Solyndra: Rahm Emanuel, Emails, and Energy Secretary on Hot Seat

For those who are eagerly awaiting the December 8th grilling of Attorney General Eric Holder by members of the House Judiciary Committee - of which Rep. Darrell Issa is one - there is another hearing tomorrow that may tide you over a bit. Energy Secretary Steven Chu will be testifying in front of the House Energy and Commerce Committee on November 18th about his role in the Solyndra scandal. Two days before the scheduled hearing, the White House released emails that show Solyndra was pressured by the Energy Department to delay layoff announcements until after the 2010 elections and the committee is combing through them.

Via Washington Post:

The Obama administration, which gave the solar company Solyndra a half-billion-dollar loan to help create jobs, asked the company to delay announcing it would lay off workers until after the hotly contested November 2010 midterm elections that imperiled Democratic control of Congress, newly released e-mails show.

The announcement could have been politically damaging because President Obama and others in the administration had held up Solyndra as a poster child of its clean-energy initiative, saying the company’s new factory, built with the help of stimulus money, could create 1,000 jobs. Six months before the midterm elections, Obama visited Solyndra’s California plant to praise its success, even though outside auditors had questioned whether the operation might collapse in debt.

As the contentious 2010 elections approached, Solyndra found itself foundering, and it warned the Energy Department that it would need an emergency cash infusion. A Solyndra investment adviser wrote in an Oct. 30, 2010, e-mail — without explaining the reason — that Energy Department officials were pushing “very hard” to delay making the layoffs public until the day after the elections.

The announcement ultimately was made on Nov. 3, 2010 — immediately following the Nov. 2 vote.

E-mails describing the events were released Tuesday as part of a House Energy and Commerce Committee memo, provided in advance of Energy Secretary Steven Chu’s scheduled testimony before the committee’s investigative panel on Thursday. As a result of the 2010 elections, that committee is now controlled by Republicans, whose aggressive nine-month investigation into Solyndra has focused partly on whether politics played a role in the company’s selection to receive a federal loan.

It isn't just Chu's Department that is implicated in these emails either. Former Obama Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel is as well. In fact, he should be called to testify about what he knew at some point because his lack of memory relative to Solyndra may be more suspicious than Eric Holder denying any knowledge of Fast and Furious until a "few weeks" before May 3rd.

Unlike Holder, there are emails that apparently implicate Emanuel directly in the decision to press the president into publicly announcing the Solyndra loan. What makes this even more explosive is Emanuel repeatedly pleading ignorance when it comes to his role.

Click HERE to hear Emanuel say in September of this year that he doesn't "know" or "remember" the Solyndra deal. WLS confronted Emanuel again relative to these new revelations in emails that named him. Click HERE.

h/t Michelle Malkin

Solyndra: The latest Friday Night Document Dump

If nothing else, I'll say I'm slightly surprised at the degree to which the mainstream media - Washington Post and ABC - is covering the Solyndra scandal. The latest news involves a Friday night document dump that shows someone by the name of Steve Spinner may have had a significant conflict of interest at a time when he was leaning hard on the Office of Management and Budget as a 'stimulus adviser' for the Department of Energy (DOE). It looks like he was applying pressure to OMB at the behest of the White House. The conflict of interest? His wife worked for Wilson Sonsini, the law firm retained by Solyndra to represent the company during its application for the loan. Spinner apparently did not recuse himself until after he was done with the heavy lifting.

Via WAPO:

The records provided Friday by a government source also show that an Energy Department stimulus adviser, Steve Spinner, pushed for Solyndra’s loan despite having recused himself because his wife’s law firm did work for the company. Spinner, who left the agency in September 2010, did not respond to requests for comment Friday.

The documents offer new evidence of wide disagreement between officials at the Energy Department and officials at the Treasury Department and Office of Management and Budget, where questions were raised about the carefulness of the loan vetting process used to select Solyndra and the special help it was given as its finances deteriorated. Energy Department officials continued to make loan payments to the company even after it had defaulted on the terms of its loan.

The Solyndra controversy has escalated with each new release of documents to a Republican-led House energy subcommittee investigating the matter. President Obama defended the Energy Department in a news conference Thursday, saying its decisions were made by career professionals. Also Thursday, the head of the embattled loan program announced that he would step down, although Energy Department officials said he was not doing so because of the Solyndra matter.

As Republican committee leaders moved to get more information about warnings from Treasury and the OMB, an Energy spokesman, Damien LaVera, said agency officials had listened to Treasury’s advice to consult the Justice Department on the loan restructuring but felt it was appropriate to move forward.

“Ultimately, DOE’s determination that the restructuring was legal was made by career lawyers in the loan program based on a careful analysis of the statute,” he said.

I found it interesting that exactly one week after the White House released documents that made Attorney General Eric Holder look very bad relative to his role in Fast and Furious, another document dump takes place that looks DOJ look pretty good while making the White House look conspicuously bad.

The e-mails show that Mary Miller, an assistant Treasury secretary, wrote to Jeffrey D. Zients, deputy OMB director, expressing concern. She said that the deal could violate federal law because it put investors’ interests ahead of taxpayers’ and that she had advised that it should be reviewed by the Justice Department.

