Justice Department and Obama indictment, Opening statement, Blagojevich Rezko Obama corruption, Evidentiary Proffer, Protecting Obama
“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
“I believe I’m more pristine on Rezko than him.”…Rod Blagojevich
U.S. Citizens
V.
U.S. Justice Department,
Barack Hussein Obama
Opening Statement
In a simpler, more sincere world, in a world of justice and fairness envisioned by our founding fathers, I would just ask that the evidentiary proffer be read, a few questions be asked and a grand jury convened to indict Patrick Fitzgerald and Barack Obama. The indictment of Fitzgerald would naturally lead to further indictments in the US Justice Department. This is not the world we live in today. Sadly, we live in an Orwellian world with no regard for the US Constitution and rule of law. A world where the end justifies the means.
We now know for a fact that there has been corruption and bias in the US Justice Department for years. Whistleblowers such as J. Christian Adams, a former Justice Department employee, and long time Democrat, civil rights attorney, Bartle Bull, have corroborated our suspicions. Judges, including Supreme Court Justices, a crucial part of our checks and balances within the Judicial Branch as well as the larger checks and balances of the executive and legislative branches, have acted in a manner that if not conspiratorial, certainly biased or apathetic. And now, one of the chief players in this chicanery, Barack Obama, is in control of Eric Holder, the Attorney General.
A cursory reading of this evidentiary proffer reveals a completed puzzle picture, a large billboard that reads:
Barack Obama was enmeshed in the Chicago corruption of Rod Blagojevich and Tony Rezko and was a participant in the rigging of the IL Health Planning Facilities Board. This well planned board rigging, which took place over many months, was a large part of the indictment and trial of Tony Rezko and the early legal charges against Rod Blagojevich.
The facts and reference to this rigging have diminished over time in the Justice Department legal documents and prosecution pleadings.
The prosecution of Rod Blagojevich has been repeatedly delayed.
Why was Tony Rezko, a businessman, prosecuted first instead of Blagojevich, the governor?
Why was the first Blagojevich trial so short?
Why were neither Tony Rezko or Stuart Levine called as witnesses?
Why was Rod Blagojevich arrested after the 2008 election?
The questions go on and on, but the answer is simple. To protect Barack Obama.
Justice Department protecting Obama, Evidence, Evidentiary Proffer, Blagojevich prosecution delayed and manipulated, Collusion
“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
“I believe I’m more pristine on Rezko than him.”…Rod Blagojevich
This is the first article in a series about corruption in the US Justice Department and specifically an operation I refer to as “Protecting Obama.” Many events smelled back in 2008, but with the passage of time, the stench is corroborated. Below is the Evidentiary Proffer, a summary and timeline of the bulk of evidence that reveals how Obama was protected in the investigation and prosecution of Tony Rezko, Rod Blagojevich, et al. The time is right to present my case. There are enough well documented events to make a strong case. As I have mentioned recently, I have contacted a prominent congressman about this issue and others and this is a way to get the facts in front of the congressman, his staff and the public. The Proffer will certainly be updated from time to time. I will next present an opening statement and then go on to present the case in more detail. However, anyone who has been paying careful attention or who reads this Proffer, will come to the obvious conclusion presented here of collusion involving the US Justice Department, Patrick Fitzgerald, Barack Obama, and probably Rod Blagojevich and Tony Rezko.
Before reading the Proffer, here is a recap of how important Rezko is to the prosecution of Blagojevich and ultimately indicting Obama.
It is understandable why the Blagojevich defense team does not want Rezko on the stand. Judge Zagel’s comment about Rezko being a bad witness reeks of conspiracy. Convicted felons of all categories are regularly used as witnesses. Stuart Levine, the key witness in the Rezko trial was not only enmeshed in corruption but was a long time drug user.
Here are the approximate number of times that “Rezko” is mentioned in US Justice Department documents.
Even if a strong argument is made against using Rezko as a witness, and good luck with that argument, Stuart Levine was used extensively as a witness in the Rezko trial, and his name was mentioned approx. 146 times in the Blagojevich Criminal Complaint. And remember, Blagojevich’s name was mentioned at least 30 times on one day of the Rezko trial.
U.S. Citizens
V.
U.S. Justice Department,
Barack Hussein Obama
Evidentiary Proffer supporting charge of Collusion in protecting Obama during the course of investigating and prosecuting Tony Rezko and Rod Blagojevich.
Jan. – Aug. 2003: Obama was Chairman of the IL Senate Health and Human Service Committee. Feb. 20, 2003: Senate Bill 1332 “Illinois Health Facilities Planning Act” filed. Reduced members of IL Health Planning and Facilities Board from 15 to 9.
(Rezko Trial March 13, 2008; 3:09 p.m.)
“Almanaseer was appointed to the planning board in 2003 on Rezko’s recommendation. Prosecutors contend he became part of a five-member voting bloc on the board that followed Rezko’s wishes. Almanaseer said board Chairman Thomas Beck tried to steer his voting.
“He said, ‘If you just don’t know which way to vote, vote the way Mr. Levine votes because that’s the way Tony would want the vote to go,” Almanaseer recalled, referring to Stuart Levine.”
Spring 2003 – Nov 2003: (Rezko trial March 11, 2008; 10:58 a.m.)
“Jennifer Thomas, a former aide to Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s patronage chief Joe Cini, continued on the stand Tuesday morning and gave a few more insights into those regular Monday morning meetings she and Cini held in 2003 with Antoin “Tony” Rezko at his office.”
“Thomas said Rezko floated the names of several people to sit on the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board, which the government claims Rezko corrupted with the help of board member Stuart Levine. And Thomas said Rezko at one point made it clear that he wanted to see Levine reappointed to the panel, which was being overhauled by the governor in 2003.” May 21, 2003: Senate Bill 1332 passed by House and Senate. June 27, 2003: Blagojevich made this the effective date of Senate Bill 1332. June 2003: (Rezko trial March 10, 2008; 4:16 p.m.)
“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.” June 30, 2003: Obama gets the following donations.
