Category Archives: Blagojevich

Cellini found guilty of conspiracy bribery, November 1, 2011

Posted on November 1, 2011 | 69 comments

Cellini found guilty of conspiracy bribery, November 1, 2011

From the Chicago Tribune November 1, 2011.

“Cellini found guilty of conspiracy, bribery”
“A federal jury convicted Springfield power broker William Cellini on two of four counts in connection with a plot to extort a Hollywood producer.

The multimillionaire Republican businessman who wielded influence behind the scenes in Illinois politics and government for four decades was convicted of conspiracy to commit extortion and aiding and abetting the solicitation of a bribe.

He was acquitted of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and attempted extortion.

A straight-faced Cellini tapped his folded hands at the edge of the defense table as the verdict was read, otherwise showing little emotion. His daughter Claudia dropped her head on word of the first of the two guilty verdicts.

Cellini’s lawyer Dan Webb put the best face possible on the verdict, saying he was pleased the jury had “thrown out the most serious charges” and  that Cellini’s involvement “didn’t even rise to the level of an attempted extortion.”

“We obviously are going to appeal … and we are confident we have a substantial chance of getting the case reversed,” Webb said.

Cellini did not speak as he left the courthouse.

Patrick Fitzgerald, on crutches, said the prosecution was gratified by the guilty verdicts on the two counts, calling Cellini’s prosecution an “extremely important case.”

“In the quiet corridors in Chicago and Cook County and Springfield, a lot of backroom deals take place, and the fact that Bill Cellini was convicted today sends a very, very loud message,” Fitzgerald said.

The guilty verdict brings to 15 the number of individuals convicted in the eight-year federal Operation Board Games probe of the scandal-plagued Blagojevich administration.

Blagojevich himself is awaiting sentencing after being convicted in June on 17 of 20 counts, including allegations he tried to sell the U.S. Senate seat left open by Barack Obama’s election to president in 2008. The former governor was also convicted at his first trial in the summer of 2010 on a single count of lying to the FBI.

Word of a verdict in the Cellini trial came at about 10:15 a.m. Tuesday. It was announced at about 12:15 p.m.

The 10-woman, two-man jury had just returned to the courthouse from a three-day weekend. Deliberations began last Wednesday but had to be restarted on Thursday after a juror was excused for an unexplained conflict of interest. An alternate was added to the panel.

The charges against Cellini centered on his longtime influence at the Illinois Teachers’ Retirement System, the state pension fund for public school teachers outside Chicago. To keep from losing his clout after Blagojevich became the first Democratic governor of Illinois in more than a quarter century, prosecutors alleged that the prominent Republican fundraiser agreed to pick firms to manage TRS’s hundreds of millions of dollars in investments on one key condition – if they had contributed to Blagojevich’s campaign.”

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-jury-has-reached-verdict-in-cellini-extortion-trial-20111101,0,3309176.story

69 Comments

Posted in Attorneys, Blagojevich, Chicago, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, corruption, FBI, Federal Court, Illinois, Judges, Jury, Lawyers, News, Patrick Fitzgerald, Pay to play politics, Rezko, Stuart Levine, The Case Against Barack Obama, Tony Rezko, William Cellini

Tagged , ,

Mutual Bank, Amrish Mahajan, Richard Barth, FDIC lawsuit, Kenneth J Conner whistleblower vindication, Obama Rezko land deal

Posted on October 31, 2011 | 42 comments

Mutual Bank, Amrish Mahajan, Richard Barth, FDIC lawsuit, Kenneth J Conner whistleblower vindication, Obama Rezko land deal

“Why did Mutual Bank fire whistleblower Kenneth J Connor after he
challenged the appraisal on the land purchased by Rita Rezko, just
prior to the land sale to Obama?”…Citizen Wells

It looks like whistleblower Kenneth J. Conner is being vindicated. Conner was fired after revealing that the appraisal for the lot in the Obama Rezko lot deal was too high.

From the Chicago Tribune October 31, 2011.

“Officers and directors of Mutual Bank issued $10.5 million in
“imprudent” dividends, spent $250,000 of the bank’s money on a
wedding, and paid $495,000 in defense costs for a spouse’s Medicaid
fraud case before the Harvey-based lender failed in July 2009, a
federal regulator alleged last week.

Mutual was the bank that financed the purchase by the wife of
political fundraiser Tony Rezko of a side lot in a deal that enabled
Barack Obama to buy his dream house.
In a lawsuit filed in a U.S. District Court in the Northern District
of Illinois last week, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. also
accused the bank of spending $300,000 to hold a board meeting in Monte
Carlo, Monaco.

The FDIC is suing eight former directors, two officers and the bank’s lawyer.

The failure of the $1.7 billion-asset bank, which had 10 branches in
the Chicago area, is expected to cost the FDIC $775 million. From 2005
to 2009, the lender had nearly doubled in size, fueled by what would
turn out to be bad real estate loans, many of which were made to about
15 borrowers. Record-keeping was shoddy, and loan terms were changed
at closing with no board approval, the suit said. Mutual had become a
“lender of last resort for failed real estate projects,” particularly
in the hotel industry, the suit said.

One of the defendants, former bank president and board member Amrish
Mahajan, couldn’t be reached for comment.”

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-1031-bank-suit-20111031,0,3469830.story

From the lawsuit:

“5. Collectively, the Director Defendants and Officer Defendants (“Director and Officer Defendants”) (a) recklessly implemented a strategy of rapid asset growth through approving a high concentration of risky CRE, ADC and out-of-area loans to a small concentration of high-volume borrowers; (b) failed to implement appropriate underwriting and credit administration practices; (c) ignored the Bank’s loan policies; (d) ignored federal lending regulations; and (e) disregarded warnings from the Bank’s regulators regarding the Bank’s lending activities.”

http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/10/26/FDIC.pdf

The name Mahajan may ring a bell.  Richard Barth may not. This should help.

From Citizen WElls August 22, 2011.

“A former state contractor with close ties to ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich
plans to enter a guilty plea Monday, more than four years after she
was charged with bilking the state out of $2 million for drug tests
that were never performed, said a source with knowledge of the case.

Anita Mahajan, the wife of a major Blagojevich fundraiser, was charged
in May 2007 with theft and fraud, based on allegations that her
company, K.K. Bio-Science, submitted bogus bills for drug screenings
for clients of the Illinois Department of Children and Family
Services.

Elections Prosecutors also accused Mahajan of laundering money taken
from the alleged fraud and using it to buy properties in Chicago and
New York.”

“Mahajan is the wife of Amrish Mahajan, a former head of the defunct
Mutual Bank of Harvey who was called “Uncle Amrish” by Blagojevich’s
children. He held events for Blagojevich and raised at least $500,000
for the former governor’s campaigns. The Mahajans also hired Patricia
Blagojevich for several real estate deals that netted the former first
lady more than $113,000 in commissions.”

