Trial of ousted Ill. Gov. Blagojevich a distant but unwelcome additional headache for Obama

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Blago trial a distant, unwanted headache for Obama

CHICAGO — The corruption trial of ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich — for allegedly trying to sell President Barack Obama’s own Senate seat — is a distant but unwelcome headache for the White House.

While Obama hasn’t been accused of wrongdoing, nor have his allies, top administration aides have now been subpoenaed to testify. After court adjourned Wednesday, Blagojevich’s attorneys filed a motion asking to see the FBI’s summaries of interviews agents conducted with Obama.

And Obama already has many other problems — from the Gulf oil spill to the economy — in what is also a tough congressional election year.

Obama’s political opponents will certainly try to tie the president to Blagojevich’s alleged shenanigans in appointing a Senate replacement from a state with notoriously corrupt politics.

They’ll have plenty of opportunities.

White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and close adviser Valerie Jarrett have been subpoenaed, attorneys close to the case and White House officials have said, speaking on condition of anonymity because Emanuel’s subpoena was not public and the investigation is ongoing. Also, Emanuel is reportedly on FBI wiretaps. Convicted influence peddler Tony Rezko, a fundraiser for both Obama and Blagojevich, may be called to testify. And Blagojevich insists that Obama has “direct knowledge” related to the allegations involving the Senate seat.

“Anyone in Illinois politics, especially Illinois Democratic politics, should be nervous if, in fact, Rod Blagojevich goes on the stand because he is the human equivalent of an unguided political missile,” said Paul Green, who teaches politics at Chicago’s Roosevelt University.

The former governor’s lawyers say he will indeed testify at the trial, which began June 3 and is expected to last three to four months.

But Democratic consultant Chris Lehane says Blagojevich has credibility issues, and predicts that although it may get messy at times, Obama won’t suffer long-term damage because of the trial.

“At the end of the day, the White House has a lot bigger things to be concerned about,” Lehane said.

For their part, White House officials say they are watching the trial play out and monitoring how it is being covered in the news. But they’re adamant in their assertion that they are bystanders to a political drama that started in the hours after Obama won the White House.

Still, Democrats in Washington quietly worry that images of Emanuel and other high-profile Obama allies will replay for weeks as Republicans paint the administration as a tool of the Chicago political machine. For now, the White House hopes its officials dodge the stain and voters — picking senators, governors and the entire 435-member House in November — make their choices based on key issues, not his fellow Chicago Democrats.

Blagojevich has pleaded not guilty to charges that he tried to enrich himself by attempting to sell or trade the Senate seat Obama relinquished when he won the White House in 2008. Prosecutors say Blagojevich was hoping for an Obama Cabinet post, money or a high-paying job for him or his wife. He’s also accused of trying to wring campaign contributions from people in exchange for state action.

Emanuel and Jarrett aren’t the only ones close to Obama who could take the stand. Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois has been subpoenaed too. He has said he talked to Blagojevich once about possible Senate replacements.

It’s not clear what might come out if Emanuel and Jarrett take the witness stand. Obama authorized Emanuel to pass along to Blagojevich’s office the names of potential Senate replacements. Jarrett had been mentioned as a possible choice but withdrew her name to go to work for Obama in Washington.

But Emanuel apparently has been willing to swap favors before with Blagojevich. Newly disclosed e-mails show Emanuel, then an Illinois congressman, agreed in 2006 to sign a letter to a newspaper supporting the embattled governor. Then his staff urged Blagojevich to release a delayed $2 million grant to a school in his district.

Emanuel’s conversations about the Senate seat have been called “totally appropriate and acceptable” by former White House counsel Greg Craig, who conducted an internal inquiry for Obama shortly after the election about contacts between the presidential transition team and Blagojevich.

The then-governor ultimately appointed Democrat Roland Burris, who later opted not to run for a full term of his own. Republican U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk, Democratic Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias and the Green Party’s LeAlan Jones are now vying for the seat.

Blagojevich’s trial will expose the underside of Illinois politics and that won’t jibe with the reformist image that helped Obama get elected, said Republican strategist Kevin Madden, a former campaign aide to presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

“The major concern for those watching in the White House is that this … is like an old, worn sweater with a loose thread and then when you pull the thread it all unravels and it reveals kind of the Chicago machine of Democrat politics,” Madden said.

Obama’s swift rise, though, did not come from the Chicago political machine. While he couldn’t ignore it, he tried to keep himself apart from it.

Madden said the White House will work feverishly to distance itself from the trial.

“I’d expect that they’re going to say that this is owned and operated by Blagojevich himself,” he said.

But Blagojevich and his attorneys are doing what they can to draw in Obama.

In asking that the president be subpoenaed to testify, Blagojevich claimed Obama has “direct knowledge of the Senate seat allegation.” While the judge isn’t allowing it, he says he might revisit the issue if evidence emerges that Obama would have meaningful testimony.

Blagojevich’s attorneys reiterated that claim in their request for the interview summaries, saying testimony from the ousted governor’s former chief of staff and tapes played in court “raise the issue of President Obama’s direct knowledge and communication with emissaries and others regarding appointment to his Senate seat.”

Obama also won’t be able to avoid the embarrassing connections between himself and Rezko, the Blagojevich confidante who could testify.

Rezko, who was convicted of shaking down people who wanted to do business with the state of Illinois, had previously raised money for Obama and even did a real estate deal with him. Rezko owned a vacant lot next door to Obama’s South Side home and ended up selling him a strip of land.

But Obama’s connections to Rezko aren’t new and they haven’t hurt him politically.

Associated Press Writers Mike Robinson in Chicago and Erica Werner and Philip Elliott in Washington contributed to this report.