$5000 Ali Ata was appointed as Director at IFA
$6000 Alison Davis gets appointment on Investment Board
$15,000 Dr. Michael Malek gets appointment on Hospital Facility Board
$5000 Abdelhamid Chaib’s wife gets appointment on Employee Security Board
$10,000 Elie Maloof – Rezko used him as one of several strawmen to donate funds to certain politicians.
$1000 Phil Cacciatore (one of Auchi’s Riverside Park Investors) gets seat on Board
$1000 Velma Butler (one of Auchi’s Riverside Park Investors) was recommended for Board
$1000 Martello Pollack (Vegas Crystal Comm) received Iraqi Construction contracts
$1000 Jack Carriglio gets appointed to Board
$500 Anthony Abboud gets appointed to Board
$3000 Michael Winter, who helped Rezko in funneling kickbacks through investment firm
$1000 Talat Othman gets appointed to Board
$1000 David Gustman, $1000 from Gustman’s wife after he is appointed Board Chairman Late 2003: Earliest documented awareness by FBI and Patrick Fitzgerald of corruption in Blagojevich admin. Pamela Meyer Davis agreed to secretly record conversations involving state health planning board with an FBI wire. Oct. 29, 2003: Blagojevich interest in presidency (Blagojevich criminal complaint pg 14).
“During the conversation, Cari and ROD BLAGOJEVICH discussed Cari’s fundraising background and work as a national fundraiser. ROD BLAGOJEVICH discussed his interest in running for President of the United States.” Dec 17, 2003: Former Governor George Ryan indicted.
“Mr. Fitzgerald announced that he was prosecuting former Gov. George Ryan, a Republican, in a scandal that had been swirling around long before Mr. Fitzgerald got here and that many people thought would never touch the most powerful politicians in Illinois. But there Mr. Fitzgerald was, a week before Christmas, ticking off the details of a 91-page indictment against Mr. Ryan, seemingly from memory.
That, even Mr. Fitzgerald’s former opponents in the courtroom say, is classic Fitzgerald: dogged, dispassionate and endlessly prepared.” 2004 – 2005: (February 10, 2008 Sun-Times)
“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.”” March – May 2004: (Rezko trial exhibits)
FBI chart presented to the jury on April 28, 2008, shows 257 calls from Rezko’s phones to Blagojevich’s chief of staff, Lon Monk, between March 2004 and May 2004 alone.
“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.” April 8 – May 21, 2004: (Rezko Trial March 12, 2008; 11:11 a.m.)
“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.” April 21, 2004: (Rezko Trial March 11, 2008; 5:27 p.m.)
“The former lawyer for a state board that regulates hospital expansions took the stand late in the afternoon and said she told Stuart Levine of her concern after an odd vote on the Mercy Hospital project that included Levine whispering to other board members before the project was approved.
His response was no less troubling, she said.
“He shrugged his shoulders and said, ‘Sometimes you have to be a good soldier,'” said Anne Murphy, the former lawyer for the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board.
Murphy said Levine’s remark followed a vote that saw the plan for a new hospital in Crystal Lake squeak by with the minimum of five votes in favor on the nine-member board.
With eight members present at the April 2004 meeting, Murphy said the vote was stalled with three members voting “yes,” two voting “no” and two abstentions when Chairman Thomas Beck was called to give his vote.
Beck said, “Where’re we at?” Murphy testified. He then went over to whisper with Levine off the record, she said. When that conversation ended, Murphy said, Levine got up and whispered to Imad Almanaseer.
Beck then voted yes, Murphy testified, and Almanaseer changed his vote to “yes,” giving the plan the necessary votes to pass.
“There was an audible, collective gasp across the room,” Murphy recalled of the April 2004 meeting.
Prosecutors contend the five members who voted for the hospital were a Levine-led bloc that Rezko had placed on the board and controlled. The two were charged with arranging to accept a kickback from the builder who was going to build the Mercy project in Crystal Lake.
The entire board was new as of the summer of 2003, Murphy said. She said she had given the new members memos on ethics, including conflicts of interest.”
“Another government wiretap has been played with Antoin “Tony” Rezko’s voice on it, and this one could prove damaging to his defense. On the tape, recorded May 18, 2004, Rezko can be heard giving orders to political fixer Stuart Levine about how he wanted to manipulate the vote of one of Levine’s fellow members on the Illinois Health Facilities Planning board, Danalynn Rice.
June 7, 2004: Stuart Levine, member of the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board, abruptly resigns. This is the first indication that the Blagojevich administration is under federal criminal investigation.
July 2, 2004: Stuart Levine resigns from the state Teachers’ Retirement System board. July 27, 2004: Obama Democratic Convention Speech. May 9, 2005: Stuart Levine indicted on corruption charges. Federal subpoena issued to Tony Rezko. June 15, 2005: Obama purchases home next door to Rezko for $1.65 million, $300,000 less than the asking price. June 15, 2005: Rita Rezko, Tony’s wife purchased plot next door for $625,000 asking price. Sept. 15, 2005: Joseph Cari, former lawyer for the state’s teacher’s pension board pleads guilty to extortion. A high ranking public official is described in court documents only as “Public official A.” Oct. 25, 2005: The Chicago Tribune reports about a federal grand jury investigation into the alleged political hiring practices of the Blagojevich administration. Late 2005 early 2006: From the Kenneth J. Conner complaint against Mutual Bank filed Oct. 16, 2008. The lawsuit is still active.
“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″
“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.”
Conner later told World Net daily when he initially was fired, that the bank and the Rezkos were engaged in “fraud, bribes or kickbacks, use whatever term you want,” to benefit the Obamas.
Soon after the Blagojevich arrest, Conner was interviewed by investigators from Fitzgerald’s office. Jan. 2006: Rita Rezko sells the Obamas one-sixth of her lot for $104,500. Feb. 4, 2006: (Chicago Sun-Times)
“Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has always been rumored to be interested in higher office. A single entry in a campaign-finance report he filed this week could add fuel to the speculation.
Blagojevich paid $7,500 in December to one of the top Democratic political strategists in Iowa, where contacts are important for anyone with presidential aspirations.” Feb. 19, 2006: Blagojevich began his 2006 re-election to IL Governor. Aug. 5, 2006: The Chicago Tribune reports that Stuart Levine is cooperating with the federal investigation of state government. Aug. 11-20 2006: Illinois State Fair. “We’ve got a governor in Rod Blagojevich who has delivered consistently on behalf of the people of Illinois,” Obama told the crowd. Oct. 11, 2006: Tony Rezko is indicted on federal charges he sought millions of dollars in kickbacks and campaign donations from firms seeking state business.