“Kenneth J Conner whistleblower lawsuit”

“9.  In June, 2005, Mutual Bank President and CEO Amrish Mahajan and
other Mutual Bank officers approved a loan to Rita Malki Rezko (Rita
Rezko) which was guaranteed by Antonin Rezko so that Rita Rezko could
purchase a 9,090 square foot vacant parcel of real estate at 5050 S.
Greenwood Avenue, Chicago. As part of the Mutual Bank loan
underwriting process, Mutual Bank obtained a real estate appraisal
from Adams Valuation Corporation (Adams Appraisal) which purported to
provide an opinion of value of the subject 5050 S. Greenwood real
estate (the collateral for the Rezko loan) at $ 68.76 per square foot.
A copy of the Adams Appraisal is attached as Exhibit C. In June, 2005,
Rita Rezko closed on the purchase of the 5050 S. Greenwood property at
a purchase price of $ 625,000.00 along with the loan from Mutual Bank
in the amount of $ 500,000.00 with Mutual bank obtaining a first
mortgage lien position on the Greenwood vacant parcel.”

“10.  On or about January 4, 2006, Rita Rezko entered into an
agreement with Senator Barack and Michelle Obama (Obamas) to sell a
ten-foot strip of the 5050 S. Greenwood property to the Obamas. A copy
of the Obama/Rita Rezko contract is attached as Exhibit D. As a result
of that transaction, the Rezkos requested that Mutual Bank release
it’s first collateral position to the ten-foot strip parcel
transferred to the Obamas. In that same general time frame, Richard
Barth, Mutual Bank Senior VP of construction lending and James Murphy,
Mutual Bank Senior VP Internal Auditor/Risk Manager, requested that
Conner perform an appraisal review of the Adams Appraisal attached
hereto as Exhibit C.”

“11.  In late 2005 or early 2006, Conner performed an appraisal review
of the Adams Appraisal (Exhibit C) per the directive of Richard Barth
and James Murphy. Conner prepared a written Appraisal Review report
(ARR) opining that the Adams Appraisal overvalued the Greenwood lot by
a minimum of $ 125,000.00 and that a reasonable and fair valuation for
Mutual Banks’s underwriting purposes should be no greater than $
500,000.00 for the entire 5050 S. Greenwood parcel as originally
purchased by Rita Rezko. In that same general time frame an appraisal
was performed for the 5050 S. Greenwood property by Howard B. Richter,
MAI which valued the 5050 S. Greenwood property at $ 54.00 per square
foot but then discounted the ten-foot strip being transferred by Rita
Rezko to the Obamas by fifty percent, as the ten-foot strip was
unbuildable standing alone…The valuation by the Richter Appraisal for
the 5050 S. Greenwood lot was substantially to Conner’s ARR
valuation.”

“12.  Conner notified Richard Barth and James Murphy orally of his ARR
findings and Conner’s ARR was filed in the “Rezko 5050 Greenwood” loan
file at Mutual Bank.”

“13.  In addition to Conner’s ARR stating that the Adams Appraisal
overvalued the 5050 S. Greenwood property, Conner had reported on
other occasions that Adams Valuation Corporation had overvalued real
estate subject to Mutual Bank loan underwriting valuation.”

“14.  On or about October 19, 2006, Mutual Bank received a Grand Jury
Subpoena (GJS) requiring Mutual Bank to produce the Rezko 5050
Greenwood loan file, as well as a Rita Rezko Riverside District
Development LLC checking account and loan file. Electronic mail
(email) communications about the subpoena were circulated to Mutual
Bank officers and attorneys, including Amrish Mahajan, James Murphy
and Conner. A copy of an October 19, 2006 email string pertaining to
the Rezko GJS is attached as Exhibit F. On information and belief,
Conner’s ARR was removed from the Rezko 5050 Greenwood loan file prior
to the submission of that file pursuant to the GJS, and in it’s place
Mutual bank submitted an appraisal checklist which was purportedly
dated “06/15/05″ from Senior VP James P. Murphy (Murphy Checklist). A
copy of the Murphy Checklist is attached as Exhibit G.”

“16.  In 2007, Conner observed that his ARR of the 5050 S. Greenwood
property was not in the Rezko 5050 Greenwood loan file and in it’s
place was the Murphy Checklist purportedly dated “06/15/2005.”…On June
18, 2007, Conner sent an email to James Murphy which provides, in
part, “I spent time trying to track down work of mine that should be
in a particular high profile loan file, though it is not–having been
replaced by a checklist.””

“17.  In October, 2007, Conner had various communications with Mutual
Bank’s Human Resources Department representative, Lana Schlabach. In
an email communication of October 15, 2007, Conner directly referenced
“Resentment over my mentioned discovery of the removal/replacement of
an appraisal review that I conducted. That appraisal review contained
substantial observations and suggestions. The transaction and parties
involved were high profile in the media.I am under the impression that
the FBI has since looked at the file.””

“18.  On October 23, 2007, eight days after Conner’s October 15, 2007
email to Schlabach attached as Exhibit J, Mutual Bank terminated
Conner’s employment for pretextual reasons.”

https://citizenwells.wordpress.com/2011/08/22/anita-mahajan-pleads-guilty-blagojevich-and-obama-ties-mutual-bank-president-amrish-mahajan-wife-rezko-obama-land-purchase/

From the Washington Times November 4, 2008.

“A former Illinois real estate specialist says FBI agents have questioned him about a Chicago property that had been bought by convicted felon Tony Rezko’s wife and later sold to the couple’s next-door neighbor, Sen. Barack Obama.

The real estate specialist, Kenneth J. Conner, said bank officials replaced an appraisal review he prepared on the property and FBI agents were investigating in late 2007 whether the Rezko-Obama deal was proper.

“Agents and I talked about payoff, bribe, kickback for a long time, though it took them only a short number of minutes of talking with me while looking at the appraisal to acknowledge what they already seemed to know: The Rezko lot was grossly overvalued,” Mr. Conner told The Washington Times Monday.

“Rezko paid the asking price on the same day Obama paid $300,000 less than the asking price to the same seller for his adjacent mansion,” he said. “This begs the question of payoff, bribe, kickback.””

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/nov/04/fbi-asked-questions-on-rezko-land-deal/

There is one more event which must take place to vindicate Kenneth J. Conner. That is the indictment and arrest of Barack Obama.

42 Comments

Posted in Barack Obama, Blagojevich, Chicago, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, corruption, Federal Court, fraud, Illinois, News, Obama, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, Rezko, The Case Against Barack Obama, Tony Rezko

Tagged , , , , ,

William Cellini trial jury, How Stuart Levine a thief and con man became star witness, Where is Tony Rezko?

Posted on October 30, 2011 | 41 comments

William Cellini trial jury, How Stuart Levine a thief and con man became star witness, Where is Tony Rezko?

“Why was Obama promoting Capri Capital and other investment firms at the same time that Rezko, Levine and Cellini were shaking them down?”…Citizen Wells

“Why was Tony Rezko’s sentencing delayed?”…Citizen Wells

“There is enough corruption in Illinois so that all it takes is someone who is serious about finding it to uncover it. If a U.S. attorney is not finding corruption in Illinois, they’re not seriously looking for it.”…Northwestern Law Professor James Lindgren

Here is another example of why “WE” is capitalized in Citizen WElls. From Commenter and astute observer of Chicago corruption, Bessie, at 10:40 AM.

