CHICAGO — President-elect Barack Obama said Thursday that he’s “absolutely certain” no one close to him was involved in an alleged plot by Gov. Rod Blagojevich to sell his former Senate seat to the highest bidder. At the same time, Obama announced an internal investigation into contacts his aides may have had with the embattled governor.
Obama said he had not spoken to investigators who accused Blagojevich of using his authority to name Obama’s replacement to barter for compensation.
Obama announced he has ordered an internal probe of all contacts between his transition staff and Blagojevich’s staff and will make the results public.
“What I’m absolutely certain about is that our office had no involvement in any dealmaking around my Senate seat,” he said.