Oct. 22, 2006: Obama publicly states he is considering a run for the Presidency. Oct. 27, 2006: Stuart Levine pleads guilty in a scheme to squeeze millions of dollars from firms seeking state business. Court papers contain allegations that Rezko and Christopher Kelly were using their influence for corrupt purposes. Nov. 7, 2006 (Chicago SunTimes)
“The Rezko story broke last week, when Obama was wrapping up a national tour serving several purposes: promote his new book, The Audacity of Hope, raise money and stump for Democrats, and lay the groundwork for a possible 2008 White House bid.” Jan. 16, 2007: Obama announces his intention to run for president.
“I’ve navigated some fairly difficult territory in my political career and, you know, there are some folks in Springfield who are pretty wily.
And I’ve always been able to operate effectively, but also do so in a way that’s consistent with my values and ethics. I make no claims of perfection, but I think that generally my judgment and my assessments of people have been pretty good and that’s part of how I’ve stayed out of trouble in what can be a pretty hurly burly political environment. ….. I think that the way [voters should view the Rezko relationship] is that I made a mistake in not seeing the potential conflicts of interest or appearances of impropriety. But they should see somebody who was not engaged in any wrongdoing, who did not in any way betray the public trust, who has maintained consistently high ethical standards and who they can trust.” Feb 10, 2008: (Chicago Sun-Times)
“Sources said 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.” March 6, 2008: Rezko trial begins. April 22, 2008: Ali Ata pleads guilty to obstruction of justice and agrees to cooperate. May 2, 2008: Illinois Senate narrowly defeated a measure aimed at giving voters a chance to recall Gov. Rod Blagojevich. June 4, 2008: Rezko convicted on 16 of 24 counts.
Count 1 contains ties to Blagojevich and Obama.
The following conviction counts are related to Mercy Hospital and the rigging of the Planning Board.
1, 11, 12, 14, 15
A large portion of the testimony in the Rezko Trial was about the rigging of the Planning Board. Aug. 20, 2008: Rezko sentencing delayed. Oct. 9, 2008: Rezko sentencing delayed. Oct. 30, 2008: William Cellini indicted Nov. 4, 2008: Washington Times report.
“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.””
Dec. 7, 2008: Criminal complaint of Blagojevich. Nine individuals is important. Obama helped passed a bill to reduce the number from 15 to 9.
“b. Corruption of the Planning Board”
“At the relevant time period, the Planning Board consisted of nine individuals.”
“Planning Board” (IL Health Facilities Planning Board) is mentioned 31 times.
“Rezko” is mentioned 170 times.
“Hospital” in context of Mercy Hospital mentioned 8 times. Dec. 9, 2008: Blagojevich arrested
“Fitzgerald said, “We make no allegations” that Obama was aware of any alleged scheming by Blagojevich.” Jan. 9, 2009: IL House votes 114 to 1 to impeach Blagojevich. Jan 29, 2009: IL Senate removes Blagojevich from office. Feb 12, 2009: “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.” APRIL 2, 2009: Press release, Superceding Indictment. There is no mention of nine board members.
“Planning Board” (IL Health Facilities Planning Board) is mentioned 7 times
“Rezko” is mentioned 100 times.
http://www.justice.gov/usao/iln/pr/chicago/2009/pr0402_01a.pdf July 30, 2009: 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). Feb. 4, 2010: Second superceding indictment. There is no mention of nine board members.
“Planning Board” (IL Health Facilities Planning Board) is mentioned 7 times
“Rezko” is mentioned 87 times.
“Hospital” in context of Mercy Hospital mentioned 1 time.
“During the relevant time period, the Planning Board consisted of nine individuals.”
“Rezko was able to obtain significant influence over the affairs of the Planning Board by arranging for Blagojevich to appoint five of Rezko’s associates and/or friends, including Levine, as members of the Planning Board in 2003.”
“Rezko” is mentioned 288 times.
“Hospital” in context of Mercy Hospital mentioned 18 times. April 22, 2010: Motion filed to subpoena Obama and redacted parts revealed.
“22. However, the defense has a good faith belief that Mr. Rezko, President Obama’s former friend, fund-raiser, and neighbor told the FBI and
the United States Attorneys
Redacted:
a different story about President Obama. In a recent in camera proceeding, the government tendered a three paragraph letter indicating that Rezko “has stated
in interviews with the government that he engaged in election law violations by personally contributing a large sum of cash to the campaign of a public official who is not Rod Blagojevich. … Further, the public official denies being aware of cash contributions to his campaign by Rezko or others and denies having conversations with Rezko related to cash contributions. … 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, but that the public official rejected the offer. The public official denies any such conversation. In addition, Rezko has stated to the government that he and the public official had certain conversations about gaming legislation and administration, which the public official denies having had.”10
10 The defense has a good faith belief that this public official is Barack Obama.”
June 29, 2010: Judge Zagel said there was a word to describe witnesses like Rezko who damage whatever side calls them to testify.
“generally explains why they’re not called.”
Aug. 17, 2010: Blagojevich convicted of 1 of 24 counts. Neither Rezko or Levine were called as witnesses. One juror held out from indicting on more counts. The trial was much shorter than predicted . Approx 2% of the wiretaps were presented. Jan. 6, 2011: Rezko sentencing delayed indefinitely. Jan. 28, 2011: Rezko sentencing set for October 21, 2011. Feb. 24, 2011: Counts 1,2,4 in the Blagojevich Indictment are dropped. This represents approx. half of the indictment and includes numerous corruption ties to Blagojevich and Obama.
The only reference left to “Hospital” in context of Mercy Hospital was in count one. March 9, 2011: Blagojevich files motion to be sentenced on one conviction charge.
I, Citizen Wells, do swear and attest that the above information is correct to the best of my knowledge. Most of the information comes from
public records, US Jusctice Dept. documents, court documents and transcripts. News organizations article quotes are presented only if later
corroborated by facts.
