Blagojevich Targeted Emanuel... and now you know why Blagojevich is where he's at

[wyldwolf]

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel was the target of attempted extortion by former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, according to a source and a federal indictment filed Thursday alleging a state grant for a Portage Park neighborhood school was used as bait for a fundraising demand.

Emanuel, a confidant to both Blagojevich and President Barack Obama, is described by prosecutors as "Congressman A," an identity confirmed by a White House aide.

The former North Side congressman, picked by Obama in November as his top staff member, was allegedly the subject of extortion in 2006 after he inquired about a $2 million state grant to benefit a school in his district. Prosecutors say Blagojevich instructed a top aide to block the release of the money, even though it had been included in the state's budget.

Blagojevich also allegedly told a high-ranking state official that Emanuel's brother needed to host a fundraiser for him. The indictment does not say which of two brothers was mentioned, but the White House aide said it was Ari Emanuel, a high-powered Hollywood agent active in political fundraising.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-blagojevich-emanuel-03-apr03,0,7058632.story

[firedupdem]

1. Blago is done. Holding up money for hospitals, schools, or whatever

else in exchange for fundraisers. Did he not realize after the other Govs. were jailed that he needed to stop this behavior? He really felt untouchable. I'm not surprised by this at all.

[Barack_America]

2. Blago messed with the bull...

And, well, that was a stupid thing to do.

[Crabby Appleton]

3. I skimmed through the indictment yesterday, I wondered who

Congressman A was.

[Occam Bandage]

4. Here I thought the egregious corruption had something to do with it.

[cliffordu]

7. Nope, nothing to it...He just messed with the wrong Obamabot.

[Gman]

5. A few days after the story about selling Obama's senate seat broke

the rumor was that it was Emmanuel that had dropped dime on Blago.

[PopSixSquish]

8. And Although Emanuel's Office Denied It...

Perhaps the story was correct, but the timing was wrong. Fitz's investigation had been going on for a few years before December's news and I'd heard rumors that both Emanuel and Obama had a falling out with Blago sometime in 2006...Who knows, but the trial will be interesting, especially if the COS is called to testify.

Judge to Rahm "No, not that kind of swearing an oath..."

:P

[TayTay]

6. Because he broke the law?

And the person with knowledge of that turned him in? Just a guess.

[DevonRex]

9. What this tells me is that Rahm has been doing the right thing all along

and that he even managed to navigate the tricky waters of the Justice Department under GWB. Fitzgerald is a decent guy, so it was probably easier to handle than it would have been elsewhere.

Edited to say thank you for the link. It was very informative.

[Jennicut]

11. Somehow the IhateRahm club will still try to turn this into something he did wrong

I would never cross Rahm Emmanuel!

[DevonRex]

13. Yep, of course they will, poor things.

Just goes to show how stupid and arrogant Blago is to think he could get away with that.

[Cha]

10. How damn stupid do you have

to be to attempt extortion on Rahm?

[Spazito]

12. LOL! So true!

Your post is so succinct and so true at the same time, I am still laughing out loud!

:rofl:

[DevonRex]

14. I think you'd have to be "Fredo" stupid. Fredo of The Godfather, I mean.

[olkaz]

15. Where are all the people calling Fitzgerald a partisan hack for going after Blagojevich? **crickets*

Seriously, that was hilarious. Poor poor Rod. He's paying for all our sins.

[liberalhistorian]

16. Blago brought it all on HIMSELF with his OWN

actions, period, and defenses of him are pretty disgusting. He is scum and he deserves to be where he is.

[Lilith Velkor]

17. I knew it I knew it I knew it!

NEVER fuck with Rahm!

[Raine]

18. Blago broke the law

if Emanuel hadn't "dropped the dime" on him and the reTHUGS found out about the extortion than Emanuel's "fat would be in the fire".

[depakid]

19. Emanuel had nothing to with the investigation

which had been going on well before this incident.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-investigation-timeline-1208,0,2680294.story

That the guy had the good sense not to play ball with Blago only says that he's not a complete sucker.

[Raine]

20. Agree

I was kind of mixed up, Emanuel did the right thing right from the start by rejecting Blago's "request".