BARACK OBAMA'S choice to be his White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, is coming under mounting pressure to make a full disclosure about his contacts with the disgraced governor of Illinois over the Senate "seat for sale" scandal.
Federal investigators are looking into communication between Mr Emanuel and Rod Blagojevich, the governor who was last week charged with trying to sell the Senate seat vacated by Mr Obama to the highest bidder. Though Mr Emanuel is understood not to be a target of the investigation, the disclosure that he was in contact with Mr Blagojevich's office with regard to the seat has unleashed a storm of media interest.
Mr Blagojevich is expected today to respond to a growing chorus calling for him to quit. According to Illinois attorney general Lisa Madigan he will either resign outright or agree temporarily to step aside in a deal that would allow him to keep drawing his salary.
Ms Madigan has asked the state supreme court to strip him of his powers. The Illinois legislature is also poised to begin impeachment proceedings.
The scandal broke on Tuesday when federal agents arrested Mr Blagojevich and his right-hand man, John Harris, and charged them with plotting to auction the Senate seat, which is in the governor's gift.
According to the Chicago Tribune, FBI agents taped conversations between Mr Blagojevich's office and Mr Emanuel. The first contact was made three days before the presidential election on November 4th and involved a mobile phone call between him and Mr Harris.
The Tribunealso reported that Mr Emanuel presented the governor's office with a list of four potential candidates that would be acceptable to Mr Obama. He later added a fifth - Ms Madigan, the attorney general.
What is proving difficult is the silence emanating from the Obama camp about the full nature of Mr Emanuel's contacts with the governor.
The vacuum has given the Republicans space to criticise the president-elect for failing to live up to his promise of open government.
Mr Obama last week stressed that he was confident there was no involvement of his team in any illicit dealing. He said an internal inquiry was under way.
The US attorney in charge of the investigation has said there were no suggestions that Mr Obama was aware of any impropriety.
Transcripts of secretly recorded tapes support that contention: in them the governor is heard griping that even if he selected an Obama favourite for the seat, "they're not willing to give me anything except appreciation". - ( Guardianservice)