Category Archives: Illinois

Blagojevich prosecution delayed, US Justice Department Patrick Fitzgerald conspiracy, Tony Rezko fall guy, Rezko attorneys contact me

Posted on November 13, 2011 | 32 comments

Blagojevich prosecution delayed, US Justice Department Patrick Fitzgerald conspiracy, Tony Rezko fall guy, Rezko attorneys contact me

“The citizens of Illinois deserve public officials who act solely in the public’s interest, without putting a price tag on government appointments, contracts and decisions.”…Patrick Fitzgerald

“I was not going to wait until March or April or May to get it all nice and tidy”  “I think that would be irresponsible.””…Patrick Fitzgerald

“Governor Blagojevich has been arrested in the middle of what we can only describe as a political corruption crime spree. We acted to stop that crime spree.”…Patrick Fitzgerald

“I just think it’s very, very disturbing that we have these pay-to-play allegations going on for years.”…Patrick Fitzgerald

Tony Rezko, Rod Blagojevich and other Chicago corruption figures are scheduled for sentencing in a few days. The US Justice Department knew about corruption in the administration of Governor Blagojevich by at least the latter part of 2003. Here is what we know from US Justice Department and court records and media reports.

2002

From the Blagojevich arrest press release.

Pay-to-Play Schemes

“The charges include historical allegations that Blagojevich and Harris schemed with others – including previously convicted defendants Antoin Rezko, Stuart Levine, Ali Ata and others – since becoming governor in 2002 to obtain and attempt to obtain financial benefits for himself, his family and third parties, including his campaign committee, Friends of Blagojevich, in exchange for appointments to state boards and commissions, state employment, state contracts and access to state funds.”

2003

From the Washington Post December 22, 2008.

The wide-ranging public corruption probe that led to the arrest of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich got its first big break when a grandmother of six walked into a breakfast meeting with shakedown artists wearing an FBI wire.
Pamela Meyer Davis had been trying to win approval from a state health planning board for an expansion of Edward Hospital, the facility she runs in a Chicago suburb, but she realized that the only way to prevail was to retain a politically connected construction company and a specific investment house. Instead of succumbing to those demands, she went to the FBI and U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald in late 2003 and agreed to secretly record conversations about the project.

Her tapes led investigators down a twisted path of corruption that over five years has ensnared a collection of behind-the-scenes figures in Illinois government, including Joseph Cari Jr., a former Democratic National Committee member, and disgraced businessman Antoin “Tony” Rezko.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/21/AR2008122102334.html?wpisrc=newsletter

2004

  • March – May 2004: FBI chart presented to the Rezko Trial 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
  • June 7, 2004: Stuart Levine, a longtime Republican reappointed to the powerful Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board, abruptly resigns on the eve of several important hospital expansion votes. The revelation is the first indication that the Blagojevich administration is under federal criminal investigation.
  • June 27, 2004: The Chicago Tribune discloses that an official for one hospital seeking permission to expand was wearing a federal bug during meetings in an effort to expose extortion attempts by Levine and others for contributions to Blagojevich.
  • July 2, 2004: Levine resigns from his seat on the board of the state Teachers’ Retirement System. It remains undisclosed that federal authorities had secretly taped Levine’s conversations.

Why wasn’t Rod Blagojevich indicted in 2005?

  • May 9, 2005: Levine is indicted on corruption charges. Federal subpoenas are issued to numerous administration sources, including top Blagojevich fundraiser Antoin “Tony” Rezko.
  • May 20, 2005: The governor’s office acknowledges to the Tribune that Rezko has an ongoing eight-year professional relationship with Patricia Blagojevich’s home-based real estate brokerage, River Realty Inc.
  • September 15, 2005: Prominent Democratic fundraiser Joseph Cari and a former lawyer for the state’s teacher’s pension board pleads guilty in an extortion scheme that steered state pension business to favored companies in exchange for campaign contributions to a high-ranking public official described in court documents only as “Public official A.”
  • October 25, 2005: The Tribune discloses a federal grand jury investigation into the alleged political hiring practices of the Blagojevich administration, including the governor’s top hiring aide, Joseph Cini.

