Rod Blagojevich trial, Blagojevich Indictment, Rezko Levine Obama
“They are pressuring me to tell them the ‘wrong’ things that I supposedly know about Governor Blagojevich and Senator Obama,”…letter from Tony Rezko to US District Judge Amy St. Eve.
Obama lied about his involvement with Tony Rezko
“February 10, 2008 Sun-Times.
During his March 14, 2008 interview, the Times told Obama, Thomas is an FBI mole and he “recently told us that he saw you coming and going from Rezko’s office a lot.”
“And three other sources told us that you and Rezko spoke on the phone daily.”
“Is that true?” the reporter asked.
“No,” Obama said, “That’s not accurate.”
“I think what is true,” he said, “is that, it depends on the period of time.”
“I’ve known him for 17 years,” Obama stated. “There were stretches of time where I would see him once or twice a year.”
He told the Times, “when he was involved in finance committee for the U.S. Senate race, or the state senate races, or the U.S. Congressional race, then he was an active member.”
“During the U.S. Senate race, there’s be stretches of like a couple of weeks – for example prior to him organizing the fundraiser that he did for us – where I would probably be talking to him once a day to make sure that was going well,” he said.
“But the typical relationship was one that was fond,” he added. “We would see each other.”
“But there would be no reason for me to be seeing him that often,” he stated.
This issue may be sorted out soon enough because Fitzgerald’s charts matching up Obama’s contributions, visits and calls are bound to be every bit as thorough as the ones produced to prove Rezko is guilty as charged in the first trial. They simply were not produced because they were not needed to prove the defendant guilty in the first case.
As an example of what records might be squirreled away, consider that an FBI agent presented a chart to the jury on April 28, 2008, showing 257 calls from Rezko’s phones to Blagojevich’s chief of staff, Lon Monk, between March 2004 and May 2004 alone.””
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When one reads the indictment and criminal complaint against Rod Blagojevich and studies the corruption and crime committed in Chicago and Illinois over the past 10 years, one name is conspicuous. Tony Rezko. Stuart Levine, the main witness in the Rezko trial, did most of the dirty work for Rezko. Obama was no stranger to Levine.
Many of the corruption figures involved with Tony Rezko, Stuart Levine and Rod Blagojevich have been indicted and convicted. Most of these corrupt figures had ties to Obama including donating to his campaigns. Consider the following.
Rod Blagojevich Indictment press release, APRIL 2, 2009.
“The Solicitation of Ali Ata
In late 2002, Ali Ata, a businessman who previously pleaded guilty and is cooperating, and who was solicited by Rezko to make political contributions to
Blagojevich, brought a $25,000 check to Rezko’s offices, where Ata met with Blagojevich. Blagojevich asked Rezko if Rezko had talked to Ata about positions
in the administration, and Rezko said that he had. In July 2003, after discussions with Rezko about possible state appointments, Ata gave Rezko another
$25,000 check payable to Blagojevich’s campaign. Ata then had a conversation with Blagojevich at a fundraising event in which Blagojevich indicated that he
was aware Ata recently had made another substantial contribution to his campaign, and told Ata that he understood Ata would be joining his administration.
Ata replied that he was considering taking a position, and Blagojevich said that it had better be a job where Ata could make some money. Blagojevich
ultimately appointed Ata as the executive director of the Illinois Finance Authority.”
“Benefits Given to Blagojevich and Monk
To ensure that Blagojevich and Monk continued to give Rezko substantial influence regarding appointments to boards and commissions, hiring for state
employment, and the awarding of state contracts, grants, and investment fund allocations, Rezko gave certain benefits to Blagojevich and Monk…”
www.usdoj.gov/usao/iln
Tony Rezko trial transcripts
March 13, 2008.
“Almanaseer was appointed to the planning board in 2003 on Rezko’s recommendation. Prosecutors contend he became part of a five-member voting bloc on the
board that followed Rezko’s wishes. Almanaseer said board Chairman Thomas Beck tried to steer his voting.
“He said, ‘If you just don’t know which way to vote, vote the way Mr. Levine votes because that’s the way Tony would want the vote to go,” Almanaseer
recalled, referring to Stuart Levine.
Beck later went as far as handing him an index card with voting instructions on it, he said.”
March 21, 2008.
