An internal review by the transition team of President-elect Barack Obama has found no improper contact by staff members with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich about Obama’s U.S. Senate seat, but the release of the report will be delayed at the request of prosecutors, it was announced Monday. U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald confirmed the request.
Obama’s statement did not say whether incoming White House chief of staff Rep. Rahm Emanuel was heard on a wiretap providing the governor’s top aide with a list of names that the president-elect favored. Two people who have been briefed on the investigation had told the Associated Press that Emanuel is not a target of the probe. There are no suggestions that Obama or his aides were involved in the alleged sale of his seat.
Blagojevich’s political isolation intensified Monday evening, with the Illinois House voting 113-0 to create a bipartisan committee that will study the allegations against Blagojevich and recommend whether he should be impeached. Democrats in the Senate shelved action on a special election to fill Barack Obama’s U.S. Senate seat, for now leaving the decision in Blagojevich’s hands.
Earlier Monday, Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan said he formed a committee of senior legislators to examine whether Blagojevich should be removed from office on charges of corruption.
Last week, Obama said he had no dealings with Blagojevich about whom to appoint to the Senate. He also said his staff had not had any inappropriate contacts, but Obama ordered an internal investigation.
The president-elect pledged the results of the investigation by his incoming White House counsel, Gregory Craig, would be released “in due course.”
Blagojevich was charged Dec. 9 with trying to sell the Senate seat vacated by Obama. The governor was also charged with trying to force the Chicago Tribune to fire editorial page editors who opposed him.
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