I don’t know if J3 was freelancing during the primaries, but he was maybe just a little too anxious to climb over an awful lot of genuine civil rights heroes (one of whom he owes his career to) to make me particularly comfortable about his moving into the upper house. What’s between him and his father is between them, but John Lewis deserved better.

All of this may have added to the attraction–to Blago–of picking JJJ. After Obama’s team rejected his demands, after all, he then turned to a candidate that neither of them seems to have favored for the position (which, of course, certainly makes the alleged $1.5 million price tag on the seat more damning)

Who did Blago favor, I mean apart from the person who could give him $1.5 in cash or equivalent?

I don’t think this is a catch the little guy and squeeze him scenario. I think think is a ’stop the crime spree’ before it poisons the senate scenario.

What’s prompting this speculation that Rahm or anyone tipped off the US Attorney?

There is no evidence of any tip at all. The timeline is very clear. Wyma gives them sufficient evidence to convince a judge they need bugs. They put in the bug. All this comes tumbling out.

There was no tip to the USAtty. Rahm didn’t tell anyone. Rahm’s career has required him at the least to turn a blind eye to the extra-legal assistance that comes his way. (Sorich, Katalinic). He can’t afford to be a puritan on this stuff. It cuts off too many lines of support. Everyone understands that Rahm wants his seat back in 2 years. He can’t win if he turns on the people who got him the seat last time. His backers were the Mell, Banks and Daley interests. None of them will be friendly to someone who is too chatty with the US Attorney.

Boxturtle (Bmaz cheering for Rove?!? It’s a sign of the apocolypse)

It kind of is isn’t it? Heh.

As to the speculating on why bring the case into the open now,

I have a few thoughts on that question.

There is no clear remedy to resolve the disposition of an appointed US Senator as part of an illegal quid pro quo arrangement. Fitz may have decided to move before he would have preferred in order to avoid the messy question of how the appointment, as part of an illegal act, would be resolved. In other words, arrest before it becomes a national problem.

At the presser Fitz’s said (and I’ll paraphrase) I lie awake at night worrying about whether [Tribune] editorial staff would lose their jobs. Admittedly, it doesn’t seem like ample justification for accelerating intervention when more evidence, damning evidence, could be collected by waiting but it is a point to consider because Fitz offered it.

Finally, didn’t some of the taped evidence indicate Blago was newly aware that surveillance had been stepped up? If so, why give him time to start covering his tracks?

Unless “the integrity of the Senate” is a joke, and I missed it.