From WashingtonTimes.com: D.C. Council member Marion Barry, the Ward 8 Democrat who is a former mayor of Washington, violated city law by awarding a $15,000 contract to his then-girlfriend, according to findings in an independent investigation released Tuesday.

President-elect Barack Obama has said all along that neither he nor his team was involved in any eye-popping dealmaking over filling his vacated Senate seat. Obama’s hand-picked investigator agreed.

President-elect Barack Obama‘s transition office is ready to release an internal review of all contacts his staff had with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s office over the Senate seat that Obama has vacated and that the governor is accused of putting up for sale.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s attorney is offering a glimpse of his client’s unfolding legal strategy, saying he’ll challenge the lawfulness of court-ordered wiretaps at the heart of federal corruption allegations against the Democrat. But the two-term governor may go public to defend himself first.