Or

2006

  • August 5, 2006: The Chicago Tribune reports that Stuart Levine is cooperating with the federal investigation of state government.
  • October 11, 2006: Stuart Levine pleads guilty. Levine is cooperating with the government. Patrick Fitzgerald: “This indictment describes a frenzy of corrupt scheming, particularly in April and May 2004, in which political insiders sought to manipulate the activities of two state boards to fleece investment firms and individuals. The defendants and their associates put the word out loud and clear: you have to pay to play in Illinois.”  http://www.justice.gov/usao/iln/pr/chicago/2006/pr1011_01.pdf

Or

2007

  • January 16, 2007:”Judicial Watch filed an open records lawsuit against the office of Governor Rod Blagojevich (D-IL), who is under federal investigation on several fronts, including corrupt hiring practices. Judicial Watch’s lawsuit, filed on January 16, 2007 in the Cook County, Illinois Circuit Court, specifically seeks, among other documents, any and all grand jury subpoenas received by the Governor’s office or any state agencies under the Governor’s control. The subpoenas reportedly were issued by U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald’s office.Governor Blagojevich’s office refuses to release the subpoenas, claiming they are exempt from public disclosure. In a letter to Judicial Watch dated December 7, 2006, Allison Benway, Legal Counsel for Governor Blagojevich stated, “This Office cannot confirm or deny the existence of the documents requested, and even if this Office were to have documents responsive to your request, such documents would be exempt from release…””  http://www.judicialwatch.org/blagojevich
  •  March 9, 2007: Anita Mahajan, with business ties to Patti Blagojevich, received six felony charges.
  • December 13, 2007: Blagojevich fundraiser Christopher Kelly is indicted on federal tax evasion charges.

Or prosecuted in spring of 2008 instead of Tony Rezko.

Rod Blagojevich was governor of Illinois and had been monitored since late 2003. Tony Rezko was a businessman and never called as a witness.

Despite the doubletalk coming from Patrick Fitzgerald about protecting the citizens of Illinois, Blagojevich was arrested after the 2008 election in December.

Patrick Fitzgerald’s own words are damning.

“I was not going to wait until March or April or May to get it all nice and tidy”  “I think that would be irresponsible.””

“Governor Blagojevich has been arrested in the middle of what we can only describe as a political corruption crime spree. We acted to stop that crime spree.”.

“I just think it’s very, very disturbing that we have these pay-to-play allegations going on for years.”

And perhaps one more.

“We make no allegations that Obama was aware of any alleged scheming by Blagojevich.”

Rezko attorneys, contact me.

32 Comments

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

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Cellini trial juror two felony convictions?, May overturn verdict, Woman juror with crack cocaine conviction

Posted on November 11, 2011 | 138 comments

Cellini trial juror two felony convictions?, May overturn verdict, Woman juror with crack cocaine conviction

From the Chicago Tribune November 11, 2011.

“Juror in Cellini trial appears to have hidden two felony convictions, Tribune finds”

“Court officials acknowledged Thursday that information revealed by the Tribune appears to show that a member of the federal jury that convicted Springfield power broker William Cellini concealed two felony convictions.

Attorneys for Cellini said the information may be used in seeking to overturn last week’s verdict.

Cook County court records show that a woman with the same name, age and address as the juror pleaded guilty to a felony charge of crack-cocaine possession in February 2000 and was sentenced to 1 1/2 years of probation. In August 2008, she pleaded guilty to aggravated driving under the influence without a driver’s license, also a felony, and was sentenced to probation and time served — 44 days in jail, according to the records.

The juror never disclosed she had a conviction on a questionnaire filled out by jurors or under questioning by the judge in the courtroom during jury selection early last month, court officials acknowledged Thursday night after the Tribune came forward with the information.

Federal law generally disqualifies convicted felons from serving on juries.

At her South Side apartment Thursday morning, the female juror invited a Tribune reporter into the building lobby, confirmed she was a juror in the Cellini trial but then declined to answer questions about a criminal background.

The Tribune’s disclosures shocked Cellini’s lawyers. Dan Webb, one of his attorneys, said he could seek to overturn the conviction based on her taking part in the verdict.

“I consider this very important information that I was not aware of,” Webb said. “I don’t know the facts here, but based on what the Tribune has reported to me, we are looking into the matter to determine if we have a basis to file a motion for a mistrial because a juror may have been allowed to serve on this jury who was legally disqualified from jury service.”

