Of course, “Rahmbo’s” fingerprints are all over this.

President-elect Barack Obama is a product of Chicago politics, and despite being elevated to the highest political post in the nation, he cannot seem to crawl completely out of that particular gutter. His carefully selected chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, has been operating under the Chicago rules even as he helps Obama plan to bring Chicago’s politics to Washington.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports this AM:

Emanuel talked with the governor in the days following the Nov. 4 election and pressed early on for the appointment of Valerie Jarrett to the post, sources with knowledge of the conversations told the Sun-Times. There was no indication from sources that Emanuel brokered a deal, however.

A source with the Obama camp strongly denied Emanuel spoke with the governor directly about the seat, saying Emanuel only spoke with Blagojevich once recently to say he was taking the chief of staff post.

But sources with knowledge of the investigation said Blagojevich told his aides about the calls with Emanuel and sometimes gave them directions afterward. Sources said that early on, Emanuel pushed for the appointment of Jarrett to the governor and his staff and asked that it be done by a certain date.

And, sources tell the Sun-Times newspaper,” Rahmbo” and his discussions with Governor Blago, or some of them, are caught on Patrick Fitzgerald’s audio tapes.

Of course, as is pointed out in another piece from the paper:

Emanuel, who has refused to comment on the issue, is not accused of wrongdoing.

Not by investors or law enforcement, anyway. Yet.

It is time for Vegas to set odds on “Rahmbo” remaining in the Obama Administration until the inauguration. If he is ousted – “not the ‘Rahmbo’ I knew” – we might have to move to the next Cook County name on the list. This should not give us great confidence in the ethics of the incoming Administration.

Whether or not “Rahmbo” has been caught “brokering a deal,” or even agreeing to one, the intent is obvious and the appearances foul.