Obama Shifts: Now Says His Staff Had "No Inappropriate Contact" with Blago, Replacing Former Claim of "No Contact"

Slublog just tipped me to the statement, reported on MSNBC.

Suffice to say his former claim was not just a lie but an absurd one, and an unnecessary one (why wouldn't he advise the governor on his replacement?).

And also, an arrogant one. It's the sort of lie you tell when you think, mostly accurately, the press will let you get away with claiming anything.

One good thing for Republicans: Obama is a moronic liar. Clinton was a good liar (much to our annoyance). This cat is a retarded one. That will be helpful.

So why did he tell such a ridiculous lie? I have to imagine it was to head off the next round of questions. Like what exactly did Rahm Emanuel propose as a counter-offer for Blago's pay-for-play requests? How much did he entertain the idea of playing ball one more time? At what point, if any, did Emanuel say "This is illegal and improper and these discussions are now ended?"

Or did he continue trying to "work with" Blago?

I assume Emanuel wasn't offering money for the seat. (Ass-ume.) But did he offer to have Obama campaign for Blago? Fundraise for him?

I always wondered not just about what Barack Obama saw in the terrorist Bill Ayers that attracted him, but what the terrorist Bill Ayers saw in Obama. A similar question applies here: Why was it that Blago thought that Emanuel and Obama might be up for a little bit of Chicago Way dealmaking?

I Can Haz Whitewater? Maybe his wife Patti, who had worked on and off with Tony Rezko on real estate deals, reminded him of a rather shifty land deal involving Rezko and Obama.

Incidentally, a commenter here, think, stated that Patti Blagojevich worked on the Rezko-Obama land deal. A search didn't find anything indicating that, though I'm open to a tip on the point, of course. But it looks as if she worked with Rezko on other deals, not on the Obama one.

The Patti Blagojevich/Rezko relationship may yet raise new questions by the media pretty much the very first questions by the media about Obama's sketchy land deal.

Even before her voice was heard on covert recordings made by federal investigators, First Lady Patricia Blagojevich was neck-deep in the federal probe of her husband and his administration.

Once a residential real estate broker on the North Side, Patricia Blagojevich left that career this year amid scrutiny from the Tribune and federal agents who have for a year been examining whether clients hired her to win favor from her husband's administration.

...

Before that, though, federal agents—following years of news coverage—were probing hundreds of thousands of dollars in commissions Patricia Blagojevich earned in previous years as a real estate broker for political supporters, fundraisers and state contractors.

A year ago, one real estate agent told the Tribune that FBI agents contacted her with questions about her involvement with Patricia Blagojevich in the 2004 sale of a $3.2 million Gold Coast home. The seller was an investment banker and contributor to the governor's campaign fund who hired the first lady as his second agent on the deal.

That was only the most recent example. Patricia Blagojevich had an eight-year working relationship with Antoin "Tony" Rezko, a onetime powerful developer and Blagojevich fundraiser who was found guilty this summer on influence-peddling charges.

A Tribune analysis this year found that Blagojevich's real estate company, River Realty, made more than $700,000 in commissions after her husband began raising money in 2000 for his first run for governor. Of those commissions, more than three-quarters came from clients with connections, the newspaper found.

The Pattern: Heh:

You can just see the Obama pattern unfolding with the Senate seat fixing scandal.

1. I don't know him
2. I know him a little
3. I know him but I thought he'd gone to rehab
4. I'm giving a major speech condemning everything he stands for

Inappropriate Contact" with Blago, Replacing Former Claim of "No Contact"&bodytext=Slublog just tipped me to the statement, reported on MSNBC. Suffice to say his former claim was not just a lie but an absurd one, and an unnecessary one (why wouldn't he advise the governor on his replacement?). And also,...&topic=world_news"> posted by Ace at 03:11 PM

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