Category Archives: District Court

Blagojevich trial continues Monday July 19, 2010, Prosecution rests case, No Rezko, No Levine, No Planning Board corruption, Citizen Wells open thread, July 14, 2010

Blagojevich trial continues Monday July 19, 2010, Prosecution rests case

The prosecution in the Rod Blagojevich trial rested their case yesterday, Tuesday, July 13, 2010. The prosecution, the US Justice Department has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt what their agenda is. Protecting Obama.

No Tony Rezko testimony.

No Stuart Levine (key witness in Rezko trial) testimony.

Focusing primarily on the selling of the senate seat.

No in depth exploration of Blagojevich’s part in rigging the IL Health Planning Facilities Board.

This explains why the Justice Dept. organized the Indictment more generally than the Criminal Complaint.

More evidence that the US Justice Department is corrupt and racially biased.

US Justice Department corruption, MN voter fraud, Al Franken stole election?, November 2008 Justice Dept letter

US Justice Department corruption, MN voter fraud, Al Franken stole election?

As I sit here writing this, Megyn Kelly on Fox America is about to cover voter fraud in the the MN election that allowed Al Franken to steal the election. I have been monitoring this for some time and have a collection of facts and information on this story.

“Chief Christopher Coates
United States Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division
950 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20530

November 17, 2008

Dear Mr. Coates,
I represent Minnesota Majority, a non-profit public policy watchdog group. I am contacting you to request a
formal investigation into apparent voter registration irregularities in Minnesota. We believe that the
Minnesota Secretary of State may be in violation of requirements for voter registration practices as defined
by the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). I will begin by providing some background on the situation, which
prompted this letter. I will then provide my specific complaint and our request of your office.
BACKGROUND
As part of Minnesota Majority’s issue advocacy activities, we make use of Minnesota’s voter file, as
provided under Minnesota law. It was in the course of utilizing this list that we began to notice a number of
unusual anomalies in the data, which prompted us to conduct additional research. Our cursory review of the
data revealed a number of potential issues, including:

• POTENTIAL DUPLICATE VOTER REGISTRATION RECORDS: We discovered thousands of voter
registration records that have an exact match on the criteria of first name, middle name, last name and
birth year.

• VACANT AND NON-DELIVERABLE ADDRESSES: The United States Postal Service has flagged
nearly 100,000 voter registration records as being either “vacant” or “undeliverable”. We visited
approximately two-dozen of these addresses to verify the USPS results and discovered approximately
50% of the addresses to be correctly flagged, in that the addresses did not exist. We have taken
photographs of empty lots and non-existent addresses where our investigation revealed invalid addresses.

• DEFICIENT VOTER REGISTRATIONS: Minnesota Statute 201.071 requires voter registrations
recorded after August 1, 1983 to include the voter’s name, address, date of birth and signature. We
discovered thousands of voter registrations that would be considered “deficient” under Minnesota law
due to missing or invalid information. Minnesota law requires these deficient registrations to be
corrected before an individual is allowed to vote.

• DECEASED VOTERS: Using a standard deceased matching service commonly utilized by mailing
houses, we discovered thousands of apparently deceased individuals who are still on the voter rolls.
• DOUBLE VOTING: We found nearly 100 cases in which voter registration and voter history records
suggest that a single voter may have voted more than once in a single election. There are thousands of
additional records that merit review.

• OTHER INCONSISTENCIES: We have discovered several thousand voters registered after August 1,
1983 that had birth years suggesting these individuals are 108 years of age or older. We also found
nearly 2,000 individuals who appear to have registered and voted before the age of 18.”

http://www.minnesotamajority.org/Portals/0/documents/2008-11-17-DOJ-Letter.pdf

Citizen Wells October 14, 2008

“As I expected, the investigations into ACORN and voter fraud has arrived to our fair state. From KSTP:

The Hennepin County attorney announced Tuesday they’ve launched an investigation into an allegation that an individual with the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, did not fully comply with Minnesota voter registration rules.

According to the allegation, a batch of registration forms were turned into the office of elections outside the ten-day period, but were turned in early enough to be registered to vote in the September primary.”

Read more

Fox News November 10, 2008.