Randall Samborn, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago, declined to comment on the development.

The jury deliberated a little more than two days before convicting Cellini, 77, a key behind-the-scenes player in state government and politics for four decades, on Nov. 1 in the extortion attempt of a Hollywood producer. The charges grew out of the federal probe that snared former Gov. Rod Blagojevich and several of his top advisers.”

“In the narcotics case, the woman was arrested by Chicago police in possession of a plastic bag with 10 rocks of crack cocaine, less than a gram, according to court records.

In July 2008, she was stopped by Chicago police while driving through a sobriety checkpoint on the South Side. Police reported that she had bloodshot, glassy eyes and smelled of alcohol.

She told police she’d been at a party and had some liquor but “felt fine,” according to a police report, but she failed field sobriety tests and recorded a 0.122 percent on a Breathalyzer at the station, well above the legal limit of 0.08, according to court records. When police checked her record, they discovered she had never had a valid driver’s license.

That woman satisfactorily completed the probation sentence in September 2010, the records show.”

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-cellini-jury-20111111,0,7632249,full.story

If there is a retrial, does this mean that Stuart Levine will not be used as a witness due to his long time drug abuse?

And be replaced by Tony Rezko, who knows more and is not tainted by drug use?

138 Comments

Posted in Attorneys, Chicago, Chicago Tribune, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, corruption, FBI, Federal Court, Illinois, Judges, Jury, Lawyers, Lies, News, Pay to play politics, William Cellini

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Obama accusers Larry Sinclair et al, Politico bias, Unsubstantiated allegations, Ben Smith, Herman Cain vs Obama

Posted on November 10, 2011 | 9 comments

Obama accusers Larry Sinclair et al, Politico bias, Unsubstantiated allegations, Ben Smith, Herman Cain vs Obama

From World Net Daily November 09, 2011.

“Can we now talk about Obama’s accusers?”

“”Politico isn’t reprinting Sinclair’s allegations because they are unsubstantiated.” So wrote Ben Smith of Politico on June 18, 2008.

Those were the days!

Smith was referring to Larry Sinclair, who had enraged the Obama faithful by renting space at the National Press Club, there to share his allegations of a drug-fueled sex tryst with Barack Obama in 1999.

Smith, however, was not at all shy about sharing what he knew about Larry Sinclair. Indeed, by the end of the Politico article, the reader knew more about Sinclair, all of it unsavory and most of it likely true, than he did about Obama.

That much said, when Sinclair made his own case at the National Press Club – unfiltered by attorneys and unaccompanied by Gloria Allred – he did so in exquisite and oddly believable detail.

Sinclair claimed to have fellated Obama twice during their two-day encounter, but he said it as matter-of-factly if he had shaken his hand or slapped his back.

The accusation Sinclair had come to make had to do not with sex but with drugs. According to Sinclair, he and the then-state senator shared a few lines of cocaine before Obama procured some crack for the two to smoke. As Sinclair related, Obama’s claim that he had not done drugs since college was a lie.

When the Obama camp first became aware of Sinclair’s accusations in 2007, an Obama liaison, “Mr. Young,” reportedly contacted Sinclair to tease out the story.

Through numerous calls and text messages, Young let it be known that he himself was intimately involved with Obama. After some back and forth, at least according to Sinclair, Young finally told Sinclair that Obama did not intend to be any more forthcoming about his drug use.

Allegedly, Sinclair and Young last communicated in early December 2007. A few weeks later, according to the police report, Donald Young, the openly gay choirmaster of Obama’s church, was found dead at his “residence” of “multiple gunshot wounds.”

According to an earlier police report, on Nov. 17, 2007, Larry Bland, another allegedly gay member of the Trinity United Church, was also found dead in his “home” of “multiple gunshot wounds.”

At the press conference, Sinclair made no accusations. He simply shared the phone numbers he had for Young and Obama and asked the reporters to check their records against his own during the relevant time periods. They seemed disinclined.

In the Q & A, the first reporter asked why Sinclair had not come forward in 1999. To the reporter, this failure apparently undermined Sinclair’s “credibility.”

Sinclair chuckled, as he should have, at the question’s absurdity. What sense would it have made for him to rat out a lowly state senator on a drug and sex escapade he himself had initiated?