Patrick Fitzgerald Obama Justice Department pawn, Fitzgerald aggresively pursued Ryan and Rove, Fitzgerald protects Obama
“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
“I believe I’m more pristine on Rezko than him.”…Rod Blagojevich
From NewsMax December 10, 2008.
“Once he assumes office, President-elect Barack Obama will face a severe “trial by fire” over whether to fire U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald and other U.S. attorneys, following Democratic Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s arrest Tuesday for allegedly offering to sell Obama’s vacated Senate seat to the highest bidder.
Ordinarily, legal and political experts say, an incoming president has broad authority to change both the Cabinet and the U.S. attorneys who serve at his request. But with unanswered questions swirling over the degree of interaction Obama’s team has had with Blagojevich, and the alarming level of Illinois corruption exposed by the probe, any move to fire Fitzgerald would be highly controversial as a possible conflict of interest.
“There are enough connections between the worlds of Blagojevich and Obama that the whole thing has the potential to grow beyond a colorful Chicago tale of corruption to entangle members of the presidential transition team, to test Obama’s carefully cultivated reformist image, and to distract the president-elect just as he is preparing to take office,” Time.com reported Wednesday.”
“Citing the equivocal statements coming out of the Obama camp, Heritage fellow and legal scholar Robert Alt tells Newsmax: “You already have the whiff of cover-up in the air” inside the Beltway.
“If these sorts of stories continue,” Alt says, “and it starts to look like he’s covering up contacts with Blagojevich, if he then sacks Fitzgerald, that would look very bad indeed.”
In his news conference, Fitzgerald went out of his way to avoid implicating the Obama team, stating “there’s no reference in the complaint to any conversation involving the president-elect or indicating that the president-elect was aware of it.””
““My guess is if Senator Obama got elected, one of the first things that would happen is that they would remove Patrick Fitzgerald in Chicago,” the former senator told WIND’s John & Cisco In The Morning show. “And he’d have pressure to do so from all sorts of Daley administration people.” ”
“Obama’s main task, Marshall says, is “returning some credibility to the Justice Department, but the point is if [Obama] keeps him on, that is the exception rather than the rule.”
Firing Fitzgerald could cause Obama more trouble than it’s worth. The nightmare scenario for Obama would be if the Blagojevich investigation evolves into a smoldering, enduring controversy along the lines of the Whitewater scandal, which dogged and distracted the presidency of former President Bill Clinton.
For now, that appears to most observers rather unlikely. But given the president-elect’s admission of what he described as “boneheaded” involvement in a real estate deal with top Blagojevich fund-raiser Tony Rezko, questions are likely to linger.
And then there is Illinois’ daunting reputation for political corruption.
Law professor James Lindgren, a Chicago-area law professor at Northwestern University, tells Newsmax: “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.””
Once he assumes office, President-elect Barack Obama will face a severe “trial by fire” over whether to fire U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald and other U.S. attorneys, following Democratic Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s arrest Tuesday for allegedly offering to sell Obama’s vacated Senate seat to the highest bidder.
Ordinarily, legal and political experts say, an incoming president has broad authority to change both the Cabinet and the U.S. attorneys who serve at his request. But with unanswered questions swirling over the degree of interaction Obama’s team has had with Blagojevich, and the alarming level of Illinois corruption exposed by the probe, any move to fire Fitzgerald would be highly controversial as a possible conflict of interest.
“There are enough connections between the worlds of Blagojevich and Obama that the whole thing has the potential to grow beyond a colorful Chicago tale of corruption to entangle members of the presidential transition team, to test Obama’s carefully cultivated reformist image, and to distract the president-elect just as he is preparing to take office,” Time.com reported Wednesday.
Many of the concerns revolve around a statement Obama made Tuesday afternoon, which ultimately raised more questions than it answered.
“I had no contact with the governor or his office, and so we were not — I was not aware of what was happening,” Obama said, leaving open the possibility that his staff did have contact with Blagojevich. “And as I said, it’s a sad day for Illinois. Beyond that, I don’t think it’s appropriate to comment.”
Obama’s statement evoked concern among the mainstream media that it was too tepid to quell the rising hubbub. “I think it was a very passive statement by Obama yesterday. I don’t think it was enough,” NBC political director Chuck Todd told MSNBC viewers on Wednesday morning.
Concerns over what Obama’s staff knew regarding the blatant solicitation of bribes, and when they knew it, only deepened Wednesday morning as Obama campaign adviser David Axelrod recanted a November statement that Obama did meet with Blagojevich that month.
Wednesday afternoon, apparently in response to media rumblings, Obama commented again, saying via a spokesman that Blagojevich should step down as Illinois governor. Obama has not been considered particularly close to Blagojevich, but did voice strong support for him during his 2006 reelection campaign.
Citing the equivocal statements coming out of the Obama camp, Heritage fellow and legal scholar Robert Alt tells Newsmax: “You already have the whiff of cover-up in the air” inside the Beltway.
“If these sorts of stories continue,” Alt says, “and it starts to look like he’s covering up contacts with Blagojevich, if he then sacks Fitzgerald, that would look very bad indeed.”
In his news conference, Fitzgerald went out of his way to avoid implicating the Obama team, stating “there’s no reference in the complaint to any conversation involving the president-elect or indicating that the president-elect was aware of it.”
Alt, the deputy director of the Center for Legal and Judicial studies at Heritage, says he sees no indication in the criminal complaint against Blagojevich of any improper involvement on the part of Obama’s representatives – but he adds Obama must now tread very carefully.
“It will be a baptism by fire,” Alt tells Newsmax. “Any time there is an investigation touching on the president or close presidential allies, the sensitivity of hiring and firing the prosecutors becomes a high concern. It’s been previously said there’s not much time for on-the-job training for the presidency. And on the issue of U.S. attorneys, he’ll have to make some tough calls right away.”
Republican leaders are already challenging Obama to pledge that after he becomes president on Jan. 20, he will keep Fitzgerald in office.
“What he should do tomorrow is say, ‘Patrick Fitzgerald has a job and can have it for as long as he wants,’” the state Republican chairman of Illinois, Andy McKenna, told reporters. “Some have wondered if Barack Obama would keep Fitzgerald. It would be great if he confirms that he plans to.”
