Blagojevich Second Trial, Spy Wednesday, April 20, 2011, Holy Week Catholic faith
“Why did the Illinois Senate Health & Human Services Committee, with Obama as chairman, create and push Bill 1332, “Illinois Health Facilities Planning Act,” early in 2003, which reduced the number of members on the Board from 15 to 9, just prior to rigging by Tony Rezko and Rod Blagojevich?”…Citizen Wells
“Why did Patrick Fitzgerald and the US Justice Department prosecute Tony Rezko first and wait until after the 2008 election to arrest Rod Blagojevich?”…Citizen Wells
“I believe I’m more pristine on Rezko than him.”…Rod Blagojevich
From HuffPost Chicago March 28, 2011.
“Why is the second trial of former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich commencing on “Spy Wednesday”? This is not tongue-in-cheek. It’s true. “Spy Wednesday” this year falls on April 20th, the start date for the federal government’s second chance to throw the book at Blagojevich.
How did this happen? Was this date an accidental pick? Or on purpose? Who chose the date? Who knows? Maybe it was just the luck of the draw.
During Holy Week in the Catholic faith, “Spy Wednesday” is traditionally the day before Holy Thursday or Maundy Thursday, the day of commemoration of the Last Supper and when Jesus washed the Apostles’ feet.
In contrast with the Last Supper, “Spy Wednesday” is not exactly a holy day. It is a day that is notorious. It’s the day when Apostle Judas Iscariot offered to turn Jesus over to the Chief Priests of the Sanhedrin in exchange for thirty pieces of silver. It is a day of betrayal, of loyalty lost, of selling out.
But then again, maybe it is the perfect day to start this do-over. For those who view Blagojevich as an elected official who betrayed the public’s trust. A sellout. Versus those who see him as just another Chicago pol engaged in mere horse trading, spied upon by an overzealous federal prosecutor through the surreptitious taping of his phone conversations, the entirety of which have yet to be made public. You’ll recall Blago’s defense has been that the snippets released so far have been taken out of context, and if Judge James Zagel were to allow the entire conversations to be released, the tapes would exonerate him, not convict him.
Whatever happens, the public won’t get to see it. Again. Except for a lucky three dozen or so each day if the courtroom is the same small, crowded one used this summer. Over half the seats go to reporters. What’s left, the public gets to scramble for.
Yet with 40-some reporters there, don’t think you can see this trial at home or at the office on your laptop, television, cable or satellite. With the plethora of channels out there and the ever expanding means of communication, you would think someone could see this somewhere. Yet video isn’t allowed. No, sir. Not in federal courtrooms, thank you. Not even in the overflow courtroom which gets an audio feed but no faces to scrutinize, no expressions to read.”
“A real trial with real witnesses like Tony Rezko or Stuart Levine with real questions would be refreshing. Too bad they dropped counts 1, 2 & 4 which tie Obama to the corruption.”
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.”
Obama protected by corrupt Justice Dept, Reasons arrest and trial delayed, Justice Department document word smithing
“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
As I sift through records and articles preparing for my case against the US Justice Dept., I come across many items that are being downplayed, underreported and left to fade away into the past. One such article reveals another reason why the Blagojevich arrest and trials have been delayed and why the Justice Dept. has altered or ommitted segments from their legal documents in order to protect Obama. One such damning piece of evidence is presented here again, from Citizen Wells, April 23, 2010.
Yesterday we learned of the Blagojevich defense team filing a motion to subpoena Barack Obama for the Rod Blagojevich trial. Later in the day we discovered that redacted segments of the motion had been made available. There is some interesting material that was redacted. The part that caught my eye was references to Obama andRezko discussions that Obama has denied.
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.
“No, I have never been asked to do anything to advance his business interest. In 1999, when I was a State Senator, I opposed legislation to bring a
casino to Rosemont and allow casino gambling at docked riverboats which news reports said Al Johnson and Tony Rezko were interested in being part of. I never discussed a casino license with either of them. I was a vocal opponent of the legislation.”
Obama’s involvement with Tony Rezko and this legislation coincides with the three paragraph summary the government has provided to the defense referenced above.
“Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama’s name came up again at the Antoin “Tony” Rezko corruption trial Monday.”
“Here’s the back story. Rezko, of course, was a longtime political fundraiser for both Obama and Blagojevich, though the corruption charges Rezko is now facing involve his role as an influential adviser to the governor. Prosecution star witness Stuart Levine testified that he attended a party in Rezko’s Wilmette house in April 2004 for Nadhmi Auchi, a controversial British billionaire.
