Obama is in the clear over senate 'seat for sale' scandal

Barack Obama expects to be told today that he will be cleared of any wrongdoing in the Illinois "senate seat for sale" scandal.

Fears had been growing in Washington that the president-elect's credibility would be tarnished before he even takes the oath of office next month.

But a report into how much contact he and his staff had with state governor, Rod Blagojevich, is expected to exonerate Mr Obama. Mr Blagojevich is accused of offering Mr Obama's vacant senate seat to the highest bidder.

Mr Obama was never accused of any wrongdoing after Mr Blagojevich was arrested by FBI agents who had been tapping his phone in the weeks after Mr Obama's victory.

The FBI case suggests Mr Obama declined to engage with the governor in his alleged attempts to sell the Senate seat - the "pay-to-play" scheme - and there is evidence that MrBlagojevich swore when speaking of Mr Obama's unwillingness to offer him anything of value in exchange for appointing MrObama's candidate of choice.

But ever since the scandal broke MrObama has been hounded with questions about his involvement and that of his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel.

Today's report is expected to show that Mr Emanuel had four telephone conversations with the governor's chief of staff, John Harris. Sources close to Mr Obama confirm that Mr Emanuel made the case during at least one of the conversations for picking Mr Obama's adviser Valerie Jarrett. In the course of that phone call, Mr Harris made the remark that if Mrs Jarrett were chosen, "all we get is appreciation, right?", and Mr Emanuel replied: "Right."

Since Mr Blagojevich's arrest on 9December, Mr Obama has made few public remarks about the claims - which Mr Blagojevich denies - that the governor wanted a job for his wife, campaign contributions or donations to a non-profit organisation he hoped to create in return for filling the Senate seat.