That Fitzgerald suddenly sees Republicans lining up to defend him is profoundly ironic, given that both prominent Republicans and Democrats have found themselves in his investigatory crosshairs over the years.
A former rugby player, Fitzgerald once told a reporter he’d left plenty of blood on the field because “that was the whole point.” No one has ever doubted Fitzgerald, 47, plays for keeps.
Born into a working-class Brooklyn family, Fitzgerald’s father of worked as a doorman in Manhattan. The future scourge of corrupt politicians attended Amherst, and after earning a law degree from Harvard University practiced civil law before becoming an assistant U.S. attorney in New York in 1988. There, Fitzgerald made his reputation prosecuting terrorists like Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, the blind Egyptian cleric who sought to bomb city landmarks. He also tried four men accused of bombing the East African embassy.
As Fitzgerald was demonstrating his prosecutorial chops, a maverick Illinois senator named Peter Fitzgerald – no relation – was looking for a U.S. attorney who would clean up the state’s infamously twisted politics. According to The Washington Post, Sen. Fitzgerald called former FBI Director Louis Freeh and asked, “Who’s the best assistant U.S. attorney you know of in the country?”
Freeh didn’t hesitate: “Patrick Fitzgerald in the Southern District of New York.”
The senator then called the head of the New York office, asked the same question, and got the same answer: Patrick Fitzgerald.
That was when the senator recruited his namesake to be U.S. attorney in Chicago, and the rest is history — bitter history for those Fitzgerald has caught trying to scam the public.
Fitzgerald’s delicious gift for offending the rich and powerful on both sides of America’s partisan divide was never more evident than in the Valerie Plame Wilson case. On the one hand, Republicans were troubled that Fitzgerald decided to prosecute I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, the former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, for perjury charges that had little or nothing to do with the concerns that originally triggered the investigation — namely, that a Bush administration official may have broken the law by leaking the identity of Plame, a CIA operations officer, to columnist Robert Novak. Libby was convicted, but President Bush commuted his sentence in July 2007.
During his investigation, Fitzgerald also was targeted by the left and The New York Times, which pounded away at Fitzgerald in its editorial pages, stating that “in his zeal to compel reporters to disclose their sources, Mr. Fitzgerald lost sight of the bigger picture.”
Among Fitzgerald’s other high-profile prosecutions: The 2006 conviction of GOP Illinois Gov. George Ryan, for steering state contracts in return for payoffs.
Having survived repeated prosecutorial run-ins with powerful people bent on breaking the law, now the question is whether Fitzgerald will survive the transition that brings the once-junior senator of Illinois to the White House. Ousting Fitzgerald could raise serious questions about the sincerity of Obama’s commitment to do away with old-school politics.
In September, the former senator who recruited Fitzgerald warned his protégé’s days might well be numbered once Obama moves into 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
“My guess is if Senator Obama got elected, one of the first things that would happen is that they would remove Patrick Fitzgerald in Chicago,” the former senator told WIND’s John & Cisco In The Morning show. “And he’d have pressure to do so from all sorts of Daley administration people.”
Bill P. Marshall, a deputy counsel in Bill Clinton’s White House, tells Newsmax that it is rare for U.S. Attorneys to stay on after a shift in power.
Obama’s main task, Marshall says, is “returning some credibility to the Justice Department, but the point is if [Obama] keeps him on, that is the exception rather than the rule.”
Firing Fitzgerald could cause Obama more trouble than it’s worth. The nightmare scenario for Obama would be if the Blagojevich investigation evolves into a smoldering, enduring controversy along the lines of the Whitewater scandal, which dogged and distracted the presidency of former President Bill Clinton.
For now, that appears to most observers rather unlikely. But given the president-elect’s admission of what he described as “boneheaded” involvement in a real estate deal with top Blagojevich fund-raiser Tony Rezko, questions are likely to linger.
And then there is Illinois’ daunting reputation for political corruption.
Law professor James Lindgren, a Chicago-area law professor at Northwestern University, tells Newsmax: “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.”
Blagojevich trial juror names secret, Judge James Zagel opinion, Media conduct improper and abusive
“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
“I believe I’m more pristine on Rezko than him.”…Rod Blagojevich
From the Chicago Tribune March 1, 2011.
“A federal judge says he’ll keep the names of jurors at the upcoming retrial of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich secret until 9 a.m. the day after proceedings end – brushing aside arguments from media groups that there’s a public interest in releasing them sooner.
In a six-page opinion, Judge James Zagel cites some reporters repeatedly knocking on the doors of jurors’ homes just hours after Blagojevich’s first trial ended, as well as a TV station helicopter hovering over a house where another panelist was staying.
“The conduct of some media after the names were released was improper and, in some cases, abusive,” Zagel wrote in an opinion posted late Monday.
Among the remedies he could employ to ward off journalists after the retrial, Zagel wrote, was passing out “No Trespassing” signs to jurors to put up on their doors or in their yards.
At the retrial, set to start April 20, Blagojevich faces charges including that he tried to sell or trade an appointment to President Barack Obama’s vacated U.S. Senate seat. At the first trial, jurors deadlocked on all but one count, convicting Blagojevich of lying to the FBI. The former governor denies all wrongdoing.
The Chicago Tribune and other media groups had asked Zagel to release the jurors’ names immediately after the retrial ends. Their attorney, James Klenk, said Tuesday that he was disappointed in Zagel’s ruling, adding he hadn’t yet discussed the possibility of an appeal with his clients.
At a recent hearing on the issue, Zagel used unusually tough language to chastise reporters. Zagel said that as a consequence of what he described as “harassment” by reporters at the first trial, otherwise qualified potential jurors may be leery about serving at the second trial “because they fear an onslaught of a rapacious media.””
Blagojevich trial corruption, Justice Dept protects Obama, Rezko ties to Obama diminished
“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
“I believe I’m more pristine on Rezko than him.”…Rod Blagojevich
The dropping of counts 1,2 and 4 against Blagojevich by the prosecution was the latest move in a long series of maneuvers to protect Obama from being exposed for his long time ties to Tony Rezko and corruption in Chicago. Rezko was not called as a witness in the first Blagojevich trial and the odds are now higher that he will not be called as a witness in the second trial.
