CHICAGO, Dec 17: The scandal surrounding the arrest of the corruption-tainted governor of Illinois continued to weigh on president-elect Barack Obama as he faced questions on Tuesday over the degree of contact his staff had with Rod Blagojevich.

Obama has said he is “absolutely certain” that his team had no “inappropriate” dealings with the Democratic governor, who is accused of trying to auction off Obama’s vacated senate seat to the highest bidder.

However, reports that FBI wiretaps recorded the president-elect’s incoming chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, discussing the seat with the Blagojevich administration in 21 different conversations undermined Obama’s earlier assertions that his team would not get involved in selecting his replacement.

Obama interrupted a reporter asking him about the reports at a press conference announcing his pick for education secretary with a warning not to “waste your question”.

Obama said it would be “inappropriate for me to comment” on the reports because prosecutors had asked him not to release any details of an internal review of all staff contacts with the governor’s office until next week.

“I don’t want to get into the details at this point,” Obama said. “The facts are going to be released next week.”

Obama and his team have not been accused of any wrongdoing and transcripts of FBI wiretaps released by federal prosecutors showed Obama’s staff were offering nothing more than “appreciation” to Blagojevich -- much to the foul-mouthed frustration of the governor, who wanted a cabinet post at the very least.

That has not stopped critics from questioning Obama’s involvement and the Republican Party was quick to launch an advertisement declaring that “questions remain” over Obama’s links to the disgraced Democratic governor.

The scandal shows no sign of fading away from national headlines as Obama prepares to take office on Jan 20.

Blagojevich has refused to resign after his arrest on Dec 9 in an FBI investigation that accuses him of a staggering pattern of corruption, including refusing to free up funds for a children’s hospital until he received a 50,000-dollar campaign contribution.

Instead, he hired a prominent criminal defense attorney to argue his case in federal court and at a legislative impeachment inquiry.

Ed Genson, who represented R&B singer R. Kelly and media mogul Conrad Black in recent high-profile cases, appeared ready for a lengthy and heated battle.

“The case that I’ve seen so far is significantly exaggerated. It’s just, it’s not what people think it is,” he told an ABC news crew. “It’s going to be a fight.”

Prosecutors have not yet concluded their investigation and have signaled it could be spring before they seek an indictment.

Illinois’s attorney general has also asked the state supreme court to temporarily remove Blagojevich from office or strip him of the bulk of his powers, but lawmakers said that would not prevent the impeachment inquiry from continuing.

A battle was also brewing over the appointment of Obama’s replacement.

Obama, elected to represent Illinois in the US Senate in 2004, resigned his seat after winning the November 4 presidential election, and his replacement would normally be appointed by the governor.

Top Democrats had initially called for a special election to fill the seat in the wake of Blagojevich’s arrest, but state legislators rejected the proposal at a hastily called special session Monday.

The House also held back from stripping Blagojevich’s power to appoint Obama’s successor -- a move that angry Republicans said was aimed at protecting Democratic dominance over Illinois politics.

But Democrats said the budget-strapped state could not afford to spend upwards of 50 million dollars on the election and that the best solution would be for the lieutenant governor to appoint a replacement after taking over from Blagojevich.

As it stands, the Democrats will control 58 seats in the new US Senate assembling next month _ two short of a “super-majority” capable of defeating Republican blocking tactics in the 100-seat chamber.—AFP