The back story of Valerie Jarrett, Illinois U.S. Senate Seat and the White House

No one with President-elect Barack Obama's transition team has identified his close friend and adviser Valerie Jarrett as Senate candidate #1, as mentioned in the criminal complaint against Gov. Rod Blagojevich, but it's clear that she is the person often mentioned.

There is a wide assumption by many that Jarrett "mysteriously" dropped out of the race for the U.S. Senate, and I've even heard some suggest that the Obama team got wind of Blagojevich's alleged scheme to broker a deal for the seat appointment.

But there is nothing mysterious about what happened.

One week before the Nov. 4 election, Jarrett had multiple conversations with Sen. Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, with regards to the Senate position. This was in response to a number of Chicago allies asking her to consider taking an appointment for the remaining two years of the seat.

That doesn't come as a surprise to those familiar with the city's politics. A former top official with Chicago Mayor Richard Daley who is now CEO of a real estate company, she has served in many civic positions, and has had her name mentioned for various posts, including even running for mayor one day.

At the same time, multiple sources have told me that supporters of Jarrett were sending out feelers to black ministers and community activists to gauge the level of interest in her going after the job as a way to solidify support before it coalesced around another candidate or candidates.

Then after Obama's victory, the speculation immediately turned to whether she would go after the job. It was well known that Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. wanted the post, and many were placing bets as to which way Obama would go, especially since the congressman was one of his national co-chairs. It was assumed that Obama would side with Jarrett, but he had not made a decision one way or another on who should take his place in the U.S. Senate.

One of the reasons Obama didn't declare her as his choice for the seat is because he was considering who would serve as his key advisers. Now that he was headed to the White House, his world is even smaller than it was when he was running for president, and he is further walled off from the rest of the world. He often said that Jarrett was one of his most trusted advisers, and having her at his side was important for a variety of reasons.

That's why on November 9, while she was in New York on business, he offered her the job as senior advisor to the president and assistant to the president for intergovernmental affairs and public liaison. This position has her reporting directly to him and places her in the inner sanctum of the president of the United States, and ensures that her voice will be heard on nearly every issue.

I know the date well because on November 10, she confided in me that she had been offered the job, but I couldn't report anything until the announcement was about to be made. I had been working the phones to ascertain what jobs were being offered to a litany of Obama campaign officials, and she was certainly high on the list because of her relationship with Obama.

On November 12, with speculation increasing that she was going after the job, she announced that she was not interested. And on November 14, I reported that she had been officially named to the post. And on November 16, Obama officially resigned his U.S. Senate seat, putting the choice for a replacement into overdrive.

No one still knows whether the Obama camp found out about Blagojevich's alleged wheeling and dealing for the seat. But the notion that Jarrett's decision to drop out of the running because of Pay Rod just doesn't jive with the facts.

Comments

[will]

Dosen't jive with what facts? You have yet to truly clarify(if you even know) how Blago's negotiating was not a factor in Jarrett removing herself from the running. It's amusing to watch you backpeddling as you continue to try and explain away the expanding Blago stink. It's very unlikely at this point that the Obama team was oblivious to the auction surrounding the seat. We know now his Chief of Staff had numerous discussions with the IL Gov. Blago specifically said that they would not pay him, which means someone KNEW he was soliciting a big bribe. In Rahm Emanuel’s case, I think it about time that we officially begin the “Emanuel Under the Bus Toss Watch.”

Is it possible Emanuel met with Blago’s people without the president elect knowing? This is important because Obama looked us all in the eye yesterday and said he wasn’t aware of any contact between his staff and Blagojevich regarding the senate seat. Emanuel will probably say he never informed Obama about the meetings but that doesn’t pass the stink test. Obama wanted his best friend and confidante Valerie Jarrett in that seat and simple common sense tells us that his #1 aide would keep the boss informed of his progress.

Not only Obama’s denial of contact rings hollow at this point but how about his solemn promise to have his staff canvass his transition team in order to ferret out anyone who had contact with the Blago crew? If he knew Rahm was dealing with Blago on the senate seat, it means that entire excersise is political theater and no more.

And what of Emanuel, the man who promised us transparency and openness in this Hope and Change administration? Here’s an example of transparency, Chicago style:

Emanuel was uncharacteristically absent from Obama’s news conference this morning. He was spotted two hours later in the lobby of Chicago’s City Hall. He was there to listen to his two children performing in a concert with their school, Anshe Emet.

A Sun-Times reporter pressed him to comment about whether he was the emissary named in the criminal complaint.

