John Cornyn, the newly minted leader of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, has kicked off his tenure by diving directly into the Blagojevich scandal. After Harry Reid admitted on Meet the Press that he had conversations with the Illinois governor on the replacement for Barack Obama, Cornyn wants Reid to authorize the release of the recording of any communications between Reid and Blagojevich. Fox and Friends debates this today:

I’m not sure how much to read into this, really. Harry Reid runs the Senate, and it would have been appropriate for him to contact Governor Blagojevich to discuss appointing Obama’s successor. That would have taken place regardless of Blagojevich’s attempts to sell the seat to the highest bidder. Blagojevich could have tried shaking down Reid for a payoff — he was certainly careless enough to try — but what would Reid have offered him? Two nights at the Golden Nugget?

Even if Reid wanted to release the tapes, I doubt he could prevail on Patrick Fitzgerald to publish them before a grand jury reviews the evidence for indictment. They may be part of the transcripts Fitzgerald promised the Illinois House in their impeachment probe, but if not, Reid hasn’t any authority to demand their release. The prosecution of Blagojevich is much more important to Fitzgerald than a short-term political score.

I’d call this an interesting point for further research when the tapes and transcripts get released by Fitzgerald. Until then, there are more interesting aspects of this scandal to pursue than Harry Reid.