“In today’s SunTimes there is a propaganda article spoon fed by the
prosecution their justification for choosing Stuart Levine…No mention
of how Tony Rezko would make a better witness, having never been a
drug addict, nor did he ever rip off close friends estate, or have
affairs on his wife with multiple male companions, or suffer long term
brain damage from over 30 years of drug use. They planted this piece
in the weekend paper hoping the jury would read it…and we are suppose
to trust the U.S. Attorney’s office?

Tony Rezko and his partner Daniel T. Frawley will be sentenced
November 22 and 23rd, the day before Thanks Giving, hoping no one will
cover or notice…They think they can sweep these two under the rug and
no one will notice….We should let them know we are WATCHING we are
paying attention and they could sentence them on Christmas day and we
will be there.”

From the Chicago SunTimes October 30, 2011.

“How Stuart Levine — a thief and con man — became star witness”

“To most people, Stuart Levine probably appears unassuming enough.

At 65, he works at a kiosk in a suburban shopping mall selling
electronic cigarettes.

But if the man helping bring down some of the most powerful people in
the state hoped to disappear into suburban obscurity, that hasn’t
quite happened.

Some days while behind that kiosk, the former Highland Park resident
once worth $70 million gets hecklers.

Those are the people who recognize the now minimum-wage-earning
Levine, having had a glimpse of his lurid history, painstakingly laid
bare in public twice after Levine has spent parts of 21 days
testifying in two high-profile criminal trials in Chicago.

He most recently sat as the star witness in the federal trial of
Springfield power broker William Cellini.

If Cellini is convicted, the much-reviled Levine will have been
central to sending some of the most prominent and back-room politicos
to prison. That includes Tony Rezko, a onetime political fund-raiser
to Barack Obama. Levine was the star witness in Rezko’s 2008 trial,
which led to his conviction.

Levine wore a wire against Ed Vrdolyak, a onetime alderman and
behind-the-scenes political force for decades. Vrdolyak ended up
pleading guilty to taking part in a $1.5 million bribery scheme.

Then there’s former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, whose corruption
investigation stemmed from a probe into corruption involving state
boards that blossomed with Levine. Once he flipped, Levine spent years
getting debriefed by various teams of federal agents and prosecutors.

“This was a massive undertaking,” said Levine’s lawyer, Jeffrey
Steinback, of his client’s role in cooperating since 2004. “You’re
talking about analyzing activities of the entire state government and
having to understand who and what and how it worked and figuring out
from the government’s standpoint who was culpable and who wasn’t.””

“Defense lawyers have repeatedly lambasted the government for pitting
Levine, someone who has admitted to conning people out of millions of
dollars, against defendants who aren’t accused of pocketing any money.

Webb noted Levine spent the better part of his adult life committing
reprehensible crimes, then pointed to an on-screen timeline: the
evidence tied to the criminal allegations against Cellini spanned just
a few days in May of 2004.

“Levine is a whack-job. Okay?” Webb told them.

In his 2008 closing argument, Rezko’s attorney, Joseph Duffy, said
Levine had spent decades living a double-life and fooling the world.
It didn’t end when he faced natural life in prison with no possibility
of parole after admitting to all of his crimes, Duffy argued.

“They are trained to suspect deception, and he conned them,” Duffy
said of the government. “He got the better of them, and he got his
deal.”

Levine’s deal calls for a prison term of five years, seven months.”

“But there’s another side of the story, prosecutors say: there are few
“choir boys” that can expose Illinois’ odorous underworld.

“Flippers like Levine, you don’t see them too often. He’s an anomaly,”
said former federal prosecutor Jeff Cramer. “The government would have
preferred to have put an honest man on the stand. The problem is that
defendants who are on tape trying to extort money never conspire with
honest men.””
“Testimony at trial showed Levine routinely schemed for kickbacks while
serving on state boards, including the Teachers’ Retirement System. In
2004, when he left the board, he didn’t give the real reason: the FBI
had come knocking on his door and played tapes of him secretly
scheming to make kickbacks off board business.”

http://www.suntimes.com/8479435-417/how-stuart-levine-a-thief-and-con-man-became-star-witness.html

Why call Tony Rezko as a witness?

He was only mentioned 75 times in the Cellini indictment and has no drug issues.

He knows everything about corruption in Chicago or as someone stated “He knows where all the bodies are.”

Oops, that may be a problem for you know who.

41 Comments

Posted in Barack Obama, Blagojevich, Chicago, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, corruption, FBI, Federal Court, Illinois, Judges, Jury, Lawyers, News, Obama, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, Patrick Fitzgerald, Pay to play politics, Rezko, Stuart Levine, The Case Against Barack Obama, Tony Rezko, US Department of Justice, William Cellini

Tagged , , ,

William Cellini trial closing statements, October 25, 2011, Prosecution closing arguments first, Where is Tony Rezko?

Posted on October 25, 2011 | 52 comments

William Cellini trial closing statements, October 25, 2011, Prosecution closing arguments first, Where is Tony Rezko?

“Why was Obama promoting Capri Capital and other investment firms at the same time that Rezko, Levine and Cellini were shaking them down?”…Citizen Wells

“Why did Patrick Fitzgerald and the US Justice Department wait until December 2008 to arrest Rod Blagojevich?”…Citizen Wells

 “Why was Tony Rezko’s sentencing delayed?”…Citizen Wells

From the Chicago Tribune October 25, 2011.

“Courtroom adversaries this morning are poised to deliver closing arguments at the last trial related to the years of federal scrutiny of ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

The prosecution will be first in addressing jurors at the shakedown trial of Springfield power broker and businessman William Cellini.”

“After the defense finishes its closing, prosecutors get the last word to the jury in a rebuttal.

Before jurors withdraw to deliberate, the judge will instruct them on how to assess the three weeks of evidence.

Each side gets three hours for its closing.”

Read more:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-closing-arguments-set-in-cellini-trial-20111025,0,4709075.story

Tony Rezko, who was convicted in June 2008 and not yet sentenced, was not called as a witness in the Cellini or Blagojevich trials. Rezko was at the center of Operation Board Games corruption and was a long time associate of Barack Obama.

Where is Tony Rezko?

52 Comments

Posted in Attorneys, Barack Obama, Blagojevich, Chicago, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, corruption, FBI, Federal Court, Illinois, Lawyers, News, Obama, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, Rezko, The Case Against Barack Obama, US Department of Justice, William Cellini

Tagged , , , ,

William Cellini may testify, Cellini attorney Dan Webb informed Judge James Zagel, Stuart Levine not reliable, Where is Tony Rezko?

Posted on October 21, 2011 | 10 comments

William Cellini may testify, Cellini attorney Dan Webb informed Judge James Zagel, Stuart Levine not reliable, Where is Tony Rezko?

