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December 10, 2008

Did a reporter also 'misspeak' about Blago meeting Obama? (update: report disappears from the website)

Thomas Lifson
The President-elect told the nation yesterday that he didn't meet with his governor over appointment of a successor. Later, top aide David Axelrod confessed that when he claimed otherwise, he misspoke.

But what about this report (update: the report has been removed*) from KHQA (studios located in Quincy, IL)?  dated November 5th, revealing that the PE was meeting with the Gov to discuss his successor. Carol Sowers reported the day after the election that:

Now that Barack Obama will be moving to the White House, his seat in the U.S. Senate representing Illinois will have to be filled.

That's one of Obama's first priorities today.

He's meeting with Governor Rod Blagojevich this afternoon in Chicago to discuss it.

One presumes Ms. Sowers did not make this up. She must have been told by someone that the meeting was scheduled. It is of course possible that this website report is a hoax, but I don 't see any signs of that.

Perhaps the meeting was scheduled and then cancelled? If so, why? What information or other new development would cause the PEOTUS to diss his own Governor?

Hat tip: Paul Doyle

*Update:

Although KHQA removed the article linked above, they left up a second article published a few days later that referenced the meeting long enough for Steve Gilbert to capture a screen shot. See it here:

It may be that the original reporter made a mistake, given the silent retraction.
 
Update: Gateway Pundit has a screen shot of the original story and a screen shot of a press release from Blago in which he bragged about meeting with the PEOTUS.

Update: It gets curioser and curioser. KHQA "clarifies":

KHQA TV wishes to offer clarification regarding a story that appeared last month on our website ConnectTristates.com.  The story, which discussed the appointment of a replacement for President Elect Obama’in the U.S. Senate, became the subject of much discussion on talk radio and on blog sites Wednesday.


The story housed in our website archive was on the morning of November 5, 2008. It suggested that a meeting was scheduled later that day between President Elect Obama and Illinois Governor Blagojevich. KHQA has no knowledge that any meeting ever took place.  Governor Blagojevich did appear at a news conference in Chicago on that date. 

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