"CHICAGO (Reuters) - President-elect Barack Obama's choice for White House chief of staff spoke to Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's office about who the governor should appoint to replace Obama in the U.S. Senate, the Chicago Tribune reported on Saturday.

The talks did not suggest that Rahm Emanuel, currently a Chicago congressman, was involved in an alleged deal-making scheme for the Senate seat that has resulted in federal charges against Blagojevich, a 52-year-old Democrat.

The two-term governor and his former chief of staff John Harris are charged with attempting to peddle the Senate position for campaign cash or a lucrative job for the governor, as well as paid corporate board appointments for his wife.

The Tribune, citing sources, reported that contact between Obama's staff and the governor's administration about the Senate seat started days before the November 4 election. The governor has sole power to appoint a replacement for Obama.

Emanuel called Harris with a list of names "acceptable" to Obama to fill the Senate vacancy, in conversations that were captured on court-approved wiretaps, the newspaper said."