Obama says he and Blagojevich never discussed Senate replacement
'I was focused on the transition,' he says in his first newspaper interview since the election.
Reporting from Chicago — President-elect Barack Obama said in an interview Tuesday that he had never spoken to Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich, either before or after his Nov. 4 victory, about who might replace him in the U.S. Senate.
"I have not discussed the Senate seat with the governor at any time," he said. "My strong belief is that it needed to be filled by somebody who is going to represent the people of Illinois and fight for them. And beyond that, I was focused on the transition."
Speaking at his private office within his transition headquarters in downtown Chicago, Obama declined to answer a question on whether any of his top aides had spoken about the Senate seat with the Democratic governor or John Harris, the governor's chief of staff.
"Let me stop you there, because as I said out there, it's an ongoing investigation," he said. "I think it would be inappropriate for me to, you know, remark on the situation beyond the facts that I know. And that's the fact that I didn't discuss this issue with the governor at all."
Obama also declined to speculate on whether his replacement would be tainted by Blagojevich's arrest on political corruption charges.
"I think what the people of Illinois deserve is somebody they can trust, somebody that's going to fight for them and, you know, I think we've got to make sure that whatever process emerges gives them that assurance," Obama said. "I haven't examined all the options that are out there at this point."
Obama's remarks about Blagojevich were part of a wide-ranging discussion, his first newspaper interview since his election.
McCormick is a writer for the Chicago Tribune.
Parsons and Nicholas are writers in our Washington bureau.
