Neither President-elect Barack Obama nor his staff contacted or held “inappropriate discussions” with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich or his staff about selecting a successor for Mr. Obama’s vacated Senate seat, the Obama transition team said Monday.
A review of transition staff contacts with Mr. Blagojevich and his office has been conducted and is ready for release, transition Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer said in a brief statement.
But the review, conducted at Mr. Obama’s request, will not be released until the week of Dec. 22 in order not to impede U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald’s investigation of Mr. Blagojevich, the statement said. The release was deferred at Mr. Fitzgerald’s request, according to the statement.
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The two-term governor is charged with trying to sell Mr. Obama’s Senate seat. Questions arose about whether Mr. Obama or members of his staff discussed filling that vacancy with Mr. Blagojevich. Mr. Fitzgerald has said that the president-elect was not involved in such discussions.
Mr. Obama has said publicly that neither he nor his staff discussed the issue with Mr. Blagojevich.
The review “affirmed the public statements of the president-elect that he had no contact with the governor or his staff and that the president-elect’s staff was not involved in inappropriate discussions with the governor or his staff over the selection of his successors as U.S. senator,” the statement said.
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