More pieces to Senate seat puzzle
Obama report helps fill in blanks in Blagojevich case
Who knew what -- and when did they know it -- regarding Gov. Blagojevich's alleged effort to sell President-elect Barack Obama's U.S. Senate seat?
The release last week of an internal report by Obama's chief counsel offers a few more pieces to fill in that puzzle.
(AP file)
Here are key dates and events from that report -- which concluded that neither Obama nor his transition staff had any "inappropriate discussions" about the Senate seat -- and how they jibe with the criminal complaint against Blagojevich, who was arrested Dec. 9 with his now-former chief of staff, John Harris, on federal corruption charges:
Oct. 31 -- The governor, being secretly recorded by federal authorities, is caught on tape talking about U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. -- identified as "Senate Candidate 5" -- and the soon-to-be-vacant Senate seat held by Obama. Blagojevich says an unidentified person tied to Jackson has approached him about horse-trading for the seat. "We were approached 'pay to play,' " the governor says. "That, you know, he'd raise me 500 grand. An emissary came. Then, the other guy would raise a million, if I made him [Jackson] a senator." [Source: Blagojevich criminal complaint.]
Nov. 3 -- Blagojevich says if he doesn't get "anything of any value" for the Obama seat, he "might just take it" for himself. [Criminal complaint.]
Nov. 4 -- Obama wins the presidency.
Nov. 4 -- An aide to Blagojevich suggests he should put together a list of things he'd accept for the Senate seat. Blagojevich responds the list "can't be in writing." Blagojevich tells Harris the "trick . . . is how do you conduct indirectly . . . a negotiation" for the seat. [Criminal complaint.]
Nov. 5 (approximately) -- Blagojevich meets with Tom Balanoff, head of the Illinois chapter of the Service Employees International Union, to discuss the soon-to-be vacant Senate seat. Blagojevich understands Balanoff to be "an emissary" to discuss Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett's interest in the seat. [Criminal complaint.]
Nov. 6 -- Obama picks Rep. Rahm Emanuel as his chief of staff.
Nov. 6-8 -- Emanuel and Blagojevich have one or two conversations. Emanuel recommends Jarrett for the Senate vacancy but "did so before learning -- in further conversations with the president-elect -- that the president-elect had ruled out communicating a preference for any one candidate." [Obama internal investigative report.]
Nov. 7 -- Jarrett speaks with Balanoff. "Mr. Balanoff told Ms. Jarrett that he had spoken to the Governor about the possibility of selecting Valerie Jarrett to replace the President-elect" and that the governor raised the prospect of being appointed Health and Human Services Secretary. Jarrett and Balanoff agree that "would never happen." Jarrett "did not understand the conversation to suggest that the governor wanted the Cabinet seat as a quid pro quo for selecting any specific candidate to be the President-elect's replacement." [Obama report.]
Nov. 7 -- Obama indicates he'll play a limited role in the Senate selection. "I think there's going to be a lot of good choices out there, but it is the governor's decision to make, not mine," he tells reporters.
Nov. 9 -- Jarrett decides she doesn't want the Senate seat [Obama report], but her decision isn't made public until Nov. 12.
Sometime after Nov. 9 -- Obama discusses "other qualified candidates" for the Senate seat with Emanuel and adviser David Axelrod. They include Jackson, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, state Comptroller Dan Hynes and state Veterans' Affairs chief Tammy Duckworth. "The president-elect understood that Rahm Emanuel would relay those names to the governor's office." [Obama report.]
Nov. 10 -- Blagojevich discusses naming one of his deputy governors, Louanner Peters -- identified as "Senate Candidate 4" -- to the Senate "before I just give f---ing [Jarrett] a f---ing Senate seat and I don't get anything." Later, the governor discusses leaking to Chicago Sun-Times columnist Michael Sneed that Blagojevich is "seriously considering" Jackson for the open seat "to send a message to the president-elect that there are options for the Senate seat beyond" Jarrett. [Criminal complaint.]
Nov. 12 -- Jarrett announces she isn't interested in the Senate seat.
Nov. 12 -- Balanoff again meets with Blagojevich, who tells him "he had heard" Obama wanted others beside Jarrett to be considered for the seat. Balanoff says he'd find out if Jarrett wants him "to keep pushing her for senator." [Criminal complaint.]
Nov. 15 -- Obama announces that Jarrett will become a White House senior adviser.
Nov. 16 -- Obama's Senate resignation takes effect.
Dec. 4 -- The governor tells an adviser he "was giving [Jackson] greater consideration for the Senate seat because, among other reasons, if Rod Blagojevich ran for re-election, [Jackson] would 'raise money' for Rod Blagojevich, although Rod Blagojevich said he might 'get some (money) up front, maybe from [Jackson] to insure [Jackson] kept his promise about raising money for Rod Blagojevich." [Criminal complaint.]
Dec. 8 -- Jackson meets with Blagojevich for 90 minutes about the Senate seat at Blagojevich's Thompson Center office. [News reports.]
Dec. 9 -- Blagojevich is arrested.