Obama and Rezko Come Up as Gov. Blagojevich gets heated with reporters:

The Chicago Sun-Times reports:

Gov. Blagojevich angrily denied being a target of a federal corruption investigation, calling questions about the matter “ridiculous,” “absurd” and “stupid.”

The heated exchange between the governor and reporters overshadowed what was supposed to be a feel-good news conference about Blagojevich beefing up gas-pump inspections statewide. Reporters surrounded the governor afterward, peppering him with questions about political fund-raiser Tony Rezko’s recent criminal convictions and the sway Rezko held in Blagojevich’s administration — a subject at the heart of Rezko’s trial.


At first, Blagojevich answered the questions as he had in the past. "Tony Rezko is a friend who helped me. He helped Sen. [Barack] Obama. He helped [Illinois Attorney General] Lisa Madigan. . . . He helped all kinds of political figures," Blagojevich said.

But when told by a reporter that -- unlike the governor -- neither Madigan nor Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, has been questioned by federal authorities about Rezko, Blagojevich seemed to suggest the reporter might be wrong.

"We don't know that about the other people," he said. "And let me simply say I know what I do and know how I do things. And I know I do things right."

Aides to both Madigan and Obama said investigators never have questioned them about Rezko's corruption case. Like Blagojevich, both have returned campaign contributions linked to Rezko.

During his back-and-forth with reporters, Blagojevich pointed out that Rezko -- who was convicted on 16 of 24 criminal counts -- was found not guilty of shaking down an investment firm for contributions to his Friends of Blagojevich campaign fund. "There's no allegation of any of his wrongdoing related to my fund-raising. That was proven, and therefore it has no relevance," the governor said.

"I'm not going to get involved in inappropriate questions. I'm not involved in any of these cases," Blagojevich added later on.

"I'm not going to reward dishonest reporters who ask dishonest questions."

The questions came in the wake of a federal judge last week unsealing -- and then re-sealing -- court records that showed Blagojevich was questioned by federal agents "on multiple occasions."

Asked if he's been told he's a target of an investigation, Blagojevich replied, "The answer is I am not.

"And you know it's a ridiculous question because if you carefully look at the things that have happened and you're not just interested in sensationalizing something so you can do your big news story, you wouldn't even bother asking a question like that."

Is Blagojevich hinting that the Feds have talked to Obama? For the audio of the press conference.