7 Blago questions for Obama

POLITICO - By KENNETH P. VOGEL & CARRIE BUDOFF BROWN 12/11/08

The stinging criminal complaint against Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff John Harris raises lots of questions for President-elect Barack Obama – a few of which he answered on Thursday, at his first news conference since Blagojevich was charged in the cash-for-Senate-seat affair.. Here are seven worth asking: 1 – “Did you communicate directly or indirectly with Blagojevich about picking your replacement in the U.S. Senate?” Obama issued a categorical statement Tuesday that he personally hadn’t spoken with Blagojevich about the seat — but seemed to correct himself in a way that suggested others around Obama might have. “I had no contact with the governor or his office and, so we were not – I was not aware of what was happening," Obama said. Yet, according to prosecutors’ characterizations of Blagojevich’s wiretapped telephone conversations, the Illinois governor seemed to believe he had a channel of communications with Obama’s team. Story continues here...