The AP reports on newly surfaced emails between former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich and White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel that show (probably legal) exchange of favors between Blagojevich and the then-congressman:

Obama’s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, agreed to sign a letter to the Chicago Tribune supporting Blagojevich in the face of a scathing editorial by the newspaper that ridiculed the governor for self-promotion. Within hours, Emanuel’s own staff asked for a favor of its own: The release of a delayed $2 million grant to a school in his district.
The favor unfolded in January 2006, according to e-mail exchanges released under the Freedom of Information Act. Blagojevich was 10 weeks away from a Democratic primary challenge in his quest for a second term and a federal investigation into his administration’s hiring practices was well known.
The Tribune ripped him for claiming he was too busy governing to campaign for the primary, while plastering his name on taxpayer-financed projects such as the new automatic-pay toll highway system and a health care plan for children.
“Why be a chump on the stump when you can make taxpayers campaign for you?” the newspaper chafed.
Tusk, currently a consultant to the Republican candidate for New York state attorney general, tapped Emanuel, who had remained friendly after winning Blagojevich’s former seat in the U.S. House in 2002.
Tusk wanted someone defending the governor for merely publicizing his own good programs, according to the e-mail exchange. A proposed 180-word letter to the editor followed.
“Would you be willing to send something like this to the trib in response to today’s editorial?” Tusk wrote Emanuel on Jan. 11, 2006.
Emanuel agreed. Later that day, the congressman’s chief of staff suggested that someone contact the state employee overseeing the grant that Emanuel wanted released to the Chicago Academy, a teacher-preparatory school in Emanuel’s district which wanted to build athletic fields. The grant, promised months earlier, still hadn’t been paid.
On Jan. 16, 2006, a modified letter appeared in the Tribune over Emanuel’s name. Despite the “packaging” of Blagojevich’s programs, it said, “It’s wrong to suggest it’s the triumph of form over content. Look inside those packages, and you’ll find real and lasting progress for the people of Illinois.”

Rahm Emanuel: from the most ethical Congress in history to the White House that is changing the culture of Washington. Breathtaking.