“To our knowledge that never happened,” Miller wrote in a Aug. 17, 2011, memo to the OMB.

Not saying there's anything conspiratorial at work here but it is interesting that last week, DOJ looks very bad after the Fast and Furious Friday night dump and this week, it's the White House that looks bad while DOJ is portrayed as the entity that attempted to do everything above board.

Earlier this year, Solyndra appeared to double down on its shady behavior when it solicited the investment of Obama donor George Kaiser, who apparently demanded access to Solyndra assets before taxpayers already on the hook, if bankruptcy ensued. In essence, the loan you and I are responsible for granting to Solyndra was subordinated to Kaiser's loan.

There's more. Remember last month when Rahm Emanuel told WLS radio in Chicago that he didn't 'remember' or 'know' anything about Solyndra? That assertion isn't supported by the facts:

In an Aug. 19, 2009, e-mail, an aide to then-White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel asked Spinner if he could discuss any concerns among the investment community about Solyndra.

Spinner dismissed the idea that Solyndra had financial problems.

“I haven’t heard anything negative on my side,” he said.

A day after a discussion about possible problems at Solyndra, Spinner forwarded to the chief of staff’s aide a list of Solyndra’s main investors and attached a published profile of Kaiser.

As if you needed another reason to think less of Rahm Emanuel.

Read it all.

Rahm Emanuel Pleads Ignorance on Solyndra

At some point, plausible deniability becomes undeniably implausible. If ever there was a case in point, it's with former Obama Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel who is now denying any recollection of Solyndra's $535 million government loan. There are some denials that leave one wondering but this isn't one of them. The Obama administration's mantra as it pushed the stimulus bill was green energy. Now, Emanuel would have us believe he doesn't remember giving half a million to Solyndra, despite a groundbreaking ceremony that included vice president Joe Biden, Energy Secretary Steven Chu, and California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Via Daily Caller:

Chicago mayor and former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said he doesn’t recall anything about the Obama administration’s $535 million loan to the recently bankrupt solar company Solyndra.

Speaking to Chicago radio station WLS 890AM at a news conference about a new wellness initiative, Emanuel said he didn’t remember anything about the failed investment loan by the Department of Energy, which critics say was fast-tracked to fit the White House’s political agenda.

“Ya know, I’m focusing on a major announcement today for the City Of Chicago,” Emanuel said. “I don’t actually remember that or know about it. So, what I’m dealing is with what I’m dealing with here today.”

Emanuel was Obama’s chief of staff during the administration’s green energy initiative in 2009, when the Solyndra loan was finalized.

E-mail communications from the White House obtained by the House Energy and Commerce Committee point to more involvement in the deal than perhaps Emanuel would care to remember.

There comes a point when claims of plausible deniability should be met with charges that you should have known. This is a quintessential example.

Until people like Emanuel face a greater backlash when claiming ignorance than when they accept responsibility, people like Emanuel will continue to pretend we're stupid.

DC

Hillary Applying Rahm's Rule?

First, Hillary Clinton called Jared Loughner an 'extremist,' which necessarily implies that he had some sort of agenda, likely political. As more facts came out, it became obvious to anyone who wasn't an extremist themselves that Loughner was apolitical. ABC News even aired an interview with Loughner's high school friend who said the shooter wasn't political at all and didn't listen to talk radio - an accusation that had been levied by Sheriff Dupnik.

Instead of walking her statement back, Hillary doubled down, saying that Loughner had 'extreme political views.'

Via The Hill:

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday that the Arizona shooter who killed six and injured 14, including Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D), was motivated by political views.

In an interview with CNN Wednesday Clinton, who had recently referred to the shooter as an "extremist," doubled down on her comments saying that the shooter was an extremist who acted on his "bizarre" political views.

For the record, if Loughner was political, his views more clearly aligned with the left; What do you call revering communism, flag burning, and atheism? On that note, this video of Clinton leaving Yemen a day earlier is rather appropriate if you apply the metaphor that the airplane represents the means for Hillary to push an agenda and whatever she tripped on represents the truth. This will never get old. Oh, she wasn't hurt, which is why I have no compunction about posting it.



Let's not forget, too, that Hillary once cited Rahm's rule never to let a crisis go to waste when talking about the economy and climate change back in 2009.



h/t Gateway Pundit

VIDEO: RAHM EMANUEL ON EXPLOITING SAFEWAY MASSACRE

In the wake of the Safeway massacre, the left has gone to insane lengths to blame the Tea Party, Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, et. al. for pure political reasons. They're clearly applying the Rahm Rule - never let a crisis go to waste - which begs the question, does Rahm think they are mis-applying his rule? A reporter asked him about it and though he denied this is the time to use it, he failed to draw any clear line of distinction. All he did was clarify what he meant by saying his rule provides for an opportunity to exploit a crisis in order to do things you wouldn't otherwise be able to do.

