Obama says he knew nothing of governor's 'seat for sale'
BARACK Obama has moved swiftly to distance himself from the arrest of the governor of Illinois for trying to sell his Senate seat to the highest bidder.
The president-elect and his transition team were nervously watching the fallout from the arrest of Rod Blagojevich on corruption charges.
Their biggest fear is that Mr Obama's relationship with Chicago businessman Antonin "Tony" Rezko will be dragged up as opponents seek to tie the president-elect to Mr Blagojevich. Rezko, a political fundraiser, faces 10 years in jail on bribery and corruption charges and will be sentenced next month.
Both Mr Obama and Mr Blagojevich received money and support from Rezko during their campaigns.
The most damming charge against Mr Blagojevich is that he tried to sell Mr Obama's vacant Senate seat to whoever would pay him the most cash.
Mr Blagojevich was arrested after the FBI bugged his phone lines. In one call, he said: "I've got this thing and it's f***ing golden, and, uh, uh, I'm just not giving it up for f***in' nothing."
Mr Obama said: "I had no contact with the governor or his office."