Rezko was trolling for investment capital for a South Loop development, and the party was part of his campaign to get Auchi to invest. Levine said guests at the party included Obama and his wife.”
From the Blagojevich trial proffer recently released by judge James Zagel.
“Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board Kickback
The Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board (the “Planning Board”) is a commission of the
State of Illinois, established by statute, whose members are appointed by the Governor of the State
of Illinois. During the relevant time period, the Planning Board consisted of nine individuals. State
law required an entity seeking to build a hospital, medical office building, or other medical facility
in Illinois to obtain a permit, known as a “Certificate of Need” (“CON”), from the Planning Board
prior to beginning construction.
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 and Levine subsequently agreed to use their
influence over the Planning Board to obtain a kickback of at least $1 million from a contractor,
Jacob Kiferbaum, who wanted the Planning Board to award Mercy Hospital a CON to build a new
hospital. Rezko and Levine were able to arrange for Mercy Hospital to receive its CON at the April
2004 Planning Board meeting, but their scheme was interrupted by the FBI before any kickback was
paid
Control over the Planning Board
Levine was on the Planning Board when Blagojevich became governor, but his term was due
to expire in 2003. Levine sent a message to the Blagojevich administration through Cellini that he
wanted to be re-appointed. Levine later heard from both Kelly and Cellini that he would be reappointed,
and Levine was re-appointed to the Planning Board in the Fall of 2003.
After Levine was reappointed, he shared a private plane ride from New York to Chicago with
Blagojevich and Kelly. Levine, Blagojevich, and Kelly were the only passengers on the flight. At
the beginning of the flight, Levine thanked Blagojevich for reappointing him to the Planning Board.
Blagojevich responded (in Kelly’s presence) that Levine should only talk with “Tony” [Rezko] or
“Chris” [Kelly] about the board, “but you stick with us and you will do very well for yourself.”
Levine understood from Blagojevich’s manner of speaking and words that Blagojevich did not want
Levine to talk to Blagojevich directly about anything to do with the boards, but that Levine should
talk to Rezko or Kelly. Levine also understood that Blagojevich meant that Levine could make a
lot of money working with Blagojevich’s administration. Blagojevich did not seem to expect a
response from Levine, and Kelly then shifted the conversation to something else.
Around the time that Levine was reappointed, Rezko told Levine that he expected to control
the Planning Board. Rezko said that he had discussed the makeup of the Planning Board with
Thomas Beck, who was the Chairman of the Planning Board. Before one of the Planning Board
meetings, Beck talked to Levine about how there were five members of the Planning Board who
were Rezko’s people, including Levine and Beck. The other three individuals who would vote as
Rezko wished were Fortune Massuda, Imad Almanaseer, and Michel Malek. Documents and
testimony from individuals in Illinois state government who helped select candidates for boards and
commissions positions, including the Planning Board, confirm that Rezko was the individual
responsible for selecting those five individuals to be appointed to the Planning Board. Since it took
five votes to approve any CON, Rezko’s people effectively controlled what the Planning Board did.
Beck typically indicated to Levine and the other three members of Rezko’s voting bloc the items on
the Planning Board agenda that Rezko cared about and how Rezko wanted them to vote.”
Duffy mentions Levine’s close political ties to the late Mayor Harold Washington, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill), former Gov. Jim Edgar and U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Chicago) as examples of how connected Levine was.”
March 10, 2008
“Ziegelmueller asked Hayden about a 2003 e-mail exchange with Lichtenstein, then the governor’s top lawyer, in which Wilhelm made recommendations for the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board.
The name of Barack Obama, the Democratic front-runner for the presidential nomination, also appears in the e-mail as a member of a strategic team reviewing hospital board matters with the governor’s staff when he was a state senator. The hospital board was scheduled to be revamped in the summer of 2003.
Obama was then chairman of the Senate Committee on Health & Human Services. Other legislative leaders, including Madigan, were part of that review panel as well, according to the e-mail.”
March 12, 2008
“Fast forward to July 15, 2003, when Gov. Rod Blagojevich was revamping the hospital board on which Beck held a seat for several years. Beck said he wanted to stay on the panel so he called on Rezko at his North Side office. He came armed with a $1,000 check for Blagojevich’s campaign fund. Beck said he asked Rezko to put in a good word for him and Rezko said he would see what he could do.
A few weeks later, Beck said Rezko called him with the good news that he would be reappointed to the board along with Stuart Levine and another holdover member. Rezko also said three doctor friends of his were going to be put on the revamped panel by Blagojevich, Beck testified.”