“Minnesota is becoming to 2008 politics what Florida was in 2000 or Washington State in 2004 — a real mess. The outcome will determine whether Democrats get 58 members of the U.S. Senate, giving them an effective filibuster-proof vote on many issues.

When voters woke up on Wednesday morning after the election, Senator Norm Coleman led Al Franken by what seemed like a relatively comfortable 725 votes. By Wednesday night, that lead had shrunk to 477. By Thursday night, it was down to 336. By Friday, it was 239. Late Sunday night, the difference had gone down to just 221 — a total change over 4 days of 504 votes.

Amazingly, this all has occurred even though there hasn’t even yet been a recount. Just local election officials correcting claimed typos in how the numbers were reported. Counties will certify their results today, and their final results will be sent to the secretary of state by Friday. The actual recount won’t even start until November 19.

Correcting these typos was claimed to add 435 votes to Franken and take 69 votes from Coleman. Corrections were posted in other races, but they were only a fraction of those for the Senate. The Senate gains for Franken were 2.5 times the gain for Obama in the presidential race count, 2.9 times the total gain that Democrats got across all Minnesota congressional races, and 5 times the net loss that Democrats suffered for all state House races.

Virtually all of Franken’s new votes came from just three out of 4130 precincts, and almost half the gain (246 votes) occurred in one precinct — Two Harbors, a small town north of Duluth along Lake Superior — a heavily Democratic precinct where Obama received 64 percent of the vote. None of the other races had any changes in their vote totals in that precinct.”

Read more:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,449334,00.html

Newsmax June 2, 2009

“A public watchdog group is calling for federal authorities to investigate allegations of widespread voter fraud in Minnesota, charging that state election officials have been unable to establish the eligibility of over 30,000 persons whose ballots were included in the November election.

A lawsuit filed by the nonprofit group Minnesota Majority alleges that Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie and 25 county election officials failed to reconcile registrations — matching votes cast with actual voter registrations of people who live at valid addresses — thereby casting a shadow over the legitimacy of thousands of ballots cast on Nov. 4.

The lawsuit transcends the issues being debated in the ongoing Senate election contest between Democrat Al Franken and former GOP Sen. Norm Coleman, which is now under review by the state’s supreme court.

“When you’re talking about a major U.S. Senate race that’s being decided by 312 votes, whether you’re for Coleman or Franken, it doesn’t give me a great deal of confidence in the election,” Minnesota Majority founder and CEO Jeff Davis tells Newsmax. “I would guess that both camps would be really interested in knowing what the heck is going on.”

Davis is calling for a federal investigation into what he sees as systemic voter fraud in Minnesota elections. Minnesota law allows people to show up at the polls on Election Day, fill out a voter registration card based on a pledge that they are eligible, and cast a ballot.”

Read more:

http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/minnesota_fraud_lawsuit/2009/06/02/220818.html

Minnesota Majority July 24, 2009.

“Minnesota Supreme Court Passes the Buck

The release of a House oversight committee report alleging the systematic commission of numerous serious crimes by the Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now (ACORN) yesterday deepened Minnesota Majority’s concerns about the integrity of Minnesota’s elections.

Meanwhile, the state’s Supreme Court issued a ruling asserting that it does not have original jurisdiction to Hear Minnesota Majority’s case that was focused on a discrepancy of vote totals. In April, it was found that at least 40,000 more ballots were counted than there were records of voters who cast them in the statewide voter registration system.
 
The facts aren’t in dispute. Secretary Ritchie admitted to the discrepancy and all of the factual evidence in the case was provided by the secretary of state’s office. The court’s order to dismiss the case was without prejudice, meaning the Supreme Court didn’t rule on the merits of the case, only jurisdiction. In fact, the order states Minnesota Majority’s intention is a “laudable goal,” and goes on to suggest submitting the petition to the office of Administrative Hearings, the venue the Supreme Court believes is the appropriate starting point for the complaint.”

Read more:

http://www.minnesotamajority.org/Home/tabid/112/BlogDate/2009-07-31/Default.aspx

Minnesota Majority September 18, 2009.

“Yesterday the US House voted 345-75 to cut-off all federal funding for the scandal-plagued Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). This comes on the heels of the Senate’s vote earlier in the week to deny housing funds for ACORN 7 Senators voted to continue the funding, though.
 