“You’re wasting your time,” Emanuel said. “I’m not going to say a word to you. I’m going to do this with my children. Dont do that. I’m a father. I have two kids. I’m not going to do it.”

Asked, “Can’t you do both?” Emanuel replied, “I’m not as capable as you. I’m going to be a father. I’m allowed to be a father,” and he pushed the reporter’s digital recorder away.

Now that’s the Chicago Way of ditching reporters.

Eventually, we may get another bit of political theater; the spectacle of Emanuel going before the cameras and tearing up as he talks about how he only wanted to give Obama a Christmas present of Valerie Jarrett’s appointment by Blagojevich which is why he wanted it to be a surprise and never told the president-elect. Obama will be by his side, give him a big hug, and the press will forget the whole thing.

That’s one scenario. Another, more likely chain of events ends up with Emanuel’s exposure as a willing participant in what the feds may consider a bribery scheme to secure Jarrett’s appointment as senator. Obama would have no choice but to throw Rahmbo under the bus while questions would continue to be asked about his own knowledge of what was being discussed between his chief of staff and the governor’s people.

How bad is it for Mr. Transparency? Caught in a couple of lies before you’re even sworn in as president would not be good but is hardly impeachable. Bribery is going to be very hard to differentiate from political horse trading which is not illegal but sure gives the lie to Obama’s “Hope and Change” mantra. At the very least, the stink of this scandal will follow Obama into the White House.

He apparently tried to avoid it. Whether because he was unwilling to pay Blago’s price or recognized how exposed he was, this timeline by Jim Lindgren at Volokh shows that something strange happened between the time Obama let it be known that Jarrett was his choice to fill the senate vacancy and his announcement that he was appointing the Chicago machine pol to a White House position:

1. On the weekend of Nov. 8-9, Obama lets it be known that his choice for Senate is Valerie Jarrett. Aides tell WLS-TV in Chicago and CNN, which announces Obama’s choice on Sunday. Nov. 9.

2. On Monday, Nov. 10, Blagojevich holds an incredible 2-hour conference call with multiple consultants: “ROD BLAGOJEVICH, his wife, JOHN HARRIS, Governor General Counsel, and various Washington-D.C. based advisors, including Advisor B,” discussing his corrupt schemes. He follows this with two calls with Advisor A.

3. That very night, Monday, Nov. 10, at 7:56pm, CNN reported:

Two Democratic sources close to President-elect Barack Obama tell CNN that top adviser Valerie Jarrett will not be appointed to replace him in the U.S. Senate.

“While he (Obama) thinks she would be a good senator, he wants her in the White House,” one top Obama advisor told CNN Monday.

Over the weekend, Democratic sources had told CNN as well as Chicago television station WLS-TV that Jarrett was Obama’s choice to fill his Senate seat.

So what happened? The likeliest scenario is that one of the many participants in Blagojevich’s Monday phone calls either floated his plans to the Obama transition team to assess their response or tipped off the Obama camp about the reckless ideas that Blagojevich had planned.

In any event, within hours of Blagojevich substantially expanding his circle of confidants, the Obama camp withdrew Jarrett’s name from consideration and attributed that withdrawal to the President’s wanting Jarrett in the White House. And the Obama staffers went out of their way to depict this as Obama’s choice, rather than Jarrett’s, which would have been more common. The report claims Obama’s involvement in the decision and suggests a direct effort to undercut the idea that Obama was pressuring Blagojevich to appoint Jarrett.

I tend to believe that Obama saw a train wreck coming and yanked Jarrett away from trouble while trying to cover his own tracks with double talk about needing Jarrett in the White House. At the time, of course, he didn’t know about the wiretaps on Blago’s phone that could trip him up later.

As a Chicago pol, Obama has a well developed sense of potential exposure to the kind of cesspool politics played out in this entire affair. His instincts must have been on full alert once he was sure that Blago was shopping his seat to the highest bidder – no doubt informed of this by Emanuel who it is inferred through a phonecon between Blagojevich and his chief of staff John Harris (also arrested) was being threatened with the appointment of someone unpalatable (“Candidate #5” – Jackson) unless Obama upped the ante.

And speaking of Jackson, this bit of news dug out by the Chicago Tribune is very bad for him. Jesse The Younger’s Campaign finance surrogate had a meeting with Blago’s representative back in October where he offered $1 million in campaign contributions for the senate seat. Jackson had a press conference where he said he had no knowledge of this offer and yet, just last Saturday – three days before Blago’s arrest – he held a fundraiser for Blagojevich where the express purpose was to help him secure the senate seat.

