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Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s (D) arrest on criminal corruption charges raises new questions about those considered for appointment to replace President-elect Obama in the Senate, as Blagojevich weighed a handful of candidates for the job, according to the criminal complaint filed by the FBI on Tuesday.
While only one of the potential replacements is implicated in any wrongdoing — Blagojevich himself — details within the criminal complaint suggest Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett and State Attorney General Lisa Madigan were among those considered for the post.
Senate Candidate 1, first referenced in conversations Blagojevich held before Obama won election on Nov. 4, is widely believed to be Jarrett, the Chicago attorney and businesswoman who will serve as a senior adviser in Obama’s White House. Jarrett will manage the White House Office of Public Liaison, a position announced 10 days after the election.
The name of Senate Candidate 2 was originally floated to a Chicago Sun-Times columnist on Nov. 6, according to the complaint, in order to “send a message to” Obama’s team, Blagojevich said in a recorded conversation. On Nov. 7, columnist Michael Sneed suggested Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s name was in the mix, and the complaint alleges specific language used by Blagojevich and a spokesman was included in the column. Sneed also wrote that a Madigan selection “sounds like looneyville.”
Senate Candidate 3 is only used once, and no details that might shed light on his or her identity are given. Senate Candidate 3 is mentioned as a fallback option if Blagojevich’s alleged schemed didn’t pan out.
Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) on Tuesday suggested she might be Senate Candidate 3.
“That’s the only one I could be,” Schakowsky said, “the one in that offhand mention.”
Schakowsky, who is calling on Blagojevich to resign, said she talked to the Illinois governor on her cell phone about the Senate appointment the week before Thanksgiving. However, she said on Tuesday, there was nothing in that discussion that resembled the conversations recounted in the complaint.
“There was nothing in that conversation that indicated interest in a quid pro quo,” Schakowsky said. “There was nothing about his needs. It was only about the Senate seat and small talk about the legislature and the Congress.”
Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.), who has been mentioned as a possible successor to Obama in the Senate, said Tuesday that he “unequivocally, without a doubt” is not one of those candidates mentioned in the complaint.
Senate Candidate 4 is a deputy governor, most likely Louanner Peters, whose name was floated as a potential Obama replacement even before the Democrat won the presidency. Peters, a former chief of staff to ex-Rep. Gus Savage (D-Ill.), was the deputy campaign manager of Blagojevich’s 2006 reelection effort. In the Blagojevich administration, she handled social services issues.
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