None of this Blagojevich stuff is great for Obama, but it must come as a relief to see this bit tucked away in Fitzgerald's complaint:
Later in the conversation, ROD BLAGOJEVICH said he knows that the President-elect wants Senate Candidate 1 for the Senate seat but “they’re not willing to give me anything except appreciation. Fuck them.”
And:
ROD BLAGOJEVICH said that the consultants (Advisor B and another consultant are believed to be on the call at that time) are telling him that he has to “suck it up” for two years and do nothing and give this “motherfucker [the President-elect] his senator. Fuck him. For nothing? Fuck him.”
Incidentally, "Senate Candidate 1" appears to be a woman (the complaint mentions that she removed "herself" from consideration); so odds are Jason's right and it's Valerie Jarett. But the really fun question is who "Candidate 5" might be, the candidate who allegedly sent an emissary to Blagojevich: "We were approached 'pay to play.' That, you know, he'd raise me 500 grand. An emissary came. Then the other guy would raise a million, if I made him (Senate Candidate 5) a Senator." That doesn't sound good.
--Bradford Plumer