Not only does this put Jackson totally out of the running for the senate seat but it is obvious he has not been forthcoming about what he knows with regards to Blago’s attempt to sell the senate seat. The fact that his own brother attended the fundraiser guarantees he knew about it and also knew what price he had to pay in order to get the appointment. This makes the statements he made at his press conference “inoperative” as they say in Chicago.

And what of Obama’s statements? Will they be identified as “misstatements” or perhaps there will be claims that Obama “misspoke?” And what of Emanuel? His reluctance to talk to the press is understandable in light of the fact that there is no good explanation for how he could have spoken to Blago’s people and not told Obama.

[Kim]

Will,

Don't complain again about anyone else's long rambling posts. You are full of yourself also.

[Ethel]

All these attempts to link Obama to the Gov.'s criminal scheme to sell a Senate seat, represents the on-going efforts on the losing side of the election. We understand how you feel, and you will have at least four years to do as much as you can to spin lies, innuendos, and in general, foster efforts to discredit Obama.

Obama wanted Jarrett in the Whitehouse with him. And given what we know about the Presidency, this is the only place for her to be. In terms of Emanuel, we will wait and see what really went down.

As for Jessie Jackson, Jr., he needs to take advice from his lawyer and refrain from making public statements. Why the press conference yesterday, why the interview today? If he just must talk, then he needs to talk with the US Attorney.

Lots of people are watching this and other situations that are in play. We simply need to just relax, and watch it all play out. . .

[will]

God, please don't insult this unusually long post by comparing mine to Touch and his/her manufactured world weary piety not to mention non-stop liberal crusading, that wounds my heart Kim.

[the reader formerly known as nic]

"At the very least, the stink of this scandal will follow Obama into the White House."

This line could've sufficed for your entire post, as it represents the core of your argument. Still, the "stink" will be subjective, and not limited to this affair, but also inclusive of the "Wright controversy," as you called it, the "Ongoing Rezko scandal," which you insist exists, the Ayers association, and the kindergarten papers...most of us don't care, Will. We're optimistic about the impending change, especially after the last 8 years. I know you haven't paid much attention over the last 8 years, but things could hardly get worse. I'll take a Chicago democrat, for better or worse, over the Texas cowboy club, any day...

I'll tell you again...you seem smart enough to come up with something ELSE besides these tired right-wing diatribes. I know that if you really, really try, you can come up with an original, substantial bit of criticism pertaining to our President-elect...but you seem to suffer from the same intellectual laziness as Glen Beck. And I don't think you really care about the issues at hand, as much as any opportunity to push your Rovian doctrine on Roland's readers...I think I'm speaking for more than one when I say we can't wait until you go away.

[will]

just for that tender tidbit i find i must disappoint u

[will]

and nic perhaps one day you will figure out you have not gotten change. Just swapped out the Texas cowboys for the Chi-town Sopranos. But what am I saying? He's the first ever black Soprano, the rest is clearly irrelevant.

[Slim]

I often wonder why people who think Obama is linked to this would source the Chicago Tribune. I mean if we're doing the innuendo/guilt by association game then surely the Tribune's credibility is shot to hell right?

[Cindy Williams Surely Was]

Do we have any verification from someone outside the Obama campaign? Sorry Roland, but you don't count.

[SocraticGadfly]

Given that JJ Jr. was already having fundraising dinners, per the Trib, by Oct. 30, some sort of Pay-Play wheels had to already be spinning in the background well in advance of Election Day.

And, while Obama didn't give out a direct quote that Jarrett was his preferred Senate choice, he did nothing to squelch the inside baseball speculation that she WAS, in fact, his preference to replace him, until offering her the WH job, as Will notes.

As for throwing Rahmbo under the bus, take a look; you'll see the DNA from Ax having already been hit more than once.

Oh, I'm certainly not a Chicagoan; came here from Talking Points Memo.

That said, I definitely have no conservative ax to grind, as Will apparently does. I'm an independent left-liberal who voted Green in the past two presidential elections.

Obama himself certainly has no pay-play criminality at stake. But, unless he talked to Fitz before Nov. 10, I'd say he does appear to be guilty of poor judgment in a variety of ways.

As for Rahmbo stiffing the press, and Obama's press style in general, look at Gibbs. He'll probably make Ari Fleischer look like a chatterbox.

Enjoy the Kool-Aid, Obamiacs! (Ignore the bitter almonds taste at the bottom of the glass.)