Uh, Rahm, that's what the left is doing with the shootings. There's already talk of gun control legislation and Fairness Doctrine resurrection. His inability to draw that distinction is troubling. The only thing he could do to help the situation is to vehemently and publicly chastise and denounce those on the left - by name - if he truly believes his rule is being applied wrongly in a mass murder.

So far, I haven't seen him do that. Here's the video of him responding to the question about whether he agrees with the application of his 'never let a crisis go to waste' rule. He gives the politically wise answer whether he believes it or not but validation of that belief would be a public display and dressing down of the operatives in his own party who are using his rule now.



Flashback to Rahm's exact quote in 2008.



h/t Hot Air

AUDIO: HOWARD DEAN SAYS MOVE THE MOSQUE

On August 17th, Hannity revealed that sources told him that Rahm Emanuel spent the entire weekend calling Democrats to plead with them not to come out publicly against the ground zero mosque, presumably because of how damaging it was for his party when Harry Reid did just that. There appears to be one very prominent Democrat pre-disposed to screaming that Emanuel was either unable to contact or unable to convince.........Howard Dean?

Via Breitbart



Here's Hannity talking about Emanuel's begging of Democrats.

BLAGO JUDGE'S RULINGS CONTINUE HELPING OBAMA

This trial is a spectacle in many ways but a pattern that has been developing and continues is the Judge's propensity for rulings that favor the Barack Obama administration. Now we have another one. The circumstances surrounding it are rather noteworthy as well. The prosecution is wrapping up, the defense is apparently caught flat-footed, and the judge is refusing to grant a delay in the trial.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports:

With a lightning-fast prosecution team resting more than a month ahead of schedule, lawyers for Rod Blagojevich are scrambling to call their first witnesses in the ex-governor's federal corruption trial.

With just a day or two until showtime -- and with vacation schedules and Secret Service logistics to contend with for big-name witnesses such as Rahm Emanuel and Valerie Jarrett -- the defense said Monday they could be "out of luck."

It's certainly possible that the Defense should have been better prepared for such a scenario but again, when you look at the totality of Zagel's rulings, they continue to benefit Obama.

More on this Judge's rulings that have been fortuitous for the Obama administration HERE and HERE.

CORRECTION: At the time of this original post, I mistakenly posted that the judge had decided not to grant a delay to the defense. Judge Zagel has NOT ruled on that request and the Sun-Times is now reporting that Zagel may in fact grant the delay.

Full story at the Sun-Times

SPRINGSTEEN HEARTS RAHM, WARRANTS EVEN LESS RESPECT

I really didn't need a reason to have less respect for Bruce Springsteen than I already do but courtesy of the Chicago Tribune, I got one anyway. It appears that Springsteen and Rahm Emanuel are personal friends. The New Jersey rocker apparently gifted Rahm 25 tickets to his concerts in Washington, D.C. Having been a Springsteen fan - I'm ashamed to say - as recently as 2004, he lost me big time when he decided to stump for John Kerry. For me, that proved he was less intelligent than I had given him credit for.

Now we learn that he's personal friends with a foul, dirty, leftwing, Chicago-style politician, in addition to being quite far down on the leftwing side of the spectrum himself. Springsteen could almost factually be labeled a socialist at this point. He started showing his true colors a little more brightly in 2000 when he released a song called, "41 shots", which was an anthem against police - though he provided enough vagueness in the song to allow him some wiggle room. Since then, Bruce has reached full socialist bloom.

Via the Tribune:

White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel's new financial disclosure report shows investments worth a minimum of $6.7 million, plus what many would consider priceless: 25 seats to Bruce Springsteen concerts directly from "The Boss."

At $95 a seat, the gift totaled $2,375. Emanuel received 10 seats for a show May 18, 2009, and 15 for one on Nov. 2, 2009. Both were in Washington.

Emanuel and his wife, Amy Rule, are personal friends of Springsteen and his wife, Patti Scialfa, a White House official said, and ethics rules let friends gift friends.

For years, Springsteen stayed intentionally out of politics. He was respected by most everyone for his ability to remain apolitical. He seemed to "get it" when it came to politics having no place in entertainment. We learned in 2004 that he just couldn't stay in the leftwing closet anymore.

Springsteen is now friends with a political Chicago thug who is being exposed as such on a near daily basis.

h/t to Free Republic

RAHM'S EXODUS FROM WHITE HOUSE EXPECTED BUT WHY?

On June 18th, POLITICO reported that Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), ranking member of the House Oversight Committee on Government Reform is preparing to issue subpoenas to the White House regarding offers made to Joe Sestak and Andrew Romanoff should he become chairman of that committee after the November midterms. Issa is already planning to double his staff to aid in the effort. There is one man inside the Obama administration with indisputable connections to both offers - Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel.

Two days later, the London Telegraph reported that Emanuel is expected to step down as Chief of Staff in the coming months:

Washington insiders say he will quit within six to eight months in frustration at their unwillingness to "bang heads together" to get policy pushed through.

Mr Emanuel, 50, enjoys a good working relationship with Mr Obama but they are understood to have reached an understanding that differences over style mean he will serve only half the full four-year term.

Other reasons given were that Emanuel is mulling a Chicago mayoral run and wants to spend more time with his family - the latter sounds like the reasons given by NFL head coaches who are on the chopping block in an attempt to minimize controversy.

