With the convention only a week away, party players on both sides of the aisle seem poised with anticipation of the presumptive presidential nominees finally naming running mates.
(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
President-elect Barack Obama said Monday a review by his own lawyer shows he had no direct contact with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich about the appointment of a Senate replacement, and transition aides did nothing inappropriate.
Obama pledged to make the review public, but said he decided to hold off because prosecutors asked for a delay and "I don't want to interfere with an ongoing investigation." U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald released a statement confirming the request.
Controversy has swirled around the president-elect and his incoming White House chief of staff, Rep. 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.
Emanuel was one of several aides who watched the news conference from the wings.
The president-elect pledged the results of the investigation by his incoming White House counsel, Gregory Craig, would be released "in due course."
He said the probe was complete and thorough, but did not say which of his aides Craig interviewed, whether any of them was under oath at the time, or any other details.
Obama appeared before reporters to announce his environmental and natural resources team.
It was disclosed last week that he selected Steven Chu for energy secretary, Lisa Jackson for Environmental Protection Agency administrator, Carol Browner as his energy and climate "czar," and Nancy Sutley to lead the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
Separately, officials familiar with the selection of Obama's Cabinet said the president-elect has chosen Chicago schools chief Arne Duncan as education secretary, and Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar as interior secretary. These officials spoke on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to disclose any personnel decisions not yet announced.
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