• Most Popular
  • Most Shared

Obama says saddened by Blagojevich corruption case

CHICAGO
Tue Dec 9, 2008 3:56pm EST

CHICAGO (Reuters) - President-elect Barack Obama said on Tuesday he was saddened by a corruption case involving Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and that he was not aware of Blagojevich's alleged efforts to sell the Senate seat Obama had vacated.

Barack Obama

The governor was arrested earlier on Tuesday for allegedly seeking money from potential candidates for the U.S. Senate seat that Obama had held until he was elected.

Talking to reporters after a meeting with former Vice President Al Gore, Obama said he was "saddened and sobered" by the case.

Asked if there had been contact by him or his staff with Blagojevich or his staff about the seat, Obama said: "I had no contact with the governor or his office and so I was not aware of what was happening. But as I said it is a sad day for Illinois. Beyond that I don't think it's appropriate to comment."

(Reporting by Steve Holland, editing by David Alexander)
Barack Obama


More from Reuters

Photo

Treasury to seek easing of bailout fund rules

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Treasury Department will ask Congress to ease restrictions on the use of bank bailout funds so it can use some of the money to encourage more lending to small businesses, a department official said on Wednesday.

» More Top News
Malaysians participate in computer attack and defence hacking competition during The 3rd Annual Hack-In-The-Box Security Conference 2004 in Kuala Lumpur on October 6, 2004. REUTERS/Bazuki Muhammad
Commentary:

Year of the breach

Data security breaches are nasty business and should be avoided at all costs, writes Kevin Prince, a chief technology officer at Perimeter e-Security. Here's a look at the biggest breaches and blunders of 2009.  Commentary 

Technology
Cannabis sativa plant is seen in Buenos Aires, August 21, 2009. REUTERS/Enrique Marcarian
Commentary:

Obama, drugs, common sense

American attitudes towards drug prohibition – and above all, punitive laws on marijuana – are changing too fast for policymakers and legislators to ignore, writes columnist Bernd Debusmann.  Commentary 

U.S.