Another pay-to-play story that could involve Emanuel is playing out in a Chicago courtroom - the Rod Blagojevich corruption trial. Running concurrent with Issa's aggressive stance relative to what he'll do with subpoena power is the Blagojevich trial, which has been heating up in recent days. The prosecution has introduced some of the audio recordings of phone conversations that took place between Rod, his brother Rob, and Rod's one time Chief of Staff, Lon Monk. One of the things that becomes readily apparent while listening to the tapes is that pay-to-play politics was a way of life in Chicago when Blago was governor.

When Blago was arrested in December of 2008, Emanuel appeared to be quite involved. News reports indicated that Emanuel had conversations with Blago about Obama's vacant senate seat. At one point, Emanuel seemed to hide behind his kids with reporters and dropped out of sight for some time.

Click HERE for some compelling audio recordings between Rod, Rob, and Lon.

Now, NBC Chicago is reporting that Rahm traded favors with Blagojevich and the Associated Press has the emails:

Emanuel agreed to sign a letter to the Chicago Tribune supporting Blagojevich in the face of a scathing editorial by the newspaper that ridiculed the governor for self-promotion. Within hours, Emanuel's own staff asked for a favor of its own: The release of a delayed $2 million grant to a school in his district.

The 2006 discussion occured with Blagojevich's top aide, Deputy Gov. Bradley Tusk, and doesn't appear to cross legal lines; Emanuel couldn't speed up the distribution of the funds. But it offers a peek at ties between two high-profile Illinois politicians — one now the president's right-hand man, the other facing years in prison if convicted of political corruption.

The very next paragraph explains what could end up being a PR hit for Emanuel and, by extension, the Obama administration...

Discussion of the exchange could come up at Blagojevich's corruption trial, currently under way in Chicago. Blagojevich, who is accused of plotting to profit by selling an appointment to Obama's former Senate seat, also tried later that year to use the school grant in an extortion attempt against Emanuel, according to federal prosecutors.

It's quite possible that Emanuel is sowing the seeds of egress from the White House so that if the Blago trial, coupled with the Sestak and Romanoff scandals, implicates him directly in the commission of crimes, he can say he was planning to leave anyway and any new accusations that arise will have nothing to do with his decision.

Emanuel's common thread with Sestak, Romanoff, and Blago....

On May 28th, courtesy of a White House legal memo, Emanuel was identified as the man inside the Obama White House who sent former President Bill Clinton to meet with Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA) with an offer to drop out of the Senate primary with incumbent Arlen Specter.

In September of 2009, the Denver Post identified Deputy Chief of Staff and Emanuel right hand man, Jim Messina as the one who approached Senate candidate Andrew Romanoff (D-CO) with three job offers inside U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Messina is still Deputy Chief of Staff, which means Emanuel must have known about his dealings with Romanoff.

As the Blago trial continues to heat up - it's definitely starting to do so - look for more questions to arise about the relationship between Emanuel and Blagojevich. It could be that Emanuel's exit in several months is a trial balloon. If the Blago trial starts to shine a brighter spotlight on Emanuel, look for the latter to step down much sooner.

h/t to Blago Files

SESTAK TWISTING HIMSELF INTO ANOTHER PRETZEL

The matter of the alleged position offered to Joe Sestak in return for dropping out of his race with Arlen Specter continues to benefit his Republican opponent, Pat Toomey, who has overtaken Sestak in the polls. Sestak's strategy appears to be one intended to distance himself from the 'establishment'.

POLITICO reports on an interview Sestak did with Tavis Smiley. He used the word, "wrong" to describe the White House's support of Specter while also attempting to place Obama above it all. If you thought there were blatant contradictions before, take a look at what Sestak told Tavis Smiley:

“There’s no more kings, there’s no more king makers in America,” Sestak said on the PBS show "Tavis Smiley." “And if the Democratic party should stand for anything when they are trying to get me out of the race, they should be for enticing people into the race. This President said it so well and I believe [that] he believes it: believe in principle and politics will follow. No. The party establishment was wrong in what it did.”

Did you catch that? He rips the Democratic "party establishment" for the attempt to get him out of the race while holding up Obama as a principled leader. Does he think people are this stupid? The offer came from Obama's Chief of Staff and was relayed by former president Bill Clinton. If it was "wrong", then Obama was wrong. Sestak doesn't draw the comparison that is so obvious, it slaps even the staunchest of Obamautomatons upside the head - I bet even Tavis Smiley cocked an eyebrow at that one. Then again, maybe not. He does believe rabid murderous Christians outnumber their Islamic counterparts.

Sestak is actually attempting to distance himself from Obama while also giving him a pass. This is beyond convoluted. As he failed to do when asked by Larry Kane if he was offered a job to drop out of the primary, he should have kept his mouth shut here as well.

via POLITICO

RAHM TIED TO BP'S PR FIRM?

I know it's almost laughable to think about but at some point, even the blind Obamautomaton left in this country has got to wake up to their being utterly snowed by this act. After the BP rig explosion, we learned that Obama was BP's largest recipient of campaign money. Now it's learned that White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is quite cozy with BP's main PR firm - Greenberg Quinlan Rosner.

