Moran Mistaken About Particular Blagojevich-Obama Contacts.

[UPDATE: The post below points out an error by Rick Moran. He has been very gracious in acknowledging his mistake:

Jim Lindgren, whose excellent timeline on the scandal is must reading for those who wish to understand the sequence of events that eventually trapped the Illinois governor, corrects two egregious errors made in this article.

Both Advisor "A" and "B" are not Obama advisors but rather advisors to Blagojevich. The proof lies in this posting of Jim's at Volohk Conspiracy. I will not make any excuses. The information I based those observations on was obviously erroneous and I should have been more careful. Ultimately, responsiblity for the errors is mine and mine alone.

I regret the errors and any confusion that resulted from them.]

At Pajamas Media, Rick Moran is claiming that the government affidavit shows that Blagojevich had conveyed his corrupt plan to two Obama advisors, referred to in the affidavit as Advisor A and Advisor B.

But I think that Moran is confused.

Advisor A is definitely a Blagojevich advisor (not an Obama advisor), and Advisor B is almost surely a Blagojevich advisor as well.

Here is Moran:

But we already know that at least two top advisors (Advisors "A" and "B" in the taped transcripts released in the criminal complaint against Blagojevich) had discussions with Blagojevich and his people about the Senate seat. The question isn't whether there were "inappropriate discussions," but what exactly was discussed between the parties.

The taped transcripts of phone calls on November 7 offer a clue or two about the issues under discussion between the two camps.

On that date, Blagojevich spoke with "Advisor A" about the seat and told him in a phone conversation that he would appoint "Senate Candidate 1 [widely believed to be Obama's first choice, his longtime friend and confidante Valerie Jarrett] in exchange for the position of secretary of Health and Human Services in the president-elect's cabinet."

Speculation about who "Advisor A" might be has centered on Obama's chief of staff-designate Rahm Emanuel. . . .

Yet the affidavit describes Advisor A in item 74:

74. During another intercepted call still later on the evening of November 3, 2008, ROD BLAGOJEVICH spoke with Advisor A, a former Deputy Governor under ROD BLAGOJEVICH who is currently a lobbyist. . . .

Rahm Emanuel is a US Congressman, not "a former Deputy Governor under ROD BLAGOJEVICH who is currently a lobbyist." Emanuel can't be Advisor A.

Advisor A is a Blagojevich advisor, not an Obama advisor. Rahm Emanuel is suspected of being a different character in the affidavit "President-elect Advisor."

Here's what Moran says about Advisor B:

But that wasn't the only telephone conversation that took place on November 7 between Blagojevich and Obama representatives. Later that day, a three-way conversation was taped involving the governor, his chief of staff John Harris (also arrested), and an Obama representative identified only as "Advisor B" who, we are told, is a Washington-based consultant. Is "Advisor B" a member of the official transition team? Judging by this eye-opening conversation taped by the feds and the fact that the review cleared Obama's "staff" of any deal-making with Blago, we very well might hazard a guess and say that Advisor B was not an official Obama staffer but could very well have been acting as a conduit between Governor Blagojevich and the Obama camp.

Since Advisor B appears to be named in the same fashion as Advisor A, Advisor B is almost certainly a Blagojevich advisor as well. Further, here are the relevant allegations, which appear to refer to Advisor B as one of the "Washington D.C.-based advisors to ROD BLAGOJEVICH":

99. Later on November 7, 2008, ROD BLAGOJEVICH discussed the open Senate seat in a three-way call with JOHN HARRIS and Advisor B, a Washington D.C.-based consultant. . . .

101. On November 10, 2008, ROD BLAGOJEVICH, his wife, JOHN HARRIS, Governor General Counsel, and various Washington-D.C. based advisors, including Advisor B, discussed the open Senate seat during a conference call. (The Washington D.C.-based advisors to ROD BLAGOJEVICH are believed to have participated on this call from Washington D.C.).

It appears that Blogojevich scheming with Advisors A and B does not, by itself, represent contact between camps because both advisors are in Blagojevich's camp.

I left a short comment at Pajamas to notify Moran of his error.