Obama: No contact with IL gov
Posted: Tuesday, December 09, 2008 3:31 PM by Carrie Dann
From NBC's Athena Jones
CHICAGO -- President-elect Barack Obama responded solemnly to news that FBI agents arrested Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich this morning on a series of corruption charges and said that he had not been aware of what was going on in the governor's office.
"Obviously, like the rest of the people of Illinois I am saddened and sobered by the news that came out of the US attorney's office today," Obama said today, "but as this is a ongoing investigation involving the governor I don't think it would be appropriate for me to comment on the issue at this time."
The charges against Blagojevich include seeking favors in exchange for appointing a replacement to Obama's Senate seat.
Obama said he had had no contact with Blagojevich's office about the appointment of a replacement for the Senate seat he resigned last month after winning the presidential election.
"I had no contact with the governor or his office and so we were not, I was not aware of what was happening," he said. "And as I said, you know, it's a sad day for Illinois. Beyond that I don't think it's appropriate to comment."
Obama made the comments to a pool of reporters after he and Vice President-elect Joe Biden met with former Vice President Al Gore to talk about climate change.
***UPDATE*** As news reports pointed out today, Obama advisor David Axelrod told a local news station last month that President-elect Obama had recently talked to Gov. Blagojevich about the appointment process. That assertion appeared to conflict with Obama's today. Axelrod just put out this statement by email: "I was mistaken when I told an interviewer last month that the President-elect has spoken directly to Governor Blagojevich about the Senate vacancy. They did not then or at any time discuss the subject."