Mark Hemingway at the Washington Examiner also links to an article from the Chicago Tribune from February 24, 2009 in which it was reported that Emanuel was living in a D.C. apartment owned by the firm's Stanley Greenberg, who also happens to be married to a Democratic Representative from Connecticut, Rosa DeLauro.

From the Tribune piece last year:

WASHINGTON— White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel's Washington lodging arrangements, a rent-free basement room in a Capitol Hill home owned by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn) and her pollster husband, have inspired debate among tax experts and in Republican-leaning parts of the blogosphere.

One issue is whether Emanuel, who served in the House with DeLauro until early January, should have listed the room either as a gift or as income on his congressional financial disclosure forms. Emanuel's disclosure filings contain no mention of his use of the room.

A murkier question is whether Emanuel has a tax liability for the arrangement. The matter may have particular sensitivity in the early days of an Obama administration in which at least four picks for high posts have had confirmations delayed or derailed by tax irregularities.

A further complexity involves DeLauro's husband, Stan Greenberg, an old friend of Emanuel's whose firm had done polling work for an Emanuel campaign committee and for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which Emanuel headed in 2005 and 2006.

After putting Obama's receipt of so much BP campaign cash and Emanuel's cozy rent-free relationship with the head of BP's PR firm in the context of this rig explosion, we have quite the subplot developing. It's interesting that the longer this oil flow continues, the more connected to BP this administration appears to be.

h/t to Free Republic

VIDEO: ARE WE THIS NUMB TO HYPOCRISY?

No president in history has had more ruthless surrogates than Barack Obama. Rahm Emanuel is unmatched in his ability to bully, intimidate, demagogue, and demonize anyone he decides to go after. And there's more.

Conversely, Obama has enjoyed a perception of likability that continues to exceed public agreement with his policies. That's what makes this video so pathetically revealing. Watch as Obama in 2006 chastises George W. Bush for not reigning in his surrogates.

via Breitbart

BLAGOJEVICH REDACTIONS IN MOTION TO SUBPOENA OBAMA REVEALED

Defendant Rod Blagojevich has filed a motion to have Barack Obama subpoenaed in the former's trial. Most interesting is that the motion has been posted on line with significant portions redacted. That however, didn't prevent the redacted portions from being unearthed. Simply copying the redacted portions and pasting them into a word document actually reveals them. Here is the entire motion with redacted portions revealed and in bold type.

via Huffington Post:
Blago Subpoena With Redacted Portions -

Be sure to click on the above link to the Huffington Post and take a look at the comments. The kooks over there are unquestionably disturbed by all of this and they're not happy with Blago at all.

UPDATE: 10:09pm CST
**IF HUFFINGTON POST IMAGE CAPTURE SUDDENLY NOT WORKING FOR YOU - IT'S NOT FOR ME AND I DIDN'T DOWNLOAD IT - HERE ARE THE REDACTED EXCERPTS FROM THE MOTION:

9. Yet, despite President Obama stating that no representatives of his had any part of any deals, labor union president told the FBI and the United States Attorneys that he spoke to labor union official on November 3, 2008 who received a phone message from Obama that evening. After labor union official listened to the message labor union official told labor union president “I’m the one”. Labor union president took that to mean that labor union official was to be the one to deliver the message on behalf of Obama that Senate Candidate B was his pick. (Labor union president 302, February 2, 2009, p. 7).

10. Labor union official told the FBI and the United States Attorneys “Obama expressed his belief that [Senate Candidate B] would be a good Senator for the people of Illinois and would be a candidate who could win re-election. [Labor union official] advised Obama that [labor union official] would reach out to Governor Blagojevich and advocate for [Senate Candidate B].. . . [Labor union official] called [labor union president] and told [labor union president] that Obama was aware that [labor union official] would be reaching out to Blagojevich.” (Labor union official 302, February 3, 2009 p. 3).

11. According to Senate Candidate B, on November, 4 2008, Senate Candidate B spoke with labor union official about the Senate seat. Labor union official said he spoke to Obama. Labor union official said he was going to meet with Blagojevich and said “he was going to push Blagojevich hard on this. According to Senate Candidate B, labor union official’s language could have been stronger than the language that she was reporting to the government.” (Senate Candidate B 302, December 19, 2008).

12. On November 5, 2008, Blagojevich told John Harris that labor union official “talked to Barack Obama, wants to come and see me.” Blagojevich then told Harris that labor union official “was very explicit with me, “I talked to Barack about the Senate seat. Can I come and see ya? Can I do it tomorrow?’ I said, sure.” (Blagojevich Home Phone Call # 261)

13. A supporter of Presidential Candidate Obama suggested that she talk to the wife of Governor Blagojevich about Senate Candidate B for Senator. (Valerie Jarrett 302, December 19, 2008). Supporter of Presidential Candidate Obama is mentioned in a phone call on November 3, 2008, having offered “fundraising” in exchange for Senate Candidate B for senator (Blagojevich Home Phone Call # 149).