All Congressional votes in favor of continuing ACORN funding were by Democrats, including Representatives Keith Ellison (Minneapolis/5th district) and Betty McCollum (St. Paul/4th district).”

Read more:

http://www.minnesotamajority.org/Home/tabid/112/EntryID/212/Default.aspx

Minnesota Majority September 30, 2009.

“In the wake of ACORN scandals erupting across the nation, several Minnesota gubernatorial candidates joined Minnesota Majority today in calling on Attorney General Lori Swanson to investigate the embattled organization’s Minnesota activities. 

Jeff Davis, president of Minnesota Majority cited numerous glaring discrepancies in election records, such as evidence suggesting dead people and convicted felons voted in the 2008 general election as well as voters registered with non-deliverable mailing addresses and a high volume of rejected voter registration postal verification post cards.”

Read more:

http://www.minnesotamajority.org/Home/tabid/112/EntryID/215/Default.aspx

Minnesota Majority July 8, 2010.

“Minnesota Majority has been calling for an investigation into violations of federal election law in Minnesota for nearly two years. That call has gone unanswered by the US Department of Justice. Now we are finding out why.

Former Justice Department attorney J. Christian Adams testified before the US Commission on Civil Rights that the current administration of the United States Department of Justice has a policy of not enforcing anti-fraud provisions of federal election law. Because Minnesota allows Election Day registration, we are exempt from certain provisions of the National Voter Rights Act (NVRA), but the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) contains similar provisions. Specifically, Section 303(a) of HAVA requires that the states perform voter registration list maintenance to remove deceased and ineligible voters (including felons and those who’ve moved out of state). This is an anti-voter-fraud measure that, according to Adams, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Julie Fernandes refuses to enforce.

Adams quoted Ferndandes as saying, “We’re not interested in those kind of cases. What do they have to do with helping increase minority access and turnout? We want to increase access to the ballot, not limit it.”

She evidently doesn’t want to limit access to the ballot by ineligible felons, dead people and people who don’t live in the state they are voting in, because the law in question requires such names to be purged from the voter registration rolls to prevent needless errors and abuse.

Minnesota Majority has experienced the DOJ’s refusal to investigate these kind of cases first-hand. On November 17th of 2008 (immediately following the 2008 General Election and while the Coleman-Franken recount battle was getting underway), Minnesota Majority president Jeff Davis sent a certified letter to then Voting Section chief of the Civil Rights Division at the DOJ, Christopher Coates, requesting an investigation into apparent failures to comply with HAVA by Secretary of State Mark Ritchie. No response was forthcoming.
 
Since the DOJ in Washington DC failed to follow up on Davis’ complaint, Minnesota Majority contacted the local FBI office and lodged the same complaint. Special Agent Brian Kinney responded and visited the Minnesota Majority office to examine Minnesota Majority’s findings. At that time, he said, “based on what I see here there is more than enough evidence to initiate an internal complaint.” He gave his assurances that he would bring the matter to the attention of his supervisors. There was no further follow-up.”

Read more:

http://www.minnesotamajority.org/

I have just begun to write about US Justice Department corruption. I, and I hope you, will demand a congressional investigation.

Blagojevich trial, US Justice Department corruption, Defense team makes a point, Justice Dept reveals agenda, Protecting Obama

Blagojevich trial, US Justice Department corruption, Defense team makes a point

US Justice Department corruption

Blagojevich trial

Protecting Obama

Part 3

Defense team makes a point

 

It was obvious in 2008 that the mainstream media and the US Justice Department were protecting Obama. Citizen Wells called for the indictment of Blagojevich and Obama well before the 2008 elections. I have watched the posturing of the Justice Dept. since the Tony Rezko trial early in 2008. Something smelled bad back then and smelled worse as time progressed. With whistleblowers such as J. Christian Adams and Bartle Bull speaking out we now have confirmation of corruption and racial bias in the US Justice Dept. There were strong indications that the Justice Dept was protecting Obama when Blagojevich was arrested after the 2008 election, when the emphasis was placed on the selling of the senate seat and when a crucial fact, included in the Criminal Complaint and left out of the Indictment occurred. Actions speak louder than words. Now we have another action that helps reveal the agenda of the US Justice Dept.

