The public, said Rendell, understands Obama and his aides would have an interest in who fills the Senate seat, and some contact with the governor's office — and that Obama should have said as much at the outset.
"Did Rahm Emanuel who took Rod Blagojevich's seat in Congress have contact with Rod Blagojevich? Of course he did," Rendell said. "They may have thought he was the craziest S.O.B. in the world. But you still have to have contact with him."
The criminal complaint essentially exonerates Obama and his staff, Rendell said, because it quotes Blagojevich as saying the president-elect would offer him nothing but appreciation for appointing Obama confidant Valerie Jarrett to the position.
“Blagojevich curses them out,” Rendell said. “It is easy [for Obama to] just say, ‘Hey folks here it is, of course we had contact.'
"But they made the mistake of making it a four or five or six day story.”
Meanwhile, we learned this morning from Fox Chicago News there were numerous contacts between Obama chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and Governor Blagojevich regarding the Obama senate seat.