17.President-elect Obama also spoke to Governor Blagojevich on December 1, 2008 in Philadelphia. On Harris Cell Phone Call # 139, John Harris and Governor’s legal counsel discuss a conversation Blagojevich had with President-elect Obama. The government claims a conspiracy existed from October 22, 2008 continuing through December 9, 2008.6 That conversation is relevant to the defense of the government’s theory of an ongoing conspiracy. Only Rod Blagojevich and President Obama can testify to the contents of that conversation. The defense is allowed to present evidence that corroborates the defendant’s testimony.7

18.President-elect Obama also suggested Senate Candidate A to Governor Blagojevich. John Harris told the FBI and the United States Attorneys that he spoke to President’s Chief of Staff on November 12, 2008. Harris took notes of the conversation and wrote that President’s Chief had previously worked as Blagojevich's press secretary. Obama agreed of Staff told Harris that Senate Candidate A was acceptable to Obama as a senate pick. (Harris handwritten notes, OOG1004463) President’s Chief of Staff told the FBI that “he could not say where but somewhere it was communicated to him that” Senate Candidate A was a suggested candidate viewed as one of the four “right” candidates “by the Obama transition team.” (Rahm Emanuel 302, p. 5, December 20, 2008). Harris told Blagojevich Obama’s suggestion on November 12, 2008 (Blagojevich Home Phone Call # 539).
19.President-elect Obama was also involved in other senate candidate choices. On December 8, 2008, John Harris’ secretary’s call log noted President’s Chief of Staff called at 10:47 am and wrote “needs to talk to you asap” (Harris 302, February 20, 2009). President’s Chief of Staff told the FBI that he had a conversation discussing the Senate seat with Obama on December 7, 2008 in Obama’s car. President’s Chief of Staff told the FBI “Obama expressed concern about Senate Candidate D being appointed as Senator. [President’s Chief of Staff] suggested they might need an expanded list to possibly include names of African Americans that came out of the business world. [President’s Chief of Staff] thought he suggested Senate Candidate E who was the head of the Urban League and with President’s Chief of Staff’s suggestion." (President’s Chief of Staff, 302, 12-20-08).

22.However, the defense has a good faith belief that Mr. Rezko, President Obama’s former friend, fund-raiser, and neighbor told the FBI and the United States Attorneys a different story about President Obama. In a recent in camera proceeding, the government tendered a three paragraph letter indicating that Rezko “has stated in interviews with the government that he engaged in election law violations by personally contributing a large sum of cash to the campaign of a public official who is not Rod Blagojevich. ... Further, the public official denies being aware of cash contributions to his campaign by Rezko or others and denies having conversations with Rezko related to cash contributions. ... Rezko has also stated in interviews with the government that he believed he transmitted a quid pro quo offer from a lobbyist to the public official, whereby the lobbyist would hold a fundraiser for the official in exchange for favorable official action, but that the public official rejected the offer. The public official denies any such conversation. In addition, Rezko has stated to the government that he and the public official had certain conversations about gaming legislation and administration, which the public official denies having had.”
23.President Obama is the only one who can testify as to the veracity of Mr. Rezko’s allegations above.

The defense has a good faith belief that this public official is Barack Obama. See, “Obama on Rezko deal: It was a mistake”, Dave McKinney, Chris Fusco, and Mark Brown, Chicago Sun Times, November 5, 2006. Senator Barack Obama was asked: “Did Rezko or his companies ever solicit your support on any matter involving state or federal government? Did Al Johnson, who was trying to get a casino license along with Tony Rezko, or Rezko himself ever discuss casino matters with you?” Senator Obama answered: “No, I have never been asked to do anything to advance his business interest. In 1999, when I was a State Senator, I opposed legislation to bring a casino to Rosemont and allow casino gambling at docked riverboats which news reports said Al and Tony Rezko were interested in being part of. I never discussed a casino license with either of them. I was a vocal opponent of the legislation.” Obama’s involvement with Tony Rezko and this legislation coincides with the three paragraph summary the government has provided to the defense referenced above.

As for the relevance of the redacted portions in particular and the entire motion in general, NBC Chicago identified six secrets that the un-redacted portions reveal. It is not clear whether the easily deciphered redactions were intentional but they do make things quite interesting. Claims - with names - are being made that Obama spoke to Blago on December 1st, 2008 and Blago wants the contents of that conversation admitted. There is also a claim that not only was Valerie Jarrett offered Obama's vacant Senate seat but that a quid pro quo was involved. Of course, Obama's conversations with Tony Rezko are at issue as well.

Via CBS2 in Chicago:

The motion filed Thursday says Obama was interviewed for two hours by prosecutors and FBI agents regarding the Blagojevich case, and the defense filed a motion asking for all transcripts, notes and reports from that interview. But the defense never received the documents, the motion said.

Here is a link to the story referenced by Blago in this motion he points to as proof that the interview between the FBI and Obama took place.

Another aspect of the motion that should raise some interest is Blago's accusation that he met with a union official ostensibly representing Obama's interests over who should be appointed to his former Senate seat. Blago says yes. Obama has denied any such claim in the past.

