Is there pressure on Rahm Emanuel to resign?

Conservative blogs are reporting that there is pressure on Obama’s Chief of Staff selection, Rahm Emanuel to resign. However, a look at the links to the foreign papers finds mixed reporting with one paper taking a more cautious stance.
Patriot Room quotes an Aussie paper saying there is pressure on Emanuel to resign his post. However, clicking the link goes to a story describing vague pressure without mention of resignation.

BARACK Obama’s chief of staff is under pressure over reported contacts with Illinois’s corruption-tainted governor, who faces impeachment proceedings this week.
Rahm Emanuel, a combative congressman from Illinois who will serve as Obama’s political gatekeeper in the White House, was reported to have been in touch with Governor Rod Blagojevich about Mr Obama’s Senate seat.

An (apparently) earlier version of the paper said this:

BARACK Obama’s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, was under pressure to resign last night after it was revealed he had been captured on wire taps discussing candidates for the US president-elect’s Illinios Senate seat.
Mr Emanuel’s presence at the heart of the scandal threatens to roil Mr Obama’s administration as a Chicago prosecutor builds his corruption case against Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, The Australian reports.

The UK Times reports the pressure is to resign.

THE bullish, foul-mouthed but effective Chicago arm-twister Rahm Emanuel has come under pressure to resign as Barack Obama’s chief of staff after it was revealed that he had been captured on court-approved wire-taps discussing the names of candidates for Obama’s Senate seat.
Emanuel’s presence at the heart of the scandal threatens to roil the president-elect’s administration as a Chicago prosecutor builds his corruption case against Rod Blagojevich, the Illinois governor.

The UK Guardian says the pressure is to disclose his conversations:

Barack Obama’s choice to be his White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, is coming under mounting pressure to make a full disclosure about his contacts with the disgraced governor of Illinois over the billowing Senate “seat for sale” scandal.

On the other hand, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that Emanuel may not even have talked directly to Blago.
Obama supporters are correct that no direct deal making has been reported involving Obama, Emanuel and Blagojevich. However, the deal making is not the point given the information available to the public. One issue now is why has Obama taken days to respond to this. Almost a week after the Blago criminal complaint surfaced, Obama has not disclosed a clear picture of what he did. This should be easy. Either he gave Emanuel some names and authorized contact or he didn’t. What is so hard about disclosing which it was? Perhaps one problem is figuring out how to reconcile his initial statements regarding no contact if indeed he directed Emanuel to float some names.

3 thoughts on “Is there pressure on Rahm Emanuel to resign?”

  1. If Rahm says a bunch of bad stuff on those FBI tapes his goose is cooked. He’ll have to step down.
    The way they are hiding him makes me guess he probably did.

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