From the Chicago Tribune July 13, 2010.

“Blagojevich’s lawyers sought to delay the federal corruption trial for at least a week to prepare witnesses for a defense case that they had believed they wouldn’t be presenting until late August at the earliest.

Estimates of a sprawling trial that would last well into the fall have evaporated as the government has streamlined its case.
“At all times since the early stages of pretrial litigation in this case, the government asserted to the defense and the court that the government’s case would last approximately three to four months,” the defense filing said. “The government now indicates it will rest its case after just six weeks.”

Before the trial began early last month, prosecutors had estimated their case against Blagojevich would take at least two months to present. By the end of June, however, they gave Blagojevich’s lawyers a heads up that things were moving at a brisk pace and they expected to rest the government’s case by the end of this week.

Late last week, the timeline was refined further to set Tuesday as the estimated resting date. U.S. District Judge James Zagel told Blagojevich’s lawyers to prepare to launch their side of the case by Wednesday or Thursday at the latest.”

“The defense expects to call Emanuel, Jarrett, Reid and perhaps others to testify about their experience dealing with Blagojevich in fall 2008. That was when the then-governor allegedly bartered with the incoming Obama administration over a possible Jarrett appointment to Obama’s vacated U.S. Senate seat in exchange for a job for Blagojevich in Obama’s Cabinet or as an ambassador.”

Read more:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/blagojevich/ct-met-blagojevich-trial-0713-20100712,0,3451354.story

I can’t be the only one paying attention. Who in the hell do they think they are fooling?

Obviously the Blagojevich team is going to play along with focusing on the selling of the senate seat. It is more subject to interpretation. A deal has been struck. Who crafted this deal?

Obviously the prosecution is ending far sooner than projected. They have not called Tony Rezko, Stuart Levine or a host of other corruption figures. The defense team just helped me make one of my arguments. I have warned about this for many months. Some of these warnings happened just before the trial started.

Citizen Wells May 17, 2010.

“We now know with a 100% certainty that the “high-ranking state official” is Rod Blagojevich. The feds knew it then.

These questions beg for an answer and we deserve one.
Why wasn’t Rod Blagojevich indicted soon after the Rezko trial ended in June 2008? He was wreaking havoc on the citizens of Illinois.
Why was the arrest of Blagojevich delayed until December 2008, after the 2008 elections?
Why was prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald given this assignment by Barack Obama?”

“In February 2009 we learned

“US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, who brought criminal fraud charges against former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, will stay on with the Obama administration, reports Pete Williams at NBC.””

“July 30,  2009, we discover

“Patrick Fitzgerald, the top prosecutor in Illinois’ Northern District, has been named interim chairman of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee of U.S. Attorneys (AGAC).
In his new role, Fitzgerald will be the lead voice for the U.S. attorney community. It’s the latest high-profile assignment for America’s prosecutor, who has been busy overseeing the prosecution of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D), bringing down mortgage fraudsters, and fighting with journalists.”””

“Why was the above left out of the Indictment?

 
Why is this not being shouted from the rooftops?
“At the relevant time period, the Planning Board consisted of nine individuals.”

The following sentence is one of the clearest connections of Obama to the rigging of the Planning Board. Obama was chairman of the IL Senate committee that changed the number of members from 15 to 9.”

Read more

More details to come.

Blagojevich trial, Defense requests delay, Trial moving too fast, Point revealed, Citizen Wells open thread, July 13, 2010

Blagojevich trial, Defense requests delay, Trial moving too fast, Point revealed

The Blagojevich defense team has requested a delay in the trial. I am in the middle of writing a multi part series on US Justice Department corruption, trying to hit a moving target, and the defense team helps make one of my points.

From the Chicago Tribune July 12, 2010.

“Blagojevich’s lawyers sought to delay the federal corruption trial for at least a week to prepare witnesses for a defense case that they had believed they wouldn’t be presenting until late August at the earliest.

Estimates of a sprawling trial that would last well into the fall have evaporated as the government has streamlined its case.

“At all times since the early stages of pretrial litigation in this case, the government asserted to the defense and the court that the government’s case would last approximately three to four months,” the defense filing said. “The government now indicates it will rest its case after just six weeks.””