The motion also claims that prosecutors say Blagojevich met a labor union official whom he believed to be in contact with President Obama, and told the official he would appoint a certain candidate to the vacant Senate seat. In exchange, Blagojevich expected to be named secretary of Health and Human Services, the motion says prosecutors claim.

Click here to read the entire motion as the imaged portion above does not include pages 7 - 11.

VIDEO: LARRY KING INTERVIEWS ERIC MASSA AFTER BECK

Retired Democrat Representative Eric Massa said on both Glenn Beck and then Larry King that after those two interviews, he would "go away". After watching both, it became more and more apparent that he should - for his own sake. The more this guy Massa talked, the more it became apparent that he's anything but clean. He came across as nothing more than a slimy politician in both interviews. Inconsistencies piled up every time he re-told his story.

See for yourself. Also, take note of how defensive he got when Larry King asked him if he was gay.

via Breitbart



Here is the Massa interview with Glenn Beck via Newsmax:



More on the Massa saga here.

AUDIO: EXPLOSIVE INTERVIEW WITH RESIGNING CONGRESSMAN

Representative Eric Massa (D-NY) was supposed to resign today rather than face the fury of a scandal in which he has been accused of sexually harassing a male staffer. However, on Sunday, March 7th while on a radio station in Hornell, NY he got quite a bit off his chest in an extensive emotional tirade.

Among other things, he came across as more than just a little adamant with respect to some very explosive charges including his claim that Steny Hoyer is a liar - which would reinforce that town hall attendee back in August who accused Hoyer of the same thing - when it came to Hoyer's claim that he told Massa to report to the House Ethics committee regarding the complaint levied against him.

Massa also claims in no uncertain or unemotional terms that he is being pushed out of congress for one reason - he would be an obstacle to the passage of the Health care bill. He also paints quite the unflattering picture of Rahm Emanuel.

via Breitbart



UPDATE: MORE ERIC MASSA AUDIO - ACCUSES RAHM EMANUEL OF HARASSING HIM IN THE SHOWER!

When Steny was accused of lying before....



More on the story here, here, and here.

WHITE HOUSE HIJINKS WITH BAYH SEAT?

Quite the intersting development in Indiana with respect to the potential involvement of the White House in hand-picking Evan Bayh's successor. There are many different angles to this one - enough to warrant further attention.

The long and short of it is that Bayh resigned one day before the filing deadline for Democrats wanting to run for his seat. Tamyra D’Ippolito is one such person but she is not a politician and seems to be appealing to the Tea Party movement.

The Daily Caller reports:

Democratic Senate candidate Tamyra d’Ippolito accused the White House of conspiring with party officials to secretly draft Rep. Baron Hill to run against her.

As the only other Democrat in the field, d’Ippolito became the presumptive front-runner for the Democratic nomination when Sen. Evan Bayh announced Monday that he would not seek re-election. Indiana Senate candidates must collect 4,500 signatures to appear on the ballot, including 500 from each of the state’s nine congressional districts.

D'Ippolito is also making an interesting claim that the White House has already hand-picked its choice for Bayh's replacement, got all of their ducks in a rown, and dropped the bomb today.

d’Ippolito said she was informed Monday that Hill, a blue dog who represents Indiana’s 9th District in the House, already has the necessary signatures and is sitting on them until the deadline. She accused White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel of colluding with Hill and the Democratic party county chairs to secretly supplant her as the nominee.

“I can’t confirm so I’m working feverishly to find out if this is the deal. If it is, there’s something unethical going on in Indiana politics,” d’Ippolito said. She then referenced Emanuel’s Jan. 9 appearance at a fundraiser for Hill in Bloomington and accused the president’s top political aide of playing kingmaker during that visit.

So the White House Chief of Staff was in Indiana helping Baron Hill in his congressional race?

Hmmmmm

Who is Baron Hill? This video of him at one of "his" townhall meetings speaks volumes.



h/t to Hot Air

RAHM EMANUEL, THE CHICAGO WAY, AND NATIONAL SECURITY

The things coming out of the Obama administration are so despicable these days, I am simply now completely unwilling to accept the over-saturation defense when it comes to why a large contingent of the American people are either in denial or apathetic. Unfortunately, this behavior from Rahm Emanuel which is obviously sanctioned by Barack Obama himself is not likely going to raise enough eyebrows. After all, if the undercover ACORN videos or Fistgate didn't do it, why would this?

According to a senate insider, Obama - through Emanuel - is threatening a senator with a military base closure in his state if that senator does not get on board with Obamacare. This is a perverse application of the Chicago Way if there ever was one and it literally prioritizes Obama's socialist agenda ahead of not only the security of the United States but security around the globe. Obama's narcissism causes him to place himself above quite a bit, doesn't it?

In light of Hillary Clinton admitting that eleven months into this administration, Ahmadinejad's plans appear to be moving full speed ahead, we now have Rahm Emanuel threatening Democrat Senator from Nebraska, Ben Nelson with the closure of a military base in his state if he does not tow the line and vote for Obamacare. From the Weekly Standard's BLOG:

According to a Senate aide, the White House is now threatening to put Nebraska’s Offutt Air Force Base on the BRAC list if Nelson doesn’t fall into line.

