FBI interviews Barack Obama and two aides over governor’s seat-for-sale scandal

FBI interviews Barack Obama and two aides over governor’s seat-for-sale scandal
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The corruption investigation surrounding Ill. Gov. Rod Blagojevich forced President-elect Barack Obama to sit down with federal prosecutors to answer questions, according to a report released by Obama's transition team on Dec. 24th.

Barack Obama kept up efforts to keep his Christmas holiday in Hawaii low-profile yesterday, but 4,000 miles away in Chicago the corruption scandal over his vacant Illinois Senate seat continued to dog his White House transition.

Three weeks after Rod Blagojevich, the Governor of Illinois, was arrested and charged with trying to sell the Senate seat, new details emerged about the scandal that stymied attempts by Mr Obama to put the matter to rest.

Mr Blagojevich’s lawyer asked the Illinois legislative committee, which is considering whether to impeach the governor, to subpoena more than a dozen witnesses, including Rahm Emanuel, Mr Obama’s incoming chief of staff, and Valerie Jarrett, a longtime confidante and senior adviser to the President-elect. While it is not clear whether the panel will grant the request, made to force public testimony from Mr Obama’s inner circle and distract attention from the alleged wrongdoings of his client, the move kept the story in the headlines.

Although there is no allegation of any wrongdoing by Mr Obama or his staff, it also emerged that the President-elect was interviewed last Thursday for two hours by two FBI agents and two federal prosecutors investigating Mr Blagojevich. Mr Emanuel and Ms Jarrett were also interviewed. All three were represented by their own personal lawyers.

Barack Obama questioned by FBI agents over Blagojevich Illinois senate seat scandal
President-elect Barack Obama has been interviewed for two hours by four federal investigators about the scandal surrounding the alleged sale of his Senate seat by Governor Rod Blagojevich of Illinois.
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Patrick Fitzgerald asks panel not to subpoena Obama aides
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