“Rezko has also stated in interviews with the government that he believed he transmitted a quid pro quo offer from a lobbyist to the public official, whereby the lobbyist would hold a fundraiser for the official in exchange for favorable official action”

“The defense has a good faith belief that this public official is Barack Obama.”…Blagojevich defense subpoena of Barack Obama

“There is enough corruption in Illinois so that all it takes is someone who is serious about finding it to uncover it. If a U.S. attorney is not finding corruption in Illinois, they’re not seriously looking for it.”…Northwestern Law Professor James Lindgren

From the Chicago Tribune October 21, 2011.

“Cellini weighing whether to testify in own defense”

“Lawyers for William Cellini told the judge presiding over his federal trial today that the Springfield power broker wants to testify on his own behalf, but no decision has been made about whether he will indeed take the witness stand.
Cellini’s attorney, Dan Webb, told U.S. District Judge James Zagel outside the presence of the jury that the defense team is waiting until the end of Friday to decide whether Cellini will take the stand.

“It’s a major issue for my client to decide,” Webb said. “Right now my client wants to see how this goes.”

In the meantime, Webb is planning to call witnesses to testify about Cellini’s business dealings with the state teacher pension board.

While testimony today has yet to start, Webb, a former U.S. attorney and veteran criminal-defense lawyer, is arguing to Zagel that some counts against Cellini should be thrown out, calling the government’s star witness the least reliable he’s ever seen.

“He is the single-most non credible witness I have seen in a courtroom,” Webb said outside the presence of the jury.

Webb’s remarks were targeted at Stuart Levine, who prosecutors say conspired with Cellini on the extortion.

Levine has a long history of financial scams and kickbacks schemes as well as three decades of heavy drug abuse.

Cellini’s relationship with that board forms the background of the charges against him.

Prosecutors have charged that Cellini agreed in 2004 to help extort a campaign contribution for then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich from a Hollywood producer whose investment firm had major business with the state teacher pension board.

Cellini, 76, agreed to the plot, the government asserts, to protect his influence and access to the teacher pension board.

Cellini is accused of conspiring with Leveine, another longtime political insider, as well as two top advisers to then Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Antoin “Tony” Rezko and Christopher Kelly, to hold up an investment deal by Hollywood producer and money manager Thomas Rosenberg with the Teachers Retirement System until Rosenberg came up with a $1.5 million contribution to Blagojevich.

On Thursday, Rosenberg concluded his testimony, describing how he turned to old friend Cellini when Rosenberg’s deal suddenly stalled in Springfield seven years ago. Cellini, whom Rosenberg had known for years and who also did a lot of business at the pension board, could figure out what was happening, Rosenberg figured.

But Cellini’s answer left Rosenberg furious, he testified at Cellini’s federal trial.

Rezko and Kelly had put a brick on the pension deal, and the only way to get it moving again was to make a contribution to Blagojevich, he said he learned from Cellini.

“I screamed and cursed,” Rosenberg responded in a low, even voice when asked how he reacted to the news. “I wanted him to pass on the full level of my fury.”

Cellini is alleged to have agreed to assist in the plot to protect his influence at the Teachers Retirement System, or TRS, where his own investment company had also made millions of dollars.

Rosenberg, 64, who was born in Chicago but relocated to California to produce movies, was relaxed and confident on the witness stand Thursday. At times, he drew smiles or laughs from jurors and spectators during a cross-examination by Cellini’s attorney, Terence Gillespie.

Under questioning by prosecutors, Rosenberg said that Cellini made it clear to him in May 2004 that he needed to contribute to Blagojevich or that the TRS deal with his company, Capri Capital, would not be approved.

Cellini told Rosenberg that Rezko and Kelly were aware of how much money Capri had already managed for TRS and that they were angry that “we had done virtually nothing for Blagojevich,” Rosenberg testified.

Capri’s $220-million deal had already been stalled, Rosenberg explained to jurors.

“I didn’t look at it as a threat,” Rosenberg said of Cellini’s remarks to him. “I looked at it as a fait accompli.”

Rosenberg didn’t blink, instead telling Cellini to relay to Rezko and Kelly that he would sooner go to Blagojevich about their strong-arm tactics than make a campaign contribution, he testified.

He also warned Cellini that Rezko and Kelly were going to get them in trouble with law enforcement.

“If there is not a grand jury already investigating these two, there will be,” Rosenberg said he told Cellini. “These two were so outrageous, so crazy, so wild, so brazen it was just a matter of time.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Niewoehner then asked Rosenberg how Cellini reacted to his ire.

“He was nervous,” Rosenberg quickly responded over the objection of Cellini’s attorney but then was allowed to continue. “I interpreted his voice as nervous.”

Cellini then told him that he “had to deal with these guys” because he was a lobbyist, Rosenberg said.”

Read more:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-cellini-to-start-to-put-on-his-defense-20111021,0,4500919.story

Where is Tony Rezko?

10 Comments

Posted in Attorneys, Barack Obama, Blagojevich, Chicago, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, corruption, FBI, Federal Court, Illinois, Judges, Jury, Lawyers, News, Obama, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, Patrick Fitzgerald, Pay to play politics, Rezko, Stuart Levine, The Case Against Barack Obama, Tony Rezko, US Department of Justice, William Cellini

Tagged , , ,

William Cellini trial Capri Capital Obama connection, Obama arrest prevented by corrupt US Justice Department, Where is the House Judiciary Committee?

Posted on October 19, 2011 | 52 comments

William Cellini trial Capri Capital Obama connection, Obama arrest prevented by corrupt US Justice Department, Where is the House Judiciary Committee?

“Why was Obama promoting Capri Capital and other investment firms at the same time that Rezko, Levine and Cellini were shaking them down?”…Citizen Wells

“Why did Patrick Fitzgerald and the US Justice Department wait until December 2008 to arrest Rod Blagojevich?”…Citizen Wells

 “Why was Tony Rezko’s sentencing delayed?”…Citizen Wells

Do not be fooled by the investigation of Jesse Jackson Jr. in the so called selling of Obama’s senate seat. This was a well crafted diversion intended to take the attention away from Obama’s earlier involvement in Chicago corruption with Tony Rezko, Stuart Levine, et al. The investigation of Jackson is another diversion.

I told you in 2008 that Barack Obama had to get elected to avoid prosecution. That applies now as well. Obama may lose the protection of Eric Holder. Patrick Fitzgerald is still wielding his power to protect Obama.

William Cellini is on trial for his involvement in the corruption of the Illinois Teacher Retirement System, TRS. This is being portrayed as the last prosecution in Operation Board Games that began with the cooperation of Stuart Levine and trial of Tony Rezko. If we had a non corrupt US Justice Department there would be a Patrick Fitzgerald trial, Eric Holder trial and Barack Obama trial.

Yesterday, I presented to you Obama’s ties to Ariel Capital Management and the Illinois Teacher Retirement System.

https://citizenwells.wordpress.com/2011/10/18/stuart-levine-cellini-trial-testimony-reveals-obama-connections-levine-bribed-chicago-board-of-education-arne-duncan-cps-ceo-ariel-capital-management/
What was Barack Obama doing in the years leading up to 2004?