Offutt Air Force Base employs some 10,000 military and federal employees in Southeastern Nebraska. As our source put it, this is a “naked effort by Rahm Emanuel and the White House to extort Nelson’s vote.” They are “threatening to close a base vital to national security for what?” asked the Senate staffer.

Indeed, Offutt is the headquarters for US Strategic Command, the successor to Strategic Air Command, and not by accident. STRATCOM was located in the middle of the country for strategic reasons. Its closure would be a massive blow to the economy of the state of Nebraska, but it would also be another example of this administration playing politics with our national security.

Extortion, Blackmail, or Terrorism? Makes no difference as all apply. We're beginning to get a much clearer picture when it comes to why senators and representatives are thumbing their noses at their constituents. They are literally afraid. Congressional and Senate Democrats are kissing the ring.

The courageous and right thing for Ben Nelson to do would be to go public with this and dig in his heels against this kind of tactic. However, he's got two strikes against him.

1.) He's a politician
2.) He's a democrat

By the way, BARC stands for Base Realignment And Closure.

Ah, Van Jones appears to be living vicariously through Rahm Emanuel.

"At a certain point, some of us need to figure out which two or three senators need to have terrible days."
- Van Jones, 2/11/09

h/t to VS

BLAGOJEVICH SCANDAL LIVES

About one year ago, then president-elect Barack Obama found himself a little too close to a Chicago scandal involving Governor Rod Blagojevich and Obama's soon to be vacated senate seat. Candidate #1 to fill Obama's seat was allegedly Valerie Jarrett, who may be doing more damage to the country as a senior White House adviser to the president than she would have as a senator.

Obama's now Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel may have felt the most heat when it came to Obama's inner circle as speculation that his phone calls with Blago were recorded. In the weeks following the announcement by Patrick Fitzgerald that Blago was being arrested, the FBI conducted interviews with Obama, Jarrett, Emanuel, et al.

The CHICAGO SUN-TIMES reported:

Rod Blagojevich's lawyers want the FBI to give up details of interviews conducted last year of President Obama, his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, White House adviser Valerie Jarrett and others as part of the investigation into the former governor.

In a Friday filing, Blagojevich attorneys also asked for information regarding first lady Michelle Obama. However, a source said late Friday that the FBI never interviewed the first lady.

Blagojevich's attorneys are asking for the FBI to release the transcripts / recordings of those interviews. If Blago gets his wish and can unequivocally prove that any or all of the three were lying, this could get very interesting.

h/t to GP

EMAIL DEAD FISH PHOTO TO WHITE HOUSE

This one is SO APPROPRIATE on multiple levels. I Wish I could take credit for it but it came from a listener to KCRS 550 in Midland who suggested that people send email photos of dead fish to the White House email address.

Of course, the WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU to report anything "fishy" and we also have the Rahm Emanuel dead fish angle.

In case you need to email address, it's flag@whitehouse.gov

IS THIS WHY THE MEDIA IS SO OVER-THE-TOP BIASED?

Network television executives have been murmuring about how detrimental it is for them to drop high draw programming to carry Obama's ponderous press conferences and speeches for months but are they helpless because Rahm Emanuel is bypassing them and going straight to the top?


HOWARD KURTZ reports that Emanuel's sharp elbows are still intact:

Instead of contacting NBC, Emanuel went to Jeffrey Immelt, the chief executive of General Electric. He also spoke with Les Moonves, the chief executive of CBS Corp., the company spun off from Viacom.

I seem to remember a time when executives of parent companies stayed out of the programming business.

What if......the shameless sycophancy we're seeing from the likes of MSNBC talking heads is more about placating their parent company bosses than it is a blind and mindless love for a man determined to destroy the country?

The networks "absolutely" feel pressured, says Paul Friedman, CBS's senior vice president: "It's an enormous financial cost when the president replaces one of those prime-time hours. The news divisions also have mixed feelings about whether they are being used."

If I'm a parent company exec and bow to the pressure of Emanuel, don't I send a message all the way down the line to make sure Obama gets GLOWING coverage?

I'd like to take a bit of a sidebar because I've been asserting that it's more than just a little possible that Obama's "(police) acted stupidly" comment was intentional and Alinsky-based. Kurtz actually makes a case for this, albeit likely unintentional on Kurtz' part.

Had Obama not answered the last question that evening -- declaring that the Cambridge police had acted "stupidly" in arresting Henry Louis Gates Jr. at his home -- the news conference would have been almost totally devoid of news. And that raises questions about whether the sessions have become mainly a vehicle for Obama to repeat familiar messages.

What was the reason for the presser? To make the case for health care, right? Obama needed to get the constituent pressure off the blue dogs. He did that by saying something stupid. Had he not done that, even Kurtz notes that the whole exercise would have been futile.

Shouldn't we begin asking why Emanuel was so insistent that the networks cover such an innocuous press conference?

Many dynamics at work here for sure....

h/t to MICHELLE MALKIN