Team Obama clears Team Obama of wrongdoing in Blagojevich sale of Senate seat.

Team Obama says that it did nothing wrong and the Mainstream Media happily accept their assurance without question. Gee, would they have taken that attitude as to any internal investigations by the Bush administration.

The report raises many questions. One basic question arises out of the careful language of Greg Craig in describing the basis of his investigation. Having written quite a few legal opinions based on information provided by operating departments in a corporation, I found his description of the factual foundation for his legal opinion revealing. Craig's opinion begins:

At your direction, I arranged for transition staff to provide accounts of
any contacts that you or they may have had with Governor Blagojevich or his
office in which the subject of your successor came up.

This seems to indicate that Craig relied completely on "accounts" voluntarily provided by the "transition staff." This suggests that he simply accepted written responses by the staff and conducted no probing interviews of anyone and made no independent investigation of emails, memos or voice messages. This approach apparently resulted from the "direction" of president-elect Obama.

This would have required someone to write to the White House Counsel designee that "Yes, I engaged in conversations with Governor Blagojevich or his staff to facilitate the sale and purchase of the Senate seat." We are supposed to believe that someone would voluntarily make such an admission in writing that would expose them to criminal prosecution and embarrass Obama who had already assured the public that no such conversations had taken place.

If Craig's description of the basis of his investigation says what it seems to, this was no investigation at all. Furthermore, his conclusion defies common sense. Obviously, the former Senator and president-elect would have an opinion as to who should succeed him in the Senate. He would want someone he could work with. This in no way suggests that Obama or his staff engaged in conversations relating to the sale of the seat, but that either directly or indirectly Obama expressed his choice to the Governor.

That Team Obama and its lawyer cannot admit what can only be the obvious reality suggests two very serious issues. First, this approach will undoubtedly repeat itself in future controversies. Second, it suggests that Team Obama fear admission of even the barest contact between any of its members and the Governor and his staff would embarrass Obama.

It seems to me that no one in Team Obama participated in attempts to meet Blagojevich's price. However, Team Obama's fear arises, not from any wrongdoing on their part, but out of questions that may result from the mere presentation of Blagojevich's offer to sell the seat. One may wonder if Blagojevich thought that Obama would agree to the purchase of the seat because of their prior dealings in Chicago.