Obama pal Whitaker says he's cooperating with authorities in grant scam case

The Chicago Tribune reports:

Dr. Eric Whitaker, the former head of the Illinois public health department and a close friend of President Barack Obama, acknowledged today that he’s spoken to federal authorities who have been probing kickback schemes involving state grants, but said that he was not involved in the alleged crimes.

Whitaker issued a statement this afternoon following Wednesday’s indictment of Quinshaunta R. Golden, his former chief of staff at the Illinois Department of Public Health. Golden is charged with collecting $433,000 in a grant scam and then trying to cover it up. Golden also worked with Whitaker at University of Chicago Medicine.

“I had no first-hand knowledge of the activities outlined in this indictment and was not involved in any way. As requested by the U.S. attorney, I have been fully cooperating with the investigation into these matters,” Whitaker said in a statement.

At a news conference today, prosecutors declined to discuss whether Whitaker was involved in the case. Asked numerous times about Whitaker, prosecutors indicated they did not want to venture past what was contained in Golden’s indictment. That’s a standard response from a U.S. attorney. There was no indication in the indictment that Whitaker, a close friend of President Barack Obama, knew about the alleged wrongdoing.

Friends of Barack.