“Key to the government case are dozens of recorded wiretap conversations on three phone lines into the home of Stuart Levine, the former member of two state boards whom prosecutors say worked with Antoin “Tony” Rezko to rig decisions of those panels.
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.”
Just as Rod Blagojevich’s involvement in Chicago, IL corruption was revealed during the Tony Rezko trial, Obama’s involvement should be revealed in the Blagojevich trial.
Reported here (and much earlier), April 1, 2010.
“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,“ according to the February 10, 2008 Sun-Times.
During his March 14, 2008 interview, the Times told Obama, Thomas is an FBI mole and he “recently told us that he saw you coming and going from Rezko’s office a lot.”
“And three other sources told us that you and Rezko spoke on the phone daily.””
“The rigging of the IL Health Planning Facilities Board is a major charge in the indictments of Rod Blagojevich, Tony Rezko, Stuart Levine, Robert Weinstein and others tied to Barack Obama.”
“In or about the spring of 2004, REZKO and LEVINE agreed that LEVINE, whose term on the TRS Board was due to expire in May 2004, needed to be reappointed to the TRS Board and that additional TRS Board members needed to be appointed who would cooperate with REZKO and LEVINE.”
“Obama was chairman of the Senate Health & Human Services Committee in January 2003.”
“A review of senate records from January 2003 to August 2003, shows Obama played a major role as chairman of that committee, in pushing through Senate Bill 1332, that led to the “Illinois Health Facilities Planning Act,” which reduced the number of members on the Board from 15 to 9, making the votes much easier to rig.”
“The bill was filed with the senate secretary on February 20, 2003, and assigned to Human Services Committee for review on February 27. Less than a month later, as chairman, Obama sent word that the bill should be passed on March 13, 2003.”
“On May 31, 2003, the House and Senate passed the bill and the only senator listed in the “yes” votes mentioned in the Board Games indictments is Obama.
Blagojevich made the effective date June 27, 2003, and the co-schemers already had the people lined up to stack the Board and rig the votes with full approval from Obama.”
“So far, Blagojevich, reelected in 2006, is more deeply enmeshed in the scandal than Obama, who’s not been implicated in any wrongdoing.
But all three operated in the murky world of Illinois Democratic politics, where money, family relationships and long business associations provide the invisible glue of the local political world.”
“Using Federal Election Commission and Illinois state records, The Times’ Dan Morain compared donors on the FBI spreadsheet to Obama’s contributors. Guess what.
Sen. Obama received $222,000 during the same 2001-2004 period from Rezko-related Blagojevich donors.”
“At the relevant time period, the Planning Board consisted of nine individuals.”
“Ata made a $5,000 donation to Obama less than a month earlier on June 30, 2003. Ata is also an investor in Riverside Park. Almost without fail, the people identified in the Board Games cases as investors in Riverside Park contributed to Obama’s US senate campaign.”
“In addition, the contributions extorted through the Planning Board scheme were for the intended presidential candidate, Blagojevich. Obama’s US senate war chest was already funded and by the time these kickbacks were paid that campaign would be over.
But Obama did end up with $20,000 from the very first kickback paid in the pension fund scheme set up through the Board of the Teacher’s Retirement System.
Elie Maloof and Joseph Aramanda, the straw donors used to funnel the contributions to Obama, also made $1,000 contributions of their own for his failed run for Congress in 2000, on the same day March 17, 2000.
In addition, Aramanda gave $500 to Obama’s senate campaign on June 30, 2003. In the summer of 2005, Aramanda’s teenage son landed a coveted intern position in Obama’s senate office in Washington.
Obama also received contributions directly from the persons appointed to the pension board for the express purpose of rigging the votes. On June 30, 2003, appointee, Jack Carriglio contributed $1,000.
The other appointee, Anthony Abboud, donated $500 to Obama on June 30, 2003, $250 on March 5, 2004, and $1,000 on June 25, 2004.
Michael Winter, who prosecutors say agreed to serve as a funnel for kickbacks paid through an investment firm in one scheme donated $3,000 to Obama on June 30, 2003.”
Will the mainstream media, including Fox News, cover the real corruption in Chicago and Illinois that Blagojevich and Obama were enmeshed in? Spread the word via your friends and email contacts. Demand that Fox and anyone who will listen report the facts.
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.
Bamani Obadele sentenced, Blagojevich appointment, Obama connection, More Chicago corruption cronies
“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
From the Chicago Tribune February 17, 2011.
