Too funny. The former Speaker offers to be a liaison to the African-American community for the Republican who knocked off Rep. Bill Jefferson (D-LA).
Looking over our timeline of the Blagojevich investigation, I keep going back to late October. What happened, what information came into Patrick Fitzgerald’s possession, that was solid enough to not just bring to a federal judge but to convince the judge to allow the feds to listen in on a sitting governor discussing his plans on whom to appoint to fill the President-elect’s Senate seat?
There’s a lot of unanswered questions here, but that’s one I find especially tantalizing.
Late Update: Some other key events around that time to keep in mind, from the Chicago Tribune‘s own timeline:
Oct. 23, 2008: The Tribune reports that Wyma, the longtime friend and former congressional chief of staff to Blagojevich, is under investigation by federal authorities, who are probing his lobbying activity for at least one hospital client.
Oct. 30, 2008: Springfield millionaire and longtime political power broker William Cellini, who for four decades played an enormous role in Illinois’ political leadership, is indicted on charges he extorted campaign contributions for Blagojevich.
Then last week, the Tribune reported that Wyma has worked with feds to tape Blagojevich.
The wiretaps were authorized on October 21 and October 29.
A new North-South Civil War over autos? Robert Reich explains.
From the Journal (sub.req.) …
The publisher of the Detroit Free Press, the country’s 20th largest paper by weekday circulation, is expected to announce next week that it will cease home delivery of the print edition of the newspaper on most days of the week, according to a person familiar with the company’s thinking.
The publisher hasn’t made a final decision, said this person, but the leading scenario set to be unveiled Tuesday would call for the Free Press and its partner paper, the Detroit News, to end home delivery on all but the most lucrative days–Thursday, Friday and Sunday. On the other days, the publisher would sell single copies of an abbreviated print edition at newsstands and direct readers to the papers’ expanded digital editions
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If the UAW was really the party who blew up the auto bailout negotiations, the people screaming the loudest would be the automakers. Yet, all the noise today is coming from Senate Republicans and their surrogates. What does that tell you?
On a strictly political calculus, in part because of the highly dysfunctional state of the GOP, those Southern Republican senators simply have no interest at all in being even remotely constructive on the auto bailout.
Does the Treasury Department actually have any authority under TARP to use TARP money to rescue the automakers? Maybe it does, but I’d like to see where it says that. Can someone point me to the language?
Late Update: The GAO thinks so, under an emergency loan provision. As the GAO’s acting director testified last week:
First, as it relates to the authorities under the economic stabilization act for the secretary of Treasury, we believe that that legislation is worded broadly enough that would permit the secretary of Treasury to provide the assistance using T.A.R.P. funds. And the secretary has broad discretion to set whatever conditions on the assistance that he would determine necessary.
The irony of course is that the Bush Administration has been arguing that TARP is limited to financial institutions, although it looks like they will now be reversing course.
Roland Martin says Valerie Jarrett’s decision to drop out of contention for Obama’s senate seat had nothing to do with Blagojevich’s scheming.