From the Tony Rezko Trial March 12, 2008.

“FBI Special Agent Daniel Cain, the primary case agent on the investigation into Levine and Rezko, is on the stand now in testimony that is laying the foundation for entering the wiretaps into evidence.

Cain said the investigation, dubbed Operation Board Games by the federal agents, began in December 2003 and was prompted by information gleaned from an informant whom he did not identify. That witness, he said, took part in meetings with two other individuals who were in contact with Levine by phone at his home.

Cain said Levine had three phone lines in his North Shore home. Federal agents recorded conversations on those lines April 8-May 21, 2004. Those dates span the time when Levine, Rezko and others allegedly were working to rig the hospital board vote on a Mercy Health System hospital proposal for Crystal Lake and other kickback schemes prosecutors claim they were engaged in.”

From the Tony Rezko Trial March 10, 2008.

“Ziegelmueller asked Hayden about a 2003 e-mail exchange with Lichtenstein, then the governor’s top lawyer, in which Wilhelm made recommendations for the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board.
The name of Barack Obama, the Democratic front-runner for the presidential nomination, also appears in the e-mail as a member of a strategic team reviewing hospital board matters with the governor’s staff when he was a state senator. The hospital board was scheduled to be revamped in the summer of 2003.
Obama was then chairman of the Senate Committee on Health & Human Services.”

From the Tony Rezko Trial April 14, 2008.

“Stuart Levine, the prosecution’s star witness, said he and Obama were at a party Rezko threw at his Wilmette mansion on April 3, 2004, for Nadhmi Auchi, a controversial Iraqi-born billionaire who Rezko was trying to get to invest in a South Loop real-estate development.

Auchi, now a citizen of the United Kingdom, has faced criminal charges in Europe. He also figured in the revocation of Rezko’s bond early this year after attempting to wire him more than $3 million. Upon learning of that attempt, U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve declared Rezko a flight risk and ordered him held in a federal jail in the Loop.

The Rezko party in 2004 was designed to induce Auchi to pour money into the South Loop investment. Obama’s presence at the party was not previously known. At the time, Obama was fresh off a surprise win in the Illinois Democratic primary for U.S. Senate and was riding a crest of national publicity.”

From the Chicago SunTimes February 10, 2008.

“In the media, Obama always made it sound like he rarely saw Rezko, saying they met for breakfast or lunch once or twice a year. However, the FBI mole John Thomas helped investigators “build a record of repeat visits to the old offices of Rezko and former business partner Daniel Mahru’s Rezmar Corp., at 853 N. Elston, by Blagojevich and Obama during 2004 and 2005,“

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.””

From ABC News May 15, 2008.

“Following Obama’s efforts, the Illinois Teachers’ Retirement System gave Ariel Capital $112.5 million to manage, and added hundreds of millions more over the next few years.”

“Three other minority-run firms — Holland Capital, Loop Capital and Capri Capital Partners — also saw hundreds of millions of assets turned over to them to manage after meeting with Obama and the state pension boards.”

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=4861699&page=1

Capri Capital is a little more interesting.
From the William Cellini Indictment Press Release:

“WILLIAM F. CELLINI, SR., INDICTED FOR ALLEGED ROLE IN DEFRAUDING TEACHERS RETIREMENT SYSTEM WITH REZKO, LEVINE AND OTHERS”

“A longtime political insider in Springfield was indicted today on federal corruption charges for allegedly conspiring with two Chicago businessmen and others to obtain political contributions for a certain public official by shaking down an investment firm that was seeking a $220 million allocation from the state Teachers Retirement System (TRS.) The defendant, William F. Cellini, Sr., was charged in a four-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury, announced Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.”

“Cellini’s alleged crimes – essentially conspiring with others to force Capri Capital, also a real estate investment firm, and Thomas Rosenberg, a principal and part owner of Capri, to raise or donate substantial political contributions for Public Official A – were the subject of testimony earlier this year at the trial of alleged co-conspirator Antoin “Tony” Rezko. Cellini was charged with conspiring with Rezko, former TRS trustee Stuart Levine, the pension fund’s outside lawyer Steven Loren and others between the spring of 2003 and the summer of 2005 to defraud TRS beneficiaries and the people of Illinois of Levine’s honest services as a TRS trustee. TRS, a public pension plan for teachers and administrators in public schools statewide except in Chicago, serves hundreds of thousands of members and beneficiaries and has assets in excess of $30 billion.

Cellini is the 13th defendant charged as part of Operation Board Games, an ongoing federal public corruption investigation of insider-dealing, influence-peddling and kickbacks involving private interests and public duties related to various state boards and non-profit organizations.”

http://www.justice.gov/usao/iln/pr/chicago/2008/pr1030_01.pdf

Where is the House Judiciary Committee?

52 Comments

Posted in Barack Obama, Blagojevich, Bribery, Bribes, Chicago, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, corruption, FBI, Federal Court, fraud, Illinois, News, Obama, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, Pay to play politics, Rezko, Stuart Levine, The Case Against Barack Obama, Tony Rezko, US Department of Justice, William Cellini

Tagged , ,

Stuart Levine Cellini trial testimony reveals Obama connections, Levine bribed Chicago Board of Education, Arne Duncan CPS CEO, Ariel Capital Management

Posted on October 18, 2011 | 44 comments

Stuart Levine Cellini trial testimony reveals Obama connections, Levine bribed Chicago Board of Education, Arne Duncan CPS CEO, Ariel Capital Management

 

“Stuart Levine, as a witness in the Rezko and Cellini trials, stated that he bribed the Chicago Board of Education over 10 times.”

 

“Why did the Illinois Senate Health & Human Services Committee, with Obama as chairman, create and push Bill 1332, “Illinois Health Facilities Planning Act,” early in 2003, which reduced the number of members on the Board from 15 to 9, just prior to rigging by Tony Rezko and Rod Blagojevich?”…Citizen Wells

 

“Why did Patrick Fitzgerald and the US Justice Department wait until December 2008 to arrest Rod Blagojevich?”…Citizen Wells

 

“Why was Tony Rezko’s sentencing delayed?”…Citizen Wells

 

The significance of Stuart Levine’s testimony in the William Cellini trial yesterday went unnoticed except for those of us watching with great scrutiny and keeping the  Obama connection to Chicago corruption stories alive.

 

During the Tony Rezko trial in spring of 2008, Stuart Levine testified:

 

March 18, 2008.

 

“In his first 20 minutes on the witness stand, Stuart Levine admitted that he had passed numerous bribes to win private and government business for several firms with which he was connected.

 

Levine said former Chicago Ald. Edward Vrdolyak acted as a middleman in two bribe schemes, including one to secure a contract with the city Board of Education. On both occasions, Vrdolyak was to pass the bribes onto others, he said.

 

Levine said he also paid a $500,000 bribe to an undisclosed city official to obtain a tire contract from the Department of Streets and Sanitation. Levine also said he passed on bribes of hundreds of thousands of dollars to win a contract to supply school buses to the Board of Education.”

