To stir the pot, pour in more water?
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Turndown: The trick is to connect the dots, accurately.

Obama team defends Emanuel in Blagojevich probe

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A senior adviser to President-elect Barack Obama defended chief of staff Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday for his contacts with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s office about filling Obama’s Senate seat.

Blagojevich has been charged with plotting to sell Obama’s Senate seat in a nakedly corrupt act and the Obama presidential transition team has been working to distance Obama and his inner circle from the scandal-tarred governor.

But the Chicago Sun-Times reported on Wednesday that Emanuel had privately urged Blagojevich’s administration to appoint Obama confidant Valerie Jarrett to the Senate seat that Obama vacated when he was elected president November 4.

Emanuel had asked the appointment be made by a certain deadline, the newspaper said.

Emanuel is a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois chosen by Obama to be his White House chief of staff.

Obama senior adviser David Axelrod offered a strong defense of Emanuel on MSNBC a day after Obama refused to answer a question about the Blagojevich case at a Chicago news conference because the U.S. attorney has the case under investigation.

“I’ve known Rahm … for a very long time. I’ve worked with him closely. He is someone who I think has enormous integrity and unparalleled skill. And I think we’re lucky to have him,” Axelrod said. “I have no concerns about Rahm. He is an enormous asset to us and will be an enormous asset to the country, as he has been in the Congress.”

The Blagojevich case has been an unwelcome distraction for Obama at a time when he is focused on plans aimed at rebuilding the U.S. economy when he takes power on January 20.

Last week Obama said details would be released in a few days about the extent of contacts between his team and Blagojevich’s office, but on Monday he said he would delay the release until Christmas week at the request of the federal prosecutors.

He said he had no contact with Blagojevich about the Senate seat and that any discussions between the two sides by his team had not been inappropriate.

Discussing the Senate seat would not be illegal. But what has remained unclear is whether Emanuel or Jarrett, who removed herself from consideration for being appointed to the Senate seat, were aware that Blagojevich was seeking a financial reward from whoever was picked.

Axelrod said the Obama team was eager to release its report.

“When you see it, it will corroborate what the president-elect has said, which is that he never spoke with the governor or any of his aides about this and that. There were no inappropriate discussions between members of his staff and the governor’s office in this manner. And that, I think, will be very clear,” he said.

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