“A former deputy director at the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services — who was appointed by then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich — was sentenced to six months in prison Thursday for steering DCFS funds to companies in which he had a stake and then pocketing much of the money.
Bamani Obadele had become friends with Blagojevich more than 20 years ago after the two met when Obadele was a teen who shined shoes. His appointment to head up the state agency’s external affairs was controversial.
Obadele, 38, a South Side preacher with five children, apologized for his misconduct and sought mercy, pointing out he was now also the caretaker for two sons of a brother who recently died.
U.S. District Judge Charles Kocoras sentenced Obadele to six months in prison followed by an additional six months confined to his home, though he would be free to leave his home for work and a limited number of other reasons. The judge said he felt compelled to send a message that “the law is deserving of respect.” Obadele faced up to almost two years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines. His lawyers sought probation.
Obadele pleaded guilty in October to one count of mail fraud for directing DCFS contractors to buy promotional items — including magnets, yo-yos and tote bags for public functions sponsored by DCFS — from a company he secretly owned. He also admitted steering DCFS vendors into contracts with another organization in which he had a financial interest.”
“Mr. Obama worked 20 years ago as a community organizer in the Altgeld Gardens public housing development on Chicago’s South Side. There, Bamani Obadele, who runs a youth program in Roseland, and Cheryl Johnson, who runs an environmental justice organization at the sprawling development, recently discussed Mr. Obama and the We Count event.
Mr. Obadele said Mr. Obama attended several antiviolence rallies that Mr. Obadele organized in the Robert Taylor Homes public housing development in the 1990s.
“He helped me carry a casket through the streets,” Mr. Obadele said, referring to an antiviolence mock funeral. “He absolutely understands the struggle of black folks. But he’s not the same Barack I knew. The Barack I knew wouldn’t bail out the banks and let the people go hungry. I think his advisers are giving him bad advice.””
Blagojevich defense motion requests releasing all evidence, All wiretaps, Prominent public figures recorded
“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
We apparently have only had access to about 2 percent of the wiretap evidence in the Blagojevich trial. In one of the wiretaps Blagojevich reveals the truth about Obama and Rezko.
All of the wiretap evidence should be released and put before the public. That is just what the Blagojevich defense is requesting.
From the Chicago Tribune February 17, 2011.
“Attorneys for impeached Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich continued their barrage of pretrial motions with a new one Thursday that asks a federal judge to lift a court-ordered seal on all evidence, including hundreds of hours of secret FBI wiretap recordings.
The seven-page motion filed at the U.S. District Court in Chicago early Thursday — two months before Blagojevich’s corruption retrial is slated to start — argues the two-year-old order barring the public release of evidence impairs Blagojevich lawyers’ more than prosecutors.
“It is a fundamentally unfair playing field,” the motion says.
Blagojevich, 54, 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. He’s also accused of trying to shake down donors for campaign cash. At his first trial, jurors deadlocked on all but one count of lying to the FBI.
Of hundreds wiretap recordings, only a small percentage were played at the first trial. The rest are barred from release by the seal order, including recordings of conversations between Blagojevich or his aides with prominent public figures not accused of any wrongdoing in the case.
Thursday’s filing also accuses the government of selectively releasing out-of-context excerpts before the first trial that “poisoned the jury pool,” arguing that the seal — called a protective order — makes it impossible for the defense to respond.
“The protective order has only served to permit the government to present half-truths and distortions and has handicapped Blagojevich’s ability to fight back against false government allegations and set the record straight,” the motion says.
In the most notorious wiretap outtake released by prosecutors before the first trial, Blagojevich is heard saying about Obama’s vacated seat: “I’ve got this thing and it’s (bleepin’) golden. . . . I’m just not giving it up for (bleepin’) nothing.”
U.S. Attorney’s office spokeswoman Kim Nerheim declined any comment on Thursday’s motion.
One justification for the seal on evidence, the motion says, was the possibility that making the evidence public could interfere with other pending prosecutions. But the motion says it understands the investigation in the case has essentially ended.
The latest motion is the third within two weeks. Presiding Judge James Zagel had set Feb. 15 as a deadline to file all pretrial motions, but the defense this week asked for another few days. The next status hearing is Feb. 22, during which Zagel could accept or reject those motions.
Thursday’s filing says prosecutors played just 2 percent of “thousands” of recordings at Blagojevich’s first trial. It argues that prosecutors should now have no interest in keeping all the tapes under wraps.”
Citizen WElls 