Read more:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/blagojevich/ct-met-blagojevich-trial-0713-20100712,0,3451354.story

Blagojevich trial, Obama Rezko ties, Black Panther case dismissal, Blagojevich trial ending soon?, Citizen Wells open thread, July 5, 2010

Blagojevich trial, Obama Rezko ties, Black Panther case dismissal

Will the Rod Blagojevich trial end sooner than projected?

Will Tony Rezko or Stuart Levine be called as witnesses?

Will the focus of the Blagojevich trial continue to be on the senate seat?

We know this:

  • By the time Rezko was convicted in June 2008, the feds had enough to indict Blagojevich.
  • The US Justice Dept. waited until December 2008, after the election to arrest Blagojevich.
  • Federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald was given a supervisory assignment by Obama early in 2009.
  • The following statement, damning for both Blagojevich and Obama, was included in the Criminal Complaint and not in the final Indictment. “At the relevant time period, the Planning Board consisted of nine individuals.”
  • Judge James Zagel has referred to Rezko as a bad witness.
  • The trial may end in the next 2 weeks instead of lasting the projected 3 to 4 months.
  • Attorney J. Christian Adams resigned from the US Justice Dept. after the case against the New Black Panther party was dismissed.
  • Civil rights attorney Bartle Bull has critized the US Justice Dept. and referred to Obama as a “Hustler.”

Is the US Justice Dept. corrupt?

Rezko lousy witness?, Rezko bad for Blagojevich and Obama, Judge Zagel, Rezko provided incriminating evidence

Rezko lousy witness?, Rezko bad for Blagojevich and Obama, Judge Zagel

From the Chicago Tribune June 29, 2010.

“Judge: There’s a word for witnesses like Rezko”

“One big question hanging over the trial of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich has been whether his convicted fundraiser, Antoin “Tony” Rezko, would appear at these proceedings to testify against his old friend. Rezko, now imprisoned at a federal facility in Wisconsin, has been cooperating with government agents since shortly after his 2008 conviction.
 
It’s still not certain whether Rezko will testify, but at a hearing before testimony resumed today, U.S. District Judge James Zagel strongly suggested that Rezko would make a lousy government witness.

Zagel said there was a word to describe witnesses like Rezko who damage whatever side calls them to testify. That, said Zagel, “generally explains why they’re not called.”  Zagel refrained from actually saying what the word was, leaving the suggestion it was less than polite.”

“Schar said that Rezko has since recanted the letter and provided “a certain amount of information that incriminates Blagojevich.”

All of this talk occurred outside the earshot of jurors, but defense lawyers would like the jury to hear about the Rezko letter. Zagel said he would wait until after Balanoff takes the stand to rule whether the letter can be brought up. ”

Read more:

http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/blagojevich-on-trial/2010/06/judge-theres-a-word-for-witnesses-like-rezko.html

“There’s a word for witnesses like Rezko”

Incriminating

For

Blagojevich

And

Obama

Blagojevich trial, Obama was protected, Blagojevich arrested after 2008 election, Blagojevich wiretap, Chicago press,

Blagojevich trial, Obama was protected, Blagojevich arrested after 2008 election

The Citizen Wells blog began presenting articles about Rod Blagojevich ties to Chicago and Illinois corruption early in 2008 and has done so ongoing. It was clear to anyone paying attention, especially to the Tony Rezko trial early in 2008 that Blagojevich was entrenched in corruption. With all the information available from court transcripts and other sources, the feds knew far more. Therefore the question began being asked by mid 2008, “when is Blagojevich going to be indicted”.  When Blagojevich was arrested on December 8, 2008, the big question became, why did Patrick Fitzgerald and the US Justice Dept. wait until after the election to arrest Blagojevich.

Consider the following:

April 29, 2008

“Strong charges about pay-to-play politics in Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s administration have been hurled by prosecution star witness Stuart Levine in the federal corruption trial of the governor’s friend and fundraiser, Antoin “Tony” Rezko.
“Andy Martin says ‘retainer’ by Robert Blackwell, Jr. was classic Illinois ‘pay to play’ and may have been criminal behavior.”

“Robert Blackwell Jr., CEO and founder of Electronic Knowledge Interchange Inc., has been named to the transition team of Governor-elect Rod Blagojevich.”

