised by two reporters, including Les Kinsolving, WND’s correspondent at the White House.
“Illinois Democrat U.S. Senator Richard Durbin has called upon President-elect Obama not to replace Chicago’s U.S. Attorney, Patrick Fitzgerald. And my question: The president agrees with and is grateful to Senator Durbin for his support of Mr. Fitzgerald, isn’t he?” Kinsolving asked.
“Les, that will be a decision that the president-elect makes when he decides to make it,” said spokeswoman Dana Perino.
“The president surely agrees with the president-elect in that the governor of Illinois should resign, doesn’t he?” Kinsolving continued.
“I have not spoken to the president about that in particular. I just … ,” Perino said.
“Well, what do you think?” Kinsolving asked.
“It doesn’t matter what I think,” Perino said.
Earlier, another reporter had tried to elicit a perspective from the White House on what a federal prosecutor described as a “crime spree” by Blagojevich.
“Has the president been shocked, or what’s his reaction with the Blagojevich scandal out in Chicago? And what does he think it says about Chicago politics today?” was the question.
“The president believes that it’s a very serious situation, that the charges are astounding, but that because it is in the middle of an investigation that the U.S. attorney is conducting, we won’t have further comment,” Perino said.
WND previously reported on the arrest of Blagojevich and the resulting questions about whether Obama knew of any of the alleged activities, including the governor’s apparent offer to appoint Obama’s preferred candidate to serve in the U.S. Senate in return for “private sector” help.
“This is a burgeoning crisis for Obama that should shake his presidency to its core,” said Tom Fitton, chief of the Judicial Watch organization.
“The criminal complaint filed today indicates that Obama and his team knew
about Blagojevich’s efforts to sell Obama’s Senate seat,” he said.
“Did Obama report Blagojevich to investigators about any efforts to sell his Senate seat?” Fitton asked.
ABC’s Jake Tapper also expressed concern over the same issue.
On his blog, he wrote that while appearances seem to indicate Obama “refused to go along with the ‘pay to play'” Blagojevich plan, there were significant questions.
For example, he wondered “how Blagojevich knew that Mr. Obama was not willing to give him anything in exchange for the Senate seat – with whom was Blagojevich speaking? Did that person report the governor to the authorities?”
Judicial Watch said it has been investigating Blagojevich for more than two years and has an ongoing open records litigation concerning “the sale of government jobs for which he was arrested today.”
Find out what an Obama White House will mean for the nation, in “The Audacity of Deceit,” now.
“Blagojevich has stonewalled and refused to turn over documents to
Judicial Watch that could have alerted the American people to his
corruption,” Fitton said.
“There has been an air of lawlessness around Gov. Blagojevich for some
time and Judicial Watch applauds U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald for his
actions,” Fitton said. “Blagojevich’s corruption is no surprise, but its breadth and depravity is
shocking. The alleged efforts to sell the Senate seat of Barack Obama are
outrageous, but also seem to implicate many other powerful politicians and
political players. Especially disturbing are the questions the scandal
raises about Barack Obama and his close associates.”
The case outlined by prosecutors targeted Blagojevich and his chief of staff, with prosecutors stating several times their work contained no allegations against Obama.
The case did, however, mention Tony Rezko, a longtime Obama friend, fundraiser and real estate partner, Judicial Watch noted.
Prosecutors alleged Blagojevich repeatedly tried to negotiate personal benefits for his official duties, including the provision in Illinois that he as governor would appoint a successor for Obama’s now-vacated U.S. Senate seat.
Do you have a tough question you’d like to ask the White House? WND’s MR. PRESIDENT! forum is your big chance.
