Blagojevich Trial Nears: Can Obama Be Implicated?

By Clarice Feldman

Will President Obama have to testify under oath about the appointment of his Senate successor?

Drudge carries two big stories this afternoon on the trial of former Governor Blagojevich.

Blagojevich has subpoenaed the President to take his testimony on the events in question.

Blagojevich has pleaded not guilty to charges that accuse him of scheming to sell or trade the Senate seat left vacant by Obama's election as president.

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.

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.

It would be most unusual for the request for a subpoena to succeed, but as you can see from the second story, it is hard to believe the president's claim that neither he nor his aides were involved in the search for a successor for his Senate seat.

The second report is even more intriguing. Because of an error in redacting some matters in the defense pleadings we can see the extent to which the defense claims Obama, Emanuel and others in the administration as well as convicted real estate investor Tony Rezko are involved in the effort to find a Senate replacement for Obama. The redacted portions reported in detail in this article are in support of the following 6 assertions:

1. Obama may have lied about conversations with convicted fraudster Tony Rezko [snip]

2. Obama may have overtly recommended Valerie Jarret for his Senate seat[snip]

3. A supporter of President Obama may have offered quid pro quo on a Jarrett senate appointment [snip]

4. Obama maintained a list of good Senate candidates[snip]

5. Rahm Emanuel allegedly floated Cheryl Jackson's name for the Senate seat [snip]

6. Obama had a secret phone call with Blagojevich