Read more

May 1, 2008

“Maloof said Rezko told him to keep his name out of any grand jury testimony because prosecutors were “going to tie it back to [Illinois Gov. Rod] Blagojevich.””

“According to Maloof, Rezko said the three phones were “just in case somebody’s listening,” a remark Maloof took to mean that Rezko was worried about wiretaps.”

“Before the trial began, prosecutors identified Maloof as one of at least two people who made straw political contributions to candidates on Rezko’s behalf. One of the recipients of Maloof’s money was U.S. Sen. Barack Obama.”

Read more

May 14, 2008

“Obama supported the re-election of Gov. Rod Blagojevich, whose administration is embroiled in corruption probes.

EKI, a Blackwell company, gave $20,000 to Blagojevich.
Electronic Knowledge Interchange won $6 million in technology consulting and software development contracts. EKI did no state
work until after Blagojevich took office.”

Read more

August 28, 2008

“The Justice Department’s prosecution of Antoin “Tony” Rezko was always about prelude, never about climax. The jury’s conviction of Rezko Wednesday on 16 criminal counts is one more point on a long investigative arc — an arc now pointed directly at Gov. Rod Blagojevich and other of his associates.

That arc reaches beyond the horizon to points none of us can see. But prosecutor Christopher Niewoehner unequivocally — and forcefully — told the Rezko jurors during closing arguments where federal authorities now are concentrating: “This is a crime that involves the highest levels of power in Illinois.””

Read more

By August 28, 2008 we and most certainly federal prosecutors knew enough about Rod Blagojevich to indict him then.

September 29, 2008
“Here is a Chicago tribune story from Monday, September 29, 2008:

“Indict or impeach?
September 29, 2008
After what has happened in the last few days, it’s more likely that Gov. Rod Blagojevich will be indicted or impeached or both.

• The Tribune reported on Sunday that convicted political fixer Tony Rezko has talked to federal prosecutors and may cooperate in their investigation of the governor’s administration. At closing arguments in Rezko’s trial, a federal prosecutor told jurors that his crimes involved “the highest levels of power in Illinois.” Rezko has refused to help investigators—until, apparently, now.”

Read more

May 17, 2010

“These questions beg for an answer and we deserve one.
Why wasn’t Rod Blagojevich indicted soon after the Rezko trial ended in June 2008? He was wreaking havoc on the citizens of Illinois.
Why was the arrest of Blagojevich delayed until December 2008, after the 2008 elections?
Why was prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald given this assignment by Barack Obama?”

Read more

From a Blagojevich wiretap introduced as evidence.

“DATE: 11/12/2008
TIME: 12:36 P.M.
ACTIVITY: Rod Blagojevich home line incoming call.
SESSION: 558
SPEAKERS:
BLAGOJEVICH: Rod Blagojevich
HARRIS: John Harris”

http://www.justice.gov/usao/iln/hot/us_v_blagojevich_exhibits/2010_06_24/transcript_11_12_2008_1236pm.pdf

The Chicago press weren’t the only ones shielding Obama.

The question is, did Patrick Fitzgerald or the US Justice Dept. shield Obama?

Blagojevich trial wiretap evidence, June 23, 2010, Taped November 8 2008, Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, John Harris, Jarrett, Balanoff, Obama’s resignation is synchronized for Blagojevich’s benefit, Michelle controls Obama

Blagojevich trial wiretap evidence, June 23, 2010, Taped November 8 2008

More wiretap evidence was released yesterday, June 23, 2010, in the Rod Blagojevich trial. I picked one of the wiretaps because it is full of damning evidence and insight into Chicago corruption and the involvement of Barack and Michelle Obama.

From this one wiretap we learn:

  • Blagojevich is clearly involved in selling of senate seat.
  • Blagojevich has inside info on Obama’s senate seat resignation.
  • Tom Balanoff, President of local SEIU IL State Councils, is a go between Blagojevich and the Obamas.
  • Obama’s resignation is synchronized for Blagojevich’s benefit.
  • Obama follows Michelle’s lead.
  • Obama is trying to distance himself from Rezko.