Reprinted from Citizen Wells July 21, 2010.
“The last thing Sen. Barack Obama and Gov. Rod Blagojevich needed was that letter written by convicted Illinois influence peddler Tony Rezko promising he’d never rat out his pals.”…John Kass, Chicago tribune
“Federal authorities have obtained an arrest warrant for Rezko, who is believed to be traveling abroad.”..Rezko indictment press release
“That was when U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve learned he had received a $3.5 million wire transfer from a business associate abroad.”…Rezko trial transcripts
Blagojevich trial
Protecting Obama
Part 5
Where is Tony Rezko?
What unholy alliance prevented Tony Rezko from being called as a prosecution witness? Was it a pact between Rezko, Blagojevich and Obama? Is the US Justice Department complicit in a coverup? Was there pressure from entities in the Middle East? Perhaps a combination of those forces. In Blagojevich’s own words.
Citizen Wells August 28, 2008
“As his sentencing nears, pressure is mounting on Tony Rezko to cooperate with federal investigations into some of the highest-profile politicians in the state — including Gov. Blagojevich.”
“Now, sources tell the Chicago Sun-Times that Rezko has been seen at the federal courthouse as many as a dozen times since his June conviction. He’s been held since then at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in downtown Chicago.”
“If Rezko’s cooperating, that would be a major development in “Operation Board Games,” the government’s ongoing probe into state boards that’s widened into a broader corruption probe.”
From the Chicago SunTimes October 9, 2008
“A federal judge this morning officially postponed the sentencing of political fund-raiser Tony Rezko as he continues his discussions with the government.
U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve indefinitely delayed Rezko’s Oct. 28 sentencing date and told the parties to meet again for a status in the case in December.
The sentencing, originally scheduled for Oct. 28, just before the election, was likely to bring unfavorable publicity to Rezko’s onetime friend Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama.
Prosecutors and Rezko lawyers said this morning they did not want to set a future date for sentencing.
Rezko lawyer William Ziegelmueller said they sought the delay to “work together to agree to otherwise narrow differences at sentencing.”
The agreement comes as Rezko is talking to federal prosecutors. The Sun-Times first reported Rezko’s meetings with the feds in August and sources close to the investigation later confirmed the talks last month.”
“Convicted businessman Tony Rezko — who is poised to become a crucial witness in the massive corruption case against ex-Gov. Blagojevich — was quietly moved out of a downtown jail and into another facility last month, the Sun-Times has learned.
Authorities seeking Rezko’s cooperation pushed for the move after Rezko complained about being held in the tough confines of solitary imprisonment, known as “the hole,” even as he was providing information to prosecutors, sources said.”
“Rezko’s relocation is a sign that even with thousands of taped conversations of the governor, investigators still highly value Rezko’s potential as a witness.”
“Rezko, who served as an adviser and fund-raiser to Blagojevich, provided authorities with substantial information involving the governor and bolstered pay-to-play testimony by former Illinois Finance Authority director Ali Ata, as well as talking about other alleged deals.”
“Why is Antoin “Tony” Rezko under lock and key at an undisclosed location, like some sort of CIA-renditioned al Qaeda operative? And why hasn’t he been sentenced yet?
As the June 3 corruption trial of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich for allegedly trying to sell Obama’s former Illinois Senate seat approaches, the whereabouts of the former Blago and Obama fundraiser is literally a state secret.”
“Rezko’s not listed on the federal Bureau of Prisons’ inmate locator, either.”
“Randall Samborn, spokesman for Fitzgerald, told The Examiner that Rezko “remains in federal custody,” although admitting that he didn’t know exactly where the convicted businessman was being held. Samborn also confirmed that “there is no sentencing date,” but would not elaborate. Sources in Chicago tell us that the long delay is “very unusual.””
“Is Rezko being held at another prison facility for his own safety? There are plenty of people in Chicago and Washington who might not want Rezko on the witness stand. They include:
Democratic Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias.
Rezko was such an enthusiastic customer of Giannoulias’ failing Broadway Bank that he wrote $450,000 in bad checks against his account to pay off gambling debts.
Alderman Eddie Burke
Rezko hired Burke’s law firm to get a 77 percent reduction in the real estate taxes of a 62-acre property along the Chicago River he planned to develop using $140 million in city subsidies. After assuring the Chicago Board of Ethics that he would abstain from any Council votes on Rezko’s project, Burke voted for it anyway, blaming his conflict of interest on “an error.” The project was later abandoned.
President Barack Obama
Rezko was the president’s “real estate fairy,” as one Chicago columnist likes to put it. Remember how they bought a house together in Chicago? Rezko was one of Obama’s earliest and biggest fundraisers and donors. Obama was one of his go-to guys for housing legislation in the Illinois state Senate.
If I were Tony Rezko, I’d be hiding, too.”
Read more:
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/where-in-the-world-is-tony-rezko-91619594.html
It is understandable why the Blagojevich defense team does not want Rezko on the stand. Judge Zagel’s comment about Rezko being a bad witness is at least horsecrap and reeks of conspiracy. Convicted felons of all categories are regularly used as witnesses. Stuart Levine, the key witness in the Rezko trial was not only enmeshed in corruption but was a long time drug user. Here are the approximate number of times that “Rezko” is mentioned in US Justice Department documents.
Indictment: 100 times.
Criminal complaint: 170 times.
Evidentiary Proffer: 288 times.
Even if a strong argument is made against using Rezko as a witness, and good luck with that argument, Stuart Levine was used extensively as a witness in the Rezko trial, and his name was mentioned approx. 146 times in the Blagojevich Criminal Complaint. And don’t forget, Blagojevich’s name was mentioned at least 30 times on one day of the Rezko trial.
Patrick Fitzgerald, I am damn angry and am speaking up about US Justice Department corruption.
The Chicago Tribune just reported this:
“”I felt all along and believed all along that I was going to testify,” he said. But he said the government case wasn’t as they presented it, without calling witnesses Antoin “Tony” Rezko and Stuart Levine, both convicted in the federal probe.”
