Obama administration misled reporters about his involvement in picking the Senator from Illinois

John Fund has this at the WSJ's Political Diary.

In sworn testimony, Illinois SEIU chief Tom Balanoff reveals that just after Mr. Obama was elected president, he sought to have Mr. Blagojevich appoint his close friend Valerie Jarrett to replace him in the Senate. Mr. Balanoff quotes Mr. Obama as saying the night before the 2008 election: "I would much prefer she [serve in the White House] but she does want to be Senator and she does meet those criteria." . . .

it's clear the White House tried to mislead reporters on the president's role. An official report by incoming White House Counsel Greg Craig insisted the President-elect and his team were not involved in efforts to fill his former Senate seat. "Our office had no involvement in any deal-making around my Senate seat. That I'm absolutely certain of. And the -- that is -- that would be a violation of everything that this campaign has been about. And that's not how we do business," Mr. Obama said at the time.

The White House isn't denying the substance of Mr. Balanoff's testimony, but isn't answering any questions about it either. When asked by ABC News this week if Mr. Obama had phoned Mr. Balanoff about his replacement in the Senate, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs responded: "You're telling me about this testimony; I'm not going to get into commenting on, obviously, an ongoing -- an ongoing trial. And I -- I've -- have not had an opportunity to see that." . . .