Here are some exerpts from the wiretap:

“DATE: 11/07/2008
TIME: 10:46 A.M.
ACTIVITY: Rod Blagojevich home line incoming call.
SESSION: 374
SPEAKERS:
BLAGOJEVICH: Rod Blagojevich
HARRIS: John Harris
P. BLAGOJEVICH: Patti Blagojevich

Page 2

1 BLAGOJEVICH Um, didn’t know quite what to make of my
2 request. Uh, Barack rea-, really wants
3 to get away from Illinois politics.
4 HARRIS (Laughs)
5 BLAGOJEVICH (Laughs). Right?
6 HARRIS Right.

Page 4

16 BLAGOJEVICH We’re not available to these people yet.
17 Let Balanoff be the only one…
Page 5

10 HARRIS Right, right, right. So the question is
11 when do you want to meet with Balanoff.
12 That’s the immediate question.
13 BLAGOJEVICH He’s not available. He’s been, he’s out
14 of town. He’s in Boston Monday,
15 Tuesday. So I’ve got, if I can dodge
16 him today, which we’ll, Doug and I
17 easily can do. I’d have to, I’d, I can
18 deal with him nex-, maybe next Wednesday
19 or Thursday. You see what I’m saying?

Page 6

7 P. BLAGOJEVICH (Speaking in background) I think he
8 wouldn’t want to resign until he knows
9 that, you know…
10 BLAGOJEVICH Till he knows I’ll do Valerie Jarrett.
11 HARRIS Yeah, so he’s not gonna resign yet.
12 BLAGOJEVICH Look, she wants it. We know that.
13 HARRIS Right.
14 BLAGOJEVICH He’s also been told now that I would do
15 it if I got this. So now she knows I
16 can get this Senate seat if my friend
17 will give ’em this.
18 HARRIS Mm-hmm.
19 BLAGOJEVICH Okay? She’s the audience we’re
20 interested in right now. We know he’s,
21 he wants her and what, I don’t know the
22 nature of the relationship but it’s
23 clear he wants her and she’s got
24 influence with him. So now she knows
25 it’s there for her. To get it, I need26 X, right?
27 HARRIS Right. The question is if Alexi is28 coming in on her behalf, do we use Alexi29 to get the word back to her?
30 BLAGOJEVICH No, I don’t trust Alexi, I, no, under no 31 circumstances.
32 HARRIS Mm-hmm.
33 BLAGOJEVICH No, no. Absolutely, not. Balanoff…

Page 11

7 BLAGOJEVICH Once he resigns next week, I’m, I’ve got
8 total control.
9 HARRIS Right, ’cause if they start movin’
10 legislation to take it away from you,
11 bing, we…
12 BLAGOJEVICH I’m in. I’m takin’ me then.
13 HARRIS Right.
14 BLAGOJEVICH So that’s right. That’s, I forgot about
15 that. Boy that’s perfect.
16 HARRIS Right.
17 BLAGOJEVICH Him gettin’ out early is good.
18 HARRIS Right, no, no, him, him resigning early
19 is good for us.
20 BLAGOJEVICH Yeah. I’m tellin’ ya this is good,
21 John. They didn’t say no. They didn’t
22 say oh, now, maybe, again, look it,
23 Balanoff probably got to be the one, the
24 messenger to tell me that, but…
25 HARRIS Right.
26 BLAGOJEVICH Of course they gotta be squeamish about
27 the whole thing. It’s not what they
28 want.
29 HARRIS Well, at least we’ve frozen them from
30 filling it with someone else.
31 BLAGOJEVICH That’s right.

Page 12

1 HARRIS I mean, at least the answer wasn’t we
2 promised it to someone else.
3 BLAGOJEVICH Well, I don’t know, maybe Balanoff’s
4 gonna come back to me on it, but, but
5 look, if they opt to fill that spot,
6 they’re clearly sayin’, I mean, you
7 know, they’re clearly…

Page 14

6 BLAGOJEVICH Our thought was how do we get to, now
7 how do we get to her.
8 HARRIS (Coughs) Yeah, then Mosena would be the
9 way to get it to her.
10 BLAGOJEVICH Yeah, that’s good. In other words,
11 we’re predicating this on, Michelle
12 Obama, he’s more hen pecked than me. So
13 he listens to Michelle Obama more than I
14 listen to you. Okay.
28 BLAGOJEVICH He wants to get out of Chicago politics.
29 Okay. That’s their way of saying Rezko.
30 HARRIS (Laughs)
31 BLAGOJEVICH Know what I’m sayin’?