[Press Is Still In The Tank]

Here's a good article that discusses Obama's earlier relationships with a lot of the Chicago political players. He didn't spring from Bill Ayers's forehead fully-grown in 2002 after all.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/06/27/grim_proving_ground_for_obamas_housing_policy/

[Motiv8]

Quoted from 'Will': "This is important because Obama looked us all in the eye yesterday and said he wasn’t aware of any contact between his staff and Blagojevich regarding the senate seat."

Remind me again when he said this? What he actually said was that "I never had any contact with the Governor about this [senate seat]." Before you premise your entire long-winded argument on something that's simply false, I suggest you do a little fact checking first. But hey, when did the facts ever matter when it comes to people posting erroneous thoughts on blogs?

[john Smart]

THe Obama sychophants just won't accept the facts. Obama comes straight out of the most corrupt political machine in America and he is TAINTED.

This article makes no sense. Why was Blag talking about Jarrett WEEKS later if she'd taken herself out of contention?

Take off the Obama blinders. THe man is a corrupt.

[Todd]

All politics is local. What's going on in Chicago is peanuts compared to the corrupt crooks currently occupying the white house and congress. Obama deserves the benefit of the doubt. The msm is making a fire where there is no smoke.

[Dusty]

Republicans lost the general election 11/04/08.

So all is left for them to do is whine and cry, whine and cry, cry baby!

[Grinder]

I take a back seat to no one when it comes to my cynicism about Chicago politics, but I don't (yet) see any evidence that Obama was mixed up in Blogo's criminality.

It wouldn't surprise me if Blogo floated various alternatives to Obama's staff. You would expect that, given that the issue was who to put in Obama's newly vacant Senate seat. But that's a very long way away from participating in, or even knowing about, any scheme to sell the appointment.

If Obama's people had caught a whiff of that, then I'd expect that they'd have contacted the authorities. It'll be interesting to see what comes out in the weeks ahead. If it's that, say, Rahm Emanuel worked with the FBI to draw out Blogo, I'm not going to be shocked.

As long as there has been an Illinois, there has been a corrupt Illinois. The place was corrupt when Republicans ran it, and it was corrupt when Democrats ran it. Keeping Illinois from being overrun by corruption is a never-ending job.

[Purple State Pundit]

This makes sense to me. I know Jarrett is one of the people closest to Obama, so it did not make sense to me that he would want her in the Senate rather than advising him in the White House.

That being said, I don't see what the fuss is about. If she had removed her name because she smelled something fishy with the way Blagojevich was going about the selection and pulled out because of that, what would be wrong with that?

[Elrod]

Will,
Obama did NOT say that nobody was in contact with Blagojevich regarding the Senate seat. He said nobody was in contact with Blago regarding any pay-for-play scheme over the Senate seat. Big difference. You set up an entire rant based on a lie.

It's likely that Rahm spoke with Blago (or Harris) and informed him of Obama's suggestions, which apparently were Jarrett, Schakowsky, Hynes, Duckworth or Lisa Madigan. (Not Jesse Jackson, Jr.). To make the leap from that conversation to "there was a pay-for-play offer that Rahm rejected" is a huge stretch. Blago is quite delusional and probably thought Rahm would come to HIM with something "tangible up front," without asking.

[RolandMartin]

Cindy, do you know how to read? ANYONE can read what I post and know that it all came from inside the Obama camp. That's why we call them sources.

[Keith]

This is a continuing saga. . .

Now for the inauguration. An article in the newspaper the other day noted that the bathrooms in the Metro in DC would be closed, and that portable toilets would be placed at selected Metro stations. Based on the number of toilets they were working with and the estimated number of people attending the event, there would be 1 toilet for every 6,849 people. Imagine having "to go" and getting in one of those lines. I guess everyone, young and old, must purchase their depends before they leave home! Another thing, they will have to have toilet clean-up teams working all day solely on these very valuable facilities!

[robert]

I'd rather a grand jury decide, Roland.

[robert]

I'd rather a grand jury decide, Roland.

[Howard Wang]

Lets face it.
The vultures in the press will eventually get over their Obamamania in favor of a good old fashioned Watergate like scandal. In the end advancing their careers is higher on the agenda then protecting a cabal of slimey Chicago pols.
Multiple hacks associated with Obama are about to get hammered and maybe the Messiah himself.
The most delicious part of thise whole mess is that Fitmas is finally here and the packages from the prosecuter are all addressed to Democrats. How great is that ?

[Howard Wang]

Ok...............lets get used to saying it.

President Joe Biden...........President Joe Biden..........President Joe Biden....

[Roland S. Martin]

Howard,

If you think this issue is going to bring down Obama, you're nuts. TOTALLY nuts.