 

Stuart Levine mentioned his bribes to the Chicago Board of Education yesterday, October 17, 2011.

 

From the Chicago Tribune October 18, 2011.

 

“In another plot, Levine told the jury that he took in $100,000 in bribes to help a bus company secure contracts with Chicago Public Schools.”

 

From a courtroom tweet by Natasha Korecki of the Chicago SunTimes October 17, 2011.

 

“Stuart Levine says he also paid bribes more than 10 times to the Chicago Board of Education to get contracts for a bus company.”

 

We knew from the Rezko trial that Levine had bribed the Chicago Board of Education. We now know that it happened more than 10 times. This was an ongoing activity. When I read this I intuitively knew that Obama was connected. It did not take long to find out.

 

Obama appointed Arne Duncan as Secretary of Education in 2009. Here is some background on Duncan.

 

“At a Glance

 

Current Position: Secretary of Education (since January 2009)

 

Career History: Chief executive of Chicago Public Schools (since 2001); Deputy chief of staff to Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas (1998 to 2001); Ariel Capital Management (1992 to 1998)”
“The Network

 

Duncan is a member of Obama’s tight-knit circle of Chicago friends. He was introduced to the group by his childhood friend, John W. Rogers Jr., an Obama adviser and the ex-husband to Desiree Rogers, Obama’s former White House social secretary. John Rogers and Duncan both went to the University of Chicago Lab School, and Duncan calls Rogers his best friend and the most influential person in his life other than his parents.Whorunsgov.com interview with Arne Duncan(19)Whorunsgov.com interview with Arne Duncan Rogers is now on the Lab School’s board along with Valerie Jarrett, Michelle Obama and Martin Nesbitt. Duncan’s wife, Karen, is the school’s athletic director.
Rogers introduced Duncan to Michelle Obama’s brother, Craig Robinson. Duncan and Robinson have been playing in three-on-three basketball tournaments around the country ever since.

 

Campaign Contributions

 

Duncan donated $2,000 to Barack Obama in the 2008 election cycle and $3,000 to the Democratic National Committee. His wife gave Obama $4,600, the maximum allowable, in the 2008 elections. Center for Responsive Politics(20)Center for Responsive Politics”
Arne Duncan’s World

 

Profiles

 

 

“Desiree Rogers CEO, Johnson Publishing Co. 

 

Valerie Jarrett Senior White House adviser and Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Relations and Public Liaison (since January 2009) 

 

Martin Nesbitt President and chief executive of The Parking Spot (since 1998) 

 

Craig Robinson Head coach of Oregon State basketball team (since May 2008) and first-brother-in-law”

 

http://www.whorunsgov.com/Profiles/Arne_Duncan

 

We know that Stuart Levine bribed the  Chicago Board of Education over 10 times and Obama’s buddy Arne Duncan was CEO of Chicago Public Schools from 2001 to 2009.

 

It gets even more interesting.

 

Arne Duncan worked for Ariel Capital Management  from 1992 to 1998.

 

From the LA Times April 7, 2008.

 

“The trial of Antoin “Tony” Rezko, one-time patron to Sen. Barack Obama and Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, has turned lurid.

 

Under cross-examination by Rezko attorney Joseph Duffy, star prosecution witness Stuart Levine, a Chicago-area lawyer, is admitting to conspiracy, extortion, bribery, fraud and other bad acts while he “served” at the Illinois public school teachers pension fund board.”

 

“It’s an unfolding, seemingly local political story that’s fascinating in its revealing details about the subterranean world of business, financial and family connections in Illinois and Chicago politics that helped take a virtually unknown black Chicago attorney, nurtured him politically and financially and turned him into….”

 

“This story concerns two men, neither of whom face any legal charges today. They are two of Illinois’ top Democratic politicians — Gov. Blagojevich, who’s been mentioned often in court, and Sen. Obama, who’s received only passing mentions. They’re entwined in the Rezko saga, particularly through the bounteous campaign money he raised for them both.

 

Get used to that name. Rezko’s currently in a long-running Chicago trial on federal extortion and bribery charges. Few campaign donors were more responsible than Rezko for the rise of Blagojevich (Blah-goy-ah-vitch) and Obama. Both politicians came to rely on him for political and personal advice — and lots of campaign money.

 

Their intimate relationship is coming into focus through Rezko, a Syrian-born businessman who made his money in real estate and restaurant franchises and now sits daily in the federal courtroom of U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve. The trial’s daily events are covered in this Tribune Rezko court blog.

 

So far, Blagojevich, reelected in 2006, is more deeply enmeshed in the scandal than Obama, who’s not been implicated in any wrongdoing.

 

But all three operated in the murky world of Illinois Democratic politics, where money, family relationships and long business associations provide the invisible glue of the local political world.

 

Witnesses in Rezko’s trial have testified that Rezko recommended friends and associates for government jobs and posts on Illinois state boards when Blagojevich took office in 2003, and some of those friends were generous donors to Blagojevich.

 

An early trial exhibit from prosecutors was a spreadsheet. Prepared by an FBI agent , the spreadsheet identifies Rezko-related donors who supplied $1.43 million between 2001 and 2004 to Blagojevich, who was first elected governor in 2002.

 

Using Federal Election Commission and Illinois state records, The Times’ Dan Morain compared donors on the FBI spreadsheet to Obama’s contributors. Guess what.

 

Sen. Obama received $222,000 during the same 2001-2004 period from Rezko-related Blagojevich donors.”

 

“Another overlapping donor is John Rogers, head of Ariel Capital, a major Chicago-based investment firm. Rogers gave $12,500 to Blagojevich in 2004, the FBI spreadsheet shows. Rogers has also given Obama $25,000, state and FEC records reveal.

 

Aides to Obama and Rogers said the pair has a friendship that is separate from Rezko. Ariel vice president Matt Yale said Rogers’ inclusion on the FBI spreadsheet was a surprise, adding, “To the best of our knowledge, we have not made any contributions to Governor Blagojevich or any political candidate on behalf of Tony Rezko.” Ariel is not implicated in the criminal case.

 

As an Illinois state senator, Obama appeared before Illinois pension funds in 2000 and 2001 to urge that they provide more business to black-owned investment houses including, as it happens, Ariel.

 

Describing his efforts to the Urban League last year, Obama said African-American-owned firms were not getting any business from state pensions. Obama singled out Rogers’ Ariel Capital, calling it a well-respected investment house, but one that received no business.

 

“We didn’t have to implement a formal program,” Obama told the Urban League, taking no credit. “I simply said, ‘Listen to what these folks have to say,’ and in about six months they got about a half billion dollars worth of business simply on their own excellence.”

 

In 2002, the year after Obama made the pitch, the Illinois Teacher Retirement System reported an 18% increase in assets managed by minority-owned firms.

 

Ariel’s share grew to $442 million by 2005.

 

In 2006, after the federal investigation became public, the teacher pension board severed its relationship with Ariel, concluding that Ariel’s investment returns were insufficient.”