“Another government wiretap has been played with Antoin “Tony” Rezko’s voice on it, and this one could prove damaging to his defense. On the tape, recorded
May 18, 2004, Rezko can be heard giving orders to political fixer Stuart Levine about how he wanted to manipulate the vote of one of Levine’s fellow members
on the Illinois Health Facilities Planning board, Danalynn Rice.
On the call, Rezko is heard mentioning Chris Kelly, who with Rezko was one of the top fundraisers for Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Both Rezko and Kelly were key
members of Blagojevich’s kitchen cabinet.
Rezko makes it clear in the phone call that Kelly, too, had been involved in trying to manipulate decisions of the hospital board, which Rezko has been
charged with corrupting. Kelly apparently had called Levine earlier and told him he should be Rice’s mentor on the board, directing her to follow his lead on
voting. Rice had been recently installed on the hospital panel at the insistence of a leader of the Laborers’ International Union, which had contributed more
than $133,000 to Blagojevich’s campaign.
But on the wiretap, Rezko can be heard telling Levine to ignore Kelly’s orders. Rezko said he wanted Rice to take her lead from hospital board Chairman Tom
Beck.
“I’d rather keep it through Tom Beck,” Rezko told Levine. “. . . I have good reasons for doing things the way I’m doing.”
Then Rezko added: “You and I will still be doing things the way we do.”
Under questioning from prosecutors, Levine said Rezko meant that he would work through Beck to control the votes of a majority bloc on the panel. Levine also
said Rezko was making it clear that he intended to keep Beck in the dark about secret deals cooked up between Levine and Rezko involving the board.”
March 20, 2008
Gov. Rod Blagojevich has avoided answering questions about the corruption trial of Antoin “Tony” Rezko, the other day declaring, “I’m not in that case.”
But Blagojevich’s name has been mentioned often. It was brought up at least 30 times Wednesday morning by Stuart Levine, the government’s star witness
against Rezko.
At one point, Levine described a flight from New York that he shared with Blagojevich Oct. 29, 2003. Levine had chartered the plane to ferry Blagojevich and
others to a series of fundraisers.
On the return to Chicago, Levine said he took the opportunity to thank Blagojevich for re-appointing him to a seat on a state hospital regulatory board that
prosecutors now say he and Rezko had corrupted to extort kickbacks from firms seeking regulatory approval.
Levine said the governor responded, “Never discuss any state board with me, discuss them with either Tony Rezko or Chris Kelly.” Kelly, along with Rezko, was
a top fundraiser for Blagojevich as well as a close friend.
Then Levine said Blagojevich added: “But you stick with us and you’ll do very well for yourself.”
Asked by a prosecutor to elaborate, Levine said, “I took that to mean you have an opportunity to make a lot of money.”
From Citizen Wells, November 2, 2009.
Alonzo Monk and Ali Ata ties to Blagojevich and Obama
“Rezko arranged for a total of $50,000 in contributions to Friends of Blagojevich from Ali Ata, a Chicago-area businessman, and in exchange for those
contributions discussed with Ata, ROD BLAGOJEVICH, and Monk obtaining a high-level state appointment for Ata, whom ROD BLAGOJEVICH ultimately appointed as
the executive director of the Illinois Finance Authority;”
“Ata made a $5,000 donation to Obama less than a month earlier on June 30, 2003. Ata is also an investor in Riverside Park. Almost without fail, the people
identified in the Board Games cases as investors in Riverside Park contributed to Obama’s US senate campaign.”
“It was part of the scheme to defraud that defendants ROD BLAGOJEVICH, MONK, HARRIS, and ROBERT BLAGOJEVICH, together with Kelly, Cellini, Rezko, Levine, and
others, used and attempted to use the powers of the Office of the Governor, and of certain state boards and commissions subject to influence by the Office of
the Governor, to take and cause governmental actions, including: appointments to boards and commissions; the awarding of state business, grants, and
investment fund allocations; the enactment of legislation and executive orders; and the appointment of a United States Senator; in exchange for financial
benefits for themselves and others, including campaign contributions for ROD BLAGOJEVICH, money for themselves, and employment for ROD BLAGOJEVICH and his
wife.”
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With a little reading, even the most brainwashed person now paying attention will come to the obvious conclusions. Rod Blagojevich is guilty as sin of far more than attempting to sell Obama’s senate seat. The other conclusion. Obama should be indicted and arrested.
Citizen WElls 