Review shows no inappropriate contact, Obama asserts

Barack Obama attended a press conference with Joe Biden, Lisa Jackson, and Carol Browner (right) in Chicago yesterday. (Gerald Herbert/ Associated Press)

CHICAGO - President-elect Barack Obama said yesterday that a review by his own lawyer shows that he had no direct contact with Rod Blagojevich, the embattled Illinois governor, about the appointment of Obama's replacement in the US Senate and that his transition aides did nothing inappropriate.

Obama pledged to make the review public, but said he decided to hold off until the week of Dec. 22 at the request of prosecutors. "I don't want to interfere with an ongoing investigation," he said. US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald released a statement confirming the request.

Controversy has swirled around the president-elect and his incoming White House chief of staff, Representative Rahm Emanuel, following Blagojevich's arrest last week on charges he schemed to trade Obama's Senate seat for personal gain.

Obama, fielding questions at a news conference, sidestepped when asked whether Emanuel had spoken with aides to the governor about potential Senate appointees.

The president-elect said the investigation, conducted by his incoming White House counsel, Gregory Craig, was complete and thorough, but did not say which of his aides Craig interviewed or whether any of them was under oath at the time or provide any other details.

In recent days, Obama's staff has declined to respond even to basic questions about the Blagojevich review, like how long it would take, who was leading it, and what issues were explored.

Two people who have been briefed on the investigation told the Associated Press that Emanuel is not a target of the probe.

They spoke on condition of anonymity because the criminal investigation is ongoing. One is a person close to Emanuel, who said he has been told by investigators that he is not a subject of their investigation.

There are no suggestions that Obama or his aides were involved in the alleged attempts to sell of his seat. Fitzgerald has said prosecutors were making no allegations that Obama was aware of any scheming.

Blagojevich himself, in taped conversations cited by prosecutors, suggested that Obama would not be helpful to him and called him a vulgar term. Even if the governor were to appoint a candidate favored by the Obama team, Blagojevich said, "they're not willing to give me anything except appreciation."

Obama appeared before reporters to formally announce his energy and environmental team: Nobel laureate and physicist Steven Chu as energy secretary, New Jersey environmental official Lisa Jackson as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Los Angeles deputy mayor Nancy Sutley as head of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, and former EPA chief Carol Browner to a new post as coordinator of energy and climate policy.

Separately, transition officials said that Obama has selected Senator Ken Salazar of Colorado as interior secretary and Chicago schools chief Arne Duncan as education secretary.

Duncan, who is expected to be introduced today, has run the country's third-biggest school district for seven years, focusing on improving struggling schools, closing those that fail, and getting better teachers. Obama has avoided taking sides in a debate between reform advocates and teachers' unions, and the choice of Duncan may please the competing factions. Teachers unions wanted an advocate for their members. Reform advocates wanted someone like New York schools chancellor Joel Klein, who wants teachers and schools held accountable.

Earlier in the day, Obama met privately with his national security team, including Vice President-elect Joe Biden, incoming secretary of state Hillary Clinton, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates. The transition office said the meeting was held to discuss opportunities and challenges around the globe and was designed to help the new administration hit the ground running when Obama is sworn in Jan. 20.