 

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/04/obamarezko.html

 

This statement from above is important:

 

“In 2006, after the federal investigation became public, the teacher pension board severed its relationship with Ariel, concluding that Ariel’s investment returns were insufficient.”

 

Remember I have told you that the fix was in in 2006. The presumptive presidential candidate by early 2006 was Blagojevich. By the end of 2006 Obama was preparing to run and Blagojevich was in trouble.

 

The superceding indictment of Stuart Levine and Tony Rezko from October 11, 2006 mentions 7 investment firms tied to the rigging of the IL Teacher’s Retirement System. Ariel Capital Management is not mentioned by name going forward but given the fact that Obama pushed for their inclusion and they pulled out after the investigation, coupled with Obama’s buddies Rezko and Levine documented involvement, the conclusion is obvious.

 

Any way you slice it, it is classic Chicago pay to play politics.

44 Comments

Posted in Barack Obama, Blagojevich, Board of Education, Bribery, Bribes, Chicago, Chicago SunTimes, Chicago Tribune, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, corruption, FBI, Federal Court, Illinois, News, Obama, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, Patrick Fitzgerald, Pay to play politics, Rezko, Stuart Levine, The Case Against Barack Obama, Tony Rezko, US Department of Justice, Valerie Jarrett, William Cellini

Tagged , , ,

Obama jobs pitch Greensboro NC Proximity Hotel stay, Occupy Greensboro protestors may picket Obama, Taxpayer funded campaign trip

Posted on October 17, 2011 | 20 comments

Obama jobs pitch Greensboro NC Proximity Hotel stay, Occupy Greensboro protestors may picket Obama, Taxpayer funded campaign trip

“Why did the Illinois Senate Health & Human Services Committee, with Obama as chairman, create and push Bill 1332, “Illinois Health Facilities Planning Act,” early in 2003, which reduced the number of members on the Board from 15 to 9, just prior to rigging by Tony Rezko and Rod Blagojevich?”…Citizen Wells

“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it“…Joseph Goebbels

From the Greensboro News Record October 17, 2011.

“Railing against Republicans, President Barack Obama on Monday pushed for a jobs package that Congress is splintering into pieces, as the White House predicted the Senate would start taking votes soon. Obama pressed lawmakers to act first on his idea of funneling aid to states to hire teachers and other workers.

Noting that Republicans in Senate rejected consideration of his whole $447 billion plan, Obama sought anew to turn that vote against them.

“Maybe they just couldn’t understand the whole thing at once, so we’re going to break it up into bite-size pieces,” Obama said in western North Carolina, back on the road to campaign for his agenda and, in turn, his own re-election.”

“Obama’s pitch came in the first stop of a three-day bus tour through North Carolina and Virginia. His goal is to keep pressure on Congress to act on individual pieces of his bill following last week’s Senate vote to shelve the plan.

A supportive crowed in broke into a chant of “four more years” for Obama. Said the president in response: “I appreciate the four more years, but right now I’m thinking about the next thirteen months.”

Republicans denounced the bus trip as nothing more than a taxpayer-funded campaign trip through two must-win states to try to bolster his standing for the 2012 election.”

http://www.news-record.com/content/2011/10/17/article/obama_begins_bus_tour_in_nc_to_promote_jobs_bill

Occupy protesters look for new campsite

“The neophyte Occupy Greensboro movement has a secure downtown campsite through Friday and is hunting another location to continue its protest for the long haul.

A day after staging a 600-person march through town protesting financial inequities, about 200 campers and part-time demonstrators agreed by unanimous consent Sunday evening to pursue other tactics, including the possible picketing of the Proximity Hotel where they expect President Barack Obama to stay tonight during his two-day visit to North Carolina and Virginia.

The group voted to ask Obama to meet tonight with some members — a delegation bearing letters of “individual grievances.”

“We wished to invite you to visit with our assembly and hear why the people gathered here are upset with our government,” the letter said.”

http://www.news-record.com/content/2011/10/17/article/occupy_protesters_look_for_new_campsite

In honor of Obama’s visit to my home state NC, here are 5 questions that we would like answers to:

1. Why did the IL committee you were chairman of in 2003 reduce the members of the IL Health Planning Board from 15 to 9 just before it was rigged by Tony Rezko and Rod Blagojevich?

2. Who murdered Donald Young, the choirmaster of your church, TUCC?

3. Why have you used numerous US Justice department attorneys and personnel, at taxpayer expense, to avoid presenting a legitimate birth certificate and college records?

4. Why did your administration push through federal loan guarantees for Solyndra?

5. What was your involvement in project Fast and Furious?

I have many more questions for you, but this is a good start.

20 Comments

Posted in Barack Obama, Birth Certificate, Blagojevich, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, Congress, Donald Young, Economy, Election 2012, Eligibility, NC, News, North Carolina, Obama, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, Rezko, The Case Against Barack Obama, Tony Rezko, US Department of Justice, US economy, US House of Representatives, US Senate, Washington DC, white house

Tagged , ,

Patrick Fitzgerald crime fighter or criminal?, Fitzgerald protected Obama, Quid pro quo, Circumstantial evidence convicts Fitzgerald

Posted on October 16, 2011 | 39 comments

Patrick Fitzgerald crime fighter or criminal?, Fitzgerald protected Obama, Quid pro quo, Circumstantial evidence convicts Fitzgerald

“Why did Patrick Fitzgerald and the US Justice Department wait until December 2008 to arrest Rod Blagojevich?”…Citizen Wells

“Why was Tony Rezko’s sentencing delayed?”…Citizen Wells

Illinois Pay To Play has produced some hard hitting no nonsense articles recently about Obama and his Chicago corruption buddies and dubious actions by US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald.

October 16, 2011.

“Patrick Fitzgerald: Intrepid Crime Fighter? Or, Politically-Driven Leaker? Series Summary (Part 10)”

“The first sentence in Part 1 of this series asked this:

“Is the United States Attorney for the Northeastern District of Illinois an intrepid crime fighter, as he’s typically portrayed by most of the Chicago and national media? Or, is the legend of a modern day Untouchable Elliott Ness largely a media-created myth?”

What followed made a case that the Untouchable image of U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald​ is largely a myth.

As to circumstantial evidence:

“It means that existence of principal facts is only inferred from circumstances. Twin City Fire Ins. Co. v. Lonas, 225 Ky. 717, 75 S W.2d 348, 350.

When the existence of the principal fact is deduced from evidentiary by a process of probably reasoning, the evidence and proof as said to be presumptive. Best, Pres. 246; Id. 12. All presumptive evidence is circumstantial because necessarily derived from or made up of circumstances, but all circumstantial evidence is not presumptive. Burrill.

