A Chequer-Board of Nights and Days

It would really be interesting to listen to what is on these tapes, now wouldn't it?

President-elect Barack Obama's incoming chief of staff Rahm Emanuel had a deeper involvement in pressing for a U.S. Senate seat appointment than previously reported, the Sun-Times has learned. Emanuel had direct discussions about the seat with Gov. Blagojevich, who is is accused of trying to auction it to the highest bidder.

Emanuel talked with the governor in the days following the Nov. 4 election and pressed early on for the appointment of Valerie Jarrett to the post, sources with knowledge of the conversations told the Sun-Times. There was no indication from sources that Emanuel brokered a deal, however.

[. . .]

. . . sources with knowledge of the investigation said Blagojevich told his aides about the calls with Emanuel and sometimes gave them directions afterward. Sources said that early on, Emanuel pushed for the appointment of Jarrett to the governor and his staff and asked that it be done by a certain date.

At least some of the conversations between Emanuel and Blagojevich were likely caught on tape, sources said.

There is an exceedingly good argument for listening to the tapes quickly: The faster we do it, the more quickly we will find out if Rahm Emanuel was--to put it mildly--doing things he was not supposed to do.

Better to find these things out before Emanuel takes over as Chief of Staff than to find them out after he does so.