I am not the only person coming to the no brainer conclusion that Rezko or Stuart Levine must be called to the witness stand. From Citizen Wells August 19, 2010.
““If I were a Blago juror …”
“If I were a juror, I’d wonder why we never heard from so many of the allegedly bad guys — Tony Rezko, Stuart Levine — mentioned by the prosecution.”
“As noted in part 5 of this series, Tony Rezko’s name was mentioned approximately 288 times in the Evidentiary Proffer. The above numbers reveal that of the evidence presented in the Proffer, 38 pages are loaded with names and corruption activities tied to Blagojevich from 2002 to mid 2008. And yet neither Tony Rezko or Stuart Levine were called as witnesses. And just as predicted and warned about here, the focus of the trial was the selling of Obama’s senate seat.””
“An expert on law has commented on Rezko and Levine being called as witnesses. Leonard Cavise is a DePaul University law professor.”
“But Leonard Cavise, a DePaul University professor, suggested the government will need to do more at the retrial, possibly leading to a longer presentation of evidence. He said he believes the government may try to avoid another deadlocked jury by using fundraiser Antoin “Tony” Rezko and political fixer Stuart Levine as witnesses.
Both men have agreed to cooperate, but prosecutors chose not to call them this summer in part because of the baggage both bring.
“If the prosecution insists on going forward, I have two words for them: Rezko and Levine,” Cavise said. “They know where all the bodies are buried.””
“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
“I believe I’m more pristine on Rezko than him.”…Rod Blagojevich
Regulars on this blog know that I have written about two aspects of Obama with zeal. The Orwellian efforts to hide Obama’s past and the Blagojevich trial and corruption and Obama’s ties to this corruption. What I am about to present will come as no surprise to you.
Prosecutors in the Blagojevich trial have dropped 3 counts from the indictment against him. That is approximately 15 %. That does not appear on the surface to be significant. However, counts 1 and 2 represent about half of the indictment and mention numerous Chicago corruption figures with ties to Obama. Get the picture?
From the Chicago Tribune February 24, 2011.
“Two racketeering charges and a wire fraud count against impeached Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich were dropped at a pretrial hearing on Thursday in Chicago — as prosecutors bid to strengthen their cases by simplifying ahead of a spring retrial.
Prosecutors’ initiative to dismiss the three counts and defense lawyers’ agreement at the status hearing cuts the number of charges Blagojevich will face at his corruption trial do-over to 20 from 23. The retrial is scheduled to start April 20.
Prosecutors took courtroom observers by surprise at a Wednesday hearing by telling U.S. District Judge James Zagel they wanted to toss the charges to streamline the case. They added that the allegations of wrongdoing in the dropped charges are duplicated in ones that remain.
The charges were formally dismissed after the defense, as expected, told Zagel on Thursday that they had no objections to the prosecution’s move to throw out counts 1, 2 and 4 from the original indictment, Blagojevich attorney Sheldon Sorosky explained after the hearing.”
“Blagojevich on Wednesday characterized the government’s move as good news.
But the federal attorneys clearly hope that scratching the more intricate, convoluted counts will boost their chances of winning convictions. At minimum, it will sharply cut down on the book-sized, 100-plus page instructions that jurors relied on as a guide during deliberations at the first trial.”
Most of you know by now that the US Justice Department is corrupt, as evidenced by recent whistleblowers, and that Obama and Eric Holder have no regard for the US Constitution. The manner in which the Blagojevich trial has played out, beginning with the delay of his arrest, the diversion of the selling of the senate seat, inept prosecution in the first trial and manipulation of charges, all are further proof of Obama’s usurpation and control of the Justice Dept.
Remember in 2008 I told you that Obama had to win the election to avoid prosecution.
More details to come.
Spread this far and wide including the House Judiciary Committee.
Blagojevich trial update, February 21, 2011, Attorneys request not playing wiretaps for jurors
“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
“I believe I’m more pristine on Rezko than him.”…Rod Blagojevich
From the Chicago tribune February 21, 2011.
“Attorneys for former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich asked a federal judge on Monday to bar prosecutors from playing any FBI wiretap recordings to jurors at his upcoming retrial, arguing that the evidence at the very heart of the government’s case is unreliable.
The motion argues that Judge James Zagel should throw out the hundreds of recordings of Blagojevich — made in the days before his Dec. 9, 2008, arrest — because many contain gaps where vital context needed to understand the taped conversations may be missing. The 54-year-old Blagojevich faces an April 20 retrial on 23 charges, including that he tried to sell or trade an appointment to President Barack Obama’s vacated U.S. Senate seat.
Monday’s motion cites the best-known secret recording of Blagojevich in which he is heard saying about the seat: “I’ve got this thing and it’s (bleepin’) golden. … I’m just not giving it up for (bleepin’) nothing.”
The motion claims three gaps totaling four minutes in that one call raise sufficient doubts, though the defense did not offer an alternative interpretation for what Blagojevich might have meant.
Federal agents secretly monitoring wiretapped phones are required to limit what they record to conversations pertinent to an investigation. That can lead them to frequently switch recording devices on and off, a process called “minimization.”
Blagojevich’s attorneys, however, argue that the “pattern of inconsistent and improper minimizations” in the hundreds of recordings in the investigation of the impeached governor justify tossing them all out as evidence.”
“In one motion filed last week, defense attorneys asked Zagel to lift a court-ordered seal on all evidence, including the hundreds of hours of wiretap recordings, arguing that the 2-year-old order barring the public release of evidence impairs Blagojevich’s lawyers more than prosecutors.
Monday’s motion says while defense attorneys don’t want jurors at the retrial to hear any of the recordings, they still want to be able to release them to the public.”
