The waves of the Blagojevich trial are beginning to lap up against the Obama White House.
In another taped conversation played for the jury Wednesday, Rod Blagojevich told his Chief of Staff John Harris and political consultant Fred Yang that he heard back from Tom Balanoff regarding his push to be named Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Blagojevich told both men that Balanoff had spoken directly to President Barack Obama and that Obama had made it clear he wanted Valerie Jarrett to replace him in the Senate. He also said that Balanoff told him Jarrett was present at meetings discussing the seat.
According to Harris’ testimony, this was the first Blagojevich and his aides had heard that Jarrett was actively involved in the conversations about the Senate seat. To them, this meant that they would not have to rely on back channels to convey their trade proposal: naming her to the Senate in exchange for Obama naming Blagojevich to be HHS secretary.
“How bad does she want to be a senator?” Blagojevich asked, adding that if his request was granted, he would appoint Jarrett to the seat “in a heartbeat.”
Yang conveyed that he didn’t think it would be likely that Blagojevich would get the cabinet position he asked for because of appearances, and Harris explained they had to be careful in their approach.
“We wanted to make sure that our ‘ask’ would be reasonable and rather than make it look like some sort of selfish grab for quid pro quo,” Harris explained to jurors.
Harris continued to say that Blagojevich had the background and experience so that his request for Secretary of HHS was “politically palatable.”