Page 15

11 HARRIS Well, what also makes it important if
12 they want her, a, a symbol of they want
13 her, is that they, they, they took the
14 Balanoff meeting right away.
17 BLAGOJEVICH That’s right. The very next morning.
18 HARRIS Yeah. Balanoff said I met and they
19 said, okay, come on in. (Laughs).”

http://www.justice.gov/usao/iln/hot/us_v_blagojevich_exhibits/2010_06_23/transcript_11_07_2008_1046am.pdf

Blagojevich trial, Joseph Aramanda testifies soon, Aramanda linked to Blagojevich Rezko Obama, Open Thread, June 15, 2010

Blagojevich trial, Joseph Aramanda testifies soon, Aramanda linked to Blagojevich Rezko Obama

Today, Tuesday, June 15, 2010, testimony in the Rod Blagojevich trial continues. Joseph Aramanda, with ties to Blagojevich, Rezko and Obama is expected to testify soon.

“In addition to lining their own pockets, the money gained through the scheme was
funneled to the campaigns of Blagojevich and Obama. Prosecutors have identified
two $10,000 payments that were made to Obama’s US Senate campaign through straw
donors Joseph Aramanda and Elie Maloof, which originated from a kickback paid by
investment firm, Glencoe Capital, to secure approval for a $50 million deal.
Aramanda and Maloof also each gave Obama $1,000 for his failed run for Congress
in 2000. Once Obama became a US Senator, Aramanda’s son was granted a coveted
intern position in Obama’s Senate office in Washington during the summer of 2005,
based on a request which the Obama’s camp has admitted came from Rezko.”

Read more

Blagojevich trial update, Alonzo Monk testimony, Blagojevich Monk Kelly Rezko, Secret meetings at Rezko’s offices in 2003, Rahm Emanuel grant

Blagojevich trial update, Alonzo Monk testimony, Blagojevich Monk Kelly Rezko

Today, Wednesday, June 9, 2010, the first day of testimony in the Rod Blagojevich trial, is off to a interesting start.

From the Chicago Tribune.

“Blago pal talks of secret meetings, code names and favors”

“They met in secret and referred to each other as “1,2, 3 and 4.”

Rod Blagojevich, his longtime friend Lon Monk and trusted fundraisers Chris Kelly and Antoin “Tony” Rezko.”

Their agenda: How to exchange state contracts and jobs for campaign cash for Blagojevich.

The plotting started even before Blagojevich was elected governor in 2002, according to Monk, who took the stand today to testify against his pal from college days.

“This was something that we were going to be able to do now that we were close to Rod and he was going to become governor,” Monk said as Blagojevich stared straight at him and shook his head.

“I was intrigued,” Monk added. “And I wanted to make money.”

At one of the secret meetings — at Rezko’s offices in 2003 — the four discussed money-making ideas that involved state action, said Monk, sometimes sighing loudly as he testified.”

“Collecting kickbacks was too risky while Blagojevich was still governor, Monk said.  “It would be easier for people to find out we were receiving money.”

Rezko was to hold the funds while Blagojevich was in office,  Monk alleged. “Any money found would be held in separate accounts that would be difficult to locate.”

Rezko would often bring up firms and individuals to help with state business or an appointment to a state board, Monk said.

Prosecutor Christopher Niewoehner asked why Rezko would do that.

“So that he could ask them for more money or additional money for donations,” Monk replied.

Asked whether Rezko was trying to give rewards for political contributions, Monk answered yes.

Monk said he also had conversations with Kelly also about helping people get state business or positions.

What would Monk do when Rezko or Kelly asked him for help getting someone appointed or a contract, Niewoehner asked.

“Whatever they asked,” he said. 

Monk also recalled being a meeting with Blagojevich and Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff who was then a congressman. Emanuel was help getting a state grant for the Chicago Academy, Monk said.

Blagojevich had a simple answer. “He’d try and get it done,” Monk recalled as jurors were shown a photo of Emanuel.”

Read more:

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/06/blagos-close-friend-and-top-aide-likely-to-testify-today.html