THE SCANDAL

Posted at 8:18 a.m. ET:

The words echo in our minds:  "What did the president know, and when did he know it?"  That was, of course, the famous question asked about Richard Nixon during the Watergate investigations. 

Knowledge of wrongdoing is important.  In a major political figure, it's very important.  If an officeholder knows something illegal is going on, he has an absolute moral, if not legal obligation to report it.  And that brings us to the question that is starting to emerge from the Illinois governorship scandal:  "What did Obama know and when did he know it?"

No one is claiming, yet, that Mr. Obama engaged in any illegal activity.  The question is whether he knew that the governor, Rod Blagojevich, was trying to sell the Obama Senate seat to the highest bidder.  If he knew it, and didn't report it, that's major trouble.  If one of his advisers knew it, and didn't tell Obama, that smacks of breathtaking incompetence and tolerance of a corrupt act.  If no one in the Obama camp knew that the Senate seat was for sale...well, do you believe that?

Jim Lindgren, at The Volokh Conspiracy, has drawn up an excellent timeline of the events in this scandal.  He comes to this conclusion:

From the evening of Nov. 10 until yesterday, Blagojevich, Obama, and his transition team acted in ways that are consistent with a knowledge of Blagojevich’s bribery attempt and a rejection of that attempt.

We accept that the Obama camp did not pay, or agree to pay, any bribes to the corrupt governor to have their favorite Senate candidate nominated.  But if they knew the seat was for sale, that itself is a scandal. 

It is difficult to say, at this early stage, whether the press will do its job and pursue the facts wherever they lead.  We know where the press bias lies, and it's clear that some news organizations have no problem at all with that bias.  But if the mainstream press doesn't do the job, bloggers and other alternative media will.

This can get very ugly.  The best strategy for Obama is to confront the facts head on, and not wait for an enlarged scandal to envelop his new presidency.

December 11, 2008.