Anderson Cooper, Kapi’olani Hospital Obama birthplace?, Other misinformation from CNN
“Why has Obama, for over 2 years, employed numerous private and government attorneys to avoid presenting a legitimate birth certificate and college records?”…Citizen Wells and millions of concerned Americans
“Winston dialed “back numbers” on the telescreen and called
for the appropriate issues of the Times, which slid out of
the pneumatic tube after only a few minutes’ delay. The
messages he had received referred to articles or news items
which for one reason or another it was thought necessary to
alter, or, as the official phrase had it, to rectify. For
example, it appeared from the Times of the seventeenth of
March that Big Brother, in his speech of the previous day,
had predicted that the South Indian front would remain quiet
but that a Eurasian offensive would shortly be launched in
North Africa. As it happened, the Eurasian Higher Command
had launched its offensive in South India and left North
Africa alone. It was therefore necessary to rewrite a
paragraph of Big Brother’s speech in such a way as to make
him predict the thing that had actually happened.”…George Orwell, “1984”
I realize that not everyone who watches CNN is a far left mesmerized OBot. Many have been fooled for years into thinking that they are actually getting new, facts, the truth from CNN. Anderson Cooper proved once again several days ago that he and CNN are nothing more than a mouthpiece of Big Brother, Obama.
From Safeguard our Constitution.
“Anderson Cooper, in a recent interview with Texas State Representative Berman, said Obama was born at Hawaii’s Kapi’olani Hospital- can he explain why the hospital won’t verify Obama’s birth there?- and why a letter purportedly from Obama posted on Kapi’olani’s website- was quickly removed after a reporter’s inquiry?
If Obama was born at Kapi’olani Hospital, can Cooper explain why no ORIGINAL birth record- to include a hospital name and attending physician– has been released?
Why is Cooper content to rely on verbal assurances from an obscure bureaucrat in Hawaii- who claims to have “personally seen and verified” that there is an original birth certificate on record? (is he thus admitting that the Certification of Live Birth which he repeatedly confuses with an original birth certificate- is NOT the original birth record)?
Does Cooper believe it is acceptable that the sole arbiter of the President’s Constitutional eligibility under Article II, Section 1, is one Hawaiian bureaucrat- who says “trust me”?
If there is an original birth record on file– why can’t the American public see this document?– why can’t TX Rep Berman have a copy of this 1961 original birth record?”
Here is a good example from Anderson Cooper’s blog of an uninformed American. This person may want the truth. They won’t get it there.
“Nina November 29th, 2010 10:08 pm ET
All Federal government employees MUST have a complete security background investigation according to their “clearance” by the FBI especially if they are in the position of “Commander and Chief”.”
The truth. Philip J. Berg’s assistant provided this information.
“We have received a lot of question asking “How did Obama get this far, he must have had background checks as he is a U.S. Senator.”
However, this is inaccurate according to Special Agent-in-Charge: C. Frank Figliuzzi of the Cleveland FBI. Background checks are not performed on those elected, once elected they work for Congress and are handed a secret clearance. See below:
This is a conversation between the Special Agent-in-Charge: C. Frank Figliuzzi of the Cleveland FBI and Mike Trivisonno on the Mike Trivisonno Show, WTAM 1100, 7/02/08, Hr. 2.
Caller – Do they perform background checks on candidates and fellows who are in Congress and the Senate and perhaps potential presidential candidates?.
FBI – The short answer is no, no we don’t, but they’re given top secret clearances because they’re members of Congress, or Senators, or even higher ranking officials.
Host – Time out. There are no background checks from the FBI on the people that lead the country, the United States of America?.
FBI – Let me emphasize, elected officials. This is a democracy, the people have elected an official to represent them in Washington, and we do not routinely run background checks on those people.
Host – Even people running for president of the United States of America?.
FBI – That’s correct.
Host – That’s a little weird
FBI – Well, its part of democracy, its part of what the American people want, they want to be able to vote for somebody to represent them in Washington and they don’t want us to get in the way of that and we have no predilection to get in the way of that.
Host – Yeah, but what if they’re voting for a bad person and they don’t know that person is bad, do you follow me?. I’m saying, if the guy’s got a background and maybe he’s involved with some people that he shouldn’t be involved with, shouldn’t we know that as voters?.
FBI – Well, I think you’d agree that the American political process is about as rigorous as you’ll ever see and if there’s dirt back there, probably the opponent is gonna get it out probably before anyone else will.
Host – Now I know why you’re the head of the FBI, they’re good, aren’t they?.””
Blagojevich trial, Retrial hearing, October 22, 2010
The Chicago Tribune reports.
“Prosecutors and defense attorneys are scheduled to appear in federal court as the sides prepare for retrial in the corruption case against ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
Friday’s status hearing comes a week after prosecutors filed a response to defense claims that multiple legal errors led to Blagojevich’s conviction for lying to the FBI.
The government countered that it was overwhelming evidence that led to the conviction in the first trial and that allegations of prosecutorial misconduct are baseless.”
“”If we cant use the power of persuasion, we will use the persuasion of power. Workers of the world unite,” Andy Stern, SEIU
The SEIU union boss Andy Stern is reportedly linked to a federal corruption investigation initiated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Stern is known to regularly visited the White House and participated in so-called “closed-door Obamacare meetings” with the President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Stern, who sits on President Obama’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, is the target of an FBI probe focusing on his crooked dealings as head of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), according to a Washington, D.C. watchdog group.
Stern and Obama have long been good friends and last year the veteran Big Labor leader was the most frequent White House visitor, according to recently disclosed records obtained by Judicial Watch, a public-interest group that investigates political corruption.
In addition, Stern’s union members have a reputation for being the Democrat Party’s “Brown Shirts” by providing muscle in the left’s continued attack on Tea Party participants.
Stern is considered a key figure in secret Obamacare meetings, which violated the president’s own campaign promise of televising all healthcare discussions on C-Span. None of these meetings were televised and in fact it took a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) case to get a release of visitor records from the White House.
Health Department records obtained by Judicial Watch through a FOIA lawsuit reveal that Stern attended the covert pow-wows to take over the nation’s healthcare system along with other liberal-left union leaders, Vice President Joe Biden, Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, among others.
So far the president has refused to comment on his pal’s corruption probe, which centers on a six-figure book contract and a shady “confidential” deal he approved for a California SEIU leader (Alejandro Stephens) sentenced to prison a few weeks ago for fraud.
Under the secret agreement Sterns gave Stephens, who headed the Los Angeles SEIU local for county government workers, $150,000 for “consulting” work that was never performed, according to a Los Angeles Times report.”
Citizen WElls 