The proof of various facts or circumstances which usually attend the main fact in dispute, and therefore tend to prove its existence, or to sustain, by their consistency, the hypothesis claimed.  Or as otherwise defined, it consists in reasoning from facts which are known or proved to establish such as are conjectured to exist.”  (p. 309, Black’s Law Dictionary, Fourth Edition)

So, what are the facts and circumstances that we know that collectively tend to prove, or sustain by their consistency, the existence of the hypothesis that Patrick Fitzgerald is a politically-driven, not jurisprudence-driven, prosecutor whose image as an intrepid, unbiased crime fighter is a media-created fabrication?”

“The arrest of Blago was timed, not to stop a crime spree, or the selling of a Senate seat – since the latter notion is built on the myth that, once Blago got paid for appointing someone, the act was immediate and irrevocable.  The arrest was timed to save Congressmen Jesse Jackson, Jr., from criminal prosecution for bribing a governor in order to receive a Senate appointment. Connect the dots. It was about saving J.J., Junior.

The Mole was planted by the DoJ to contribute to building a case against Tony Rezko in order to (a) help scuttle Blago – who has his own self-destructive gene – and, (b)protect the image of Barack Obama​ as a Chicago politician untarnished by association with the likes of a Tony Rezko.

Getting Tony out of the way was necessary to hiding his relationship to Barack. And, keeping him sequestered at an undisclosed location was necessary to remove him from access to the media. But perhaps even more importantly, Rezko was never called as a witness in either Blago trial, yet he was among Dead Meat’s leading extortionists.  All part of concealing Barack Obama’s involvement in Illinois Play to Play.

By its general passivity, the Chicago media have been complicit in hiding of Rezko. After all, Obama was their guy, too.

In the end, Tony will be sentenced to time voluntarily served – wherever that was – and eventually be pardoned by his longtime friend and financial benefactor, Barack.  (Remember, Eric Holder facilitated the pardoning of Marc Rich.)

The Mole was a big winner in all this. He never appeared in court to testify against Rezko, since his appearance might have led to testimony as to Rezko’s long financial support of the young Illinois, and then U.S., Senator. The Mole is on record as having witnessed the two together in a much closer relationship than Obama has ever admitted.  For his work, the Mole made out like a bandit. New name. New career. New wealth. In a New Town.

In a second Obama administration, Fitzgerald will be rewarded by being appointed the next FBI Director. Or, maybe even soon, he’ll get Holder’s job, if Eric’s connections to Fast & Furious sink him.

This is a circumstantial case.  But remember Fitz’s words:  “I think people need to understand we won’t be afraid to take strong circumstantial cases into court.”

To conclude: Three public entities head the list of those responsible for putting Barack Obama in the White House.

1.The Chicago Tribune, the Sun Times, and the entire Chicago TV media,, for selectively withholding information concerning Obama’s past in Chicago.
2.Former Tribune political reporter and consultant to Blago during his Congressional campaigns – David Axelrod​.  And, the…
3.U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Patrick J. Fitzgerald.
This story is far from over.”

Read more:

http://illinoispaytoplay.com/2011/10/16/patrick-fitzgerald-intrepid-crime-fighter-or-politically-driven-leaker-series-summary-part-10/

39 Comments

Posted in Attorneys, Barack Obama, Blagojevich, Chicago, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, corruption, Crime, FBI, Federal Court, Illinois, Judges, Jury, News, Obama, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, Obama thugs, Rezko, Stuart Levine, The Case Against Barack Obama, Tony Rezko, US Department of Justice, William Cellini

Tagged , , ,

William Cellini trial defense grills Stuart Levine, Acts of dishonesty, FBI recordings, Where is Tony Rezko?

Posted on October 15, 2011 | 42 comments

William Cellini trial defense grills Stuart Levine, Acts of dishonesty, FBI recordings, Where is Tony Rezko?

“Why was Tony Rezko’s sentencing delayed?”…Citizen Wells

From the Chicago Tribune October 15, 2011.

 “Witness against Cellini grilled by defense
Prosecutors play more damaging recordings”

“When it came his time late Friday afternoon to begin cross-examining the government’s star witness, Springfield power broker William Cellini’s lawyer wasted no time going after Stuart Levine, a deeply flawed man with decades of wrongdoing in his past.

“Let me start by asking you about your credibility as a witness,” said Dan Webb, Cellini’s lawyer. “Is that OK with you?”

Webb then hit Levine with a barrage of questions about how much money he stole, how many institutions he cheated and how he felt about it all.

Levine paused long and often in his answers.

He had no answer when Webb asked how many “acts of dishonesty” he had engaged in.

“I’ll take an estimate,” Webb shot back, asking whether it was a number “over 500.”

Levine answered that he didn’t know how to “quantify it.”

“Is it fair to say there has been so many you can’t give an estimate of a total?” Webb then asked.

Webb’s cross-examination lasted about an hour before court adjourned for the weekend and will continue next week.

Earlier Friday, prosecutors wrapped up their questioning of Levine while playing for the jury some of the most potentially damaging undercover recordings involving Cellini.

Cellini is charged with trying to extort from a Hollywood producer who did substantial business with the state a $1.5 million contribution to then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s campaign.

Cellini, whose investment company had made millions of dollars from the Illinois Teachers’ Retirement System, is alleged to have agreed to work with Levine, a board member at TRS, and Blagojevich advisers Antoin “Tony” Rezko and Christopher Kelly as a way to protect his access at the pension board.

In recordings played Friday, Levine and Cellini discussed how to deal with the failing plot to extort producer Thomas Rosenberg, who threatened to go to law enforcement. The conversations revealed a separate problem for Cellini — his concern that Rezko and Kelly were too obvious in their corruption and already under investigation.

In a recorded telephone call with Levine on May 8, 2004, Cellini recounted advice he had given Kelly after finding him “beside himself sittin’ on the couch.”

“If somebody comes in with badges and flashes them at you and in the course of the conversation says do you know Bill Cellini, just know before they ask that question that they have already checked all your phone logs and they know that we have talked on the phone,” Cellini said.

Some jurors’ eyes widened and one turned her gaze directly on Cellini at that moment.”

Read more:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-cellini-trial-1015-20111015,0,329823.story

Chicago SunTimes Natasha Korecki Twitter updates from the courtroom.
“Levine says with Cellini on speaker phone, he, Kelly and Rezko decide it’s too “dangerous” to demand a bribe from Rosenberg.”

“Next call between Levine and Cellini ends: “I do love you, Bill,” Levine says. “I love you too, Stu,” Cellini says.”

“Prosecution ends its questioning of Stuart Levine.”

“Webb to Levine: “a large part of your adult life was committed to doing dishonesty acts?” Levine says no.”

“Long pause in courtroom as Levine tries to count the # organizations he’s cheated over last 40 years. He comes up w/5.”

“After Levine tells us about ripping off numerous charities for millions of $$$, Cellini trial breaks for wknd.”
http://citizenwells.net/2011/10/11/william-cellini-trial-live-coverage-by-natasha-korecki-of-chicago-suntimes/

42 Comments

Posted in Attorneys, Blagojevich, Chicago, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, FBI, Federal Court, Illinois, Judges, Jury, Lawyers, News, Stuart Levine, The Case Against Barack Obama, US Department of Justice, William Cellini

Tagged , , ,