Sinclair had come forward in 2007 and done his first YouTube video in January 2008. At the time, Hillary Clinton would have been the obvious beneficiary. That did not stop the second reporter from asking whether Sinclair was being funded by the Republican Party. Sinclair laughed this one off, too.

Despite his best efforts and an occasional piece in the Globe, Sinclair’s story reached its high water mark on that bizarre June day at the National Press Club.

His name remains as foreign to Obama fans as Juanita Broaddrick was to Bill Clinton’s. The Democrats who rush to the Internet each day to find new allegations about Herman Cain sleep safely knowing that their man has nothing to fear from an inquiring media.”

“Unlike Cain, Obama has not had a single charge leveled against him by a woman. For Obama fans concerned about re-election, this is a mixed blessing.

“Cosby never got the girl on ‘I Spy,'” Obama laments in his 1995 memoir “Dreams from My Father,” but in his own retelling, he does not do much better.

Although Obama spent 13 years on the mainland as a single man, on only one occasion in “Dreams” does Obama make any reference to his love life.

In a brief recounting, he tells his half-sister Auma that in addition to a white woman he had loved and lost, “There are several black ladies out there who’ve broken my heart just as good.”

The problem is that Obama shares with the reader not a word about any of the black ladies, and not one of them has come forward on her own.

The white woman in question presents a different set of problems. In terms of height, hair color, eye color, parentage, and highly specific place of origin – namely a large country estate with a lake in the middle – she is a dead ringer for Bill Ayers’s lost love, the late Weatherwoman, Diana Oughton.

One can imagine the conversations between Obama and his muse. “Hey, bro, we got 457 pages on the bachelor king of Chicago, and you don’t get so much as kissed?”

“Make something up, Bill. Just be sure it’s by a girl.””

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=365989

9 Comments

Posted in Barack Obama, Chicago, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, Deaths, Donald Young, down low, drugs, Illinois, Jeremiah Wright, Larry Sinclair, Larry Sinclair book, Lies, Murder, News, Obama, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, Obama thugs, Politico, Senator Obama, The Case Against Barack Obama, Washington DC, white house

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CBS News Sharon Bialek: Herman Cain knows who I am, CBS Chicago anchor Bill Kurtis, Roles may have even been reversed given the track record here

Posted on November 9, 2011 | 48 comments

CBS News Sharon Bialek: Herman Cain knows who I am, CBS Chicago anchor Bill Kurtis, Roles may have even been reversed given the track record here

From CBS News November 9, 2011.

“Sharon Bialek: Herman Cain knows who I am”

“Sharon Bialek, the first woman to step forward publicly with sexual harassment charges against Herman Cain, suggested Wednesday the presidential contender was lying yesterday when he said he doesn’t remember Bialek.
On MSNBC Wednesday, Bialek recounted an incident, which others have said they witnessed, in which she approached Cain at a Tea Party rally.
“I simply grasped his elbow and leaned in towards him to acknowledge he knew exactly who I was,” she said. “He acknowledged who I was.”
Bialek declined to reveal what she said to Cain at the event, but she said, “It was simply a few statements to jar his memory … That was only a month ago.”
At a press conference on Tuesday, Cain said he did not recall ever seeing Bialek before she came forward with her allegations on Monday. “I tried to remember if I recognized her, and I didn’t. I tried to remember if I remembered that name, and I didn’t,” he said.

Bialek said she was “very disappointed but not surprised” by Cain’s response, which she said “disrespected me and millions of other women across the country who are violated in the same way in the workplace.”
Bialek earlier this week charged that, after a dinner meeting with Cain in 1997, Cain attempted to fondle her. Bialek had arranged the meeting to seek employment help from Cain, who was at the time head of the National Restaurant Association.
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 Before Bialek came forward, it was reported that two unidentified women had filed sexual harassment complaints against Cain at the NRA in the 1990’s. Then, a third unidentified woman alleged she was also harassed by Cain more than a decade ago. Bialek’s public statements prompted one unidentified women who file a complaint to also reveal her identity — Karen Kraushaar.
Kraushaar said she was interested in holding a joint press conference with all the women who say they were harassed by Cain.
Bialek said on MSNBC that she would be “all for” the joint press conference as long as her attorney Gloria Allred is also on board. Bialek added she is “proud” of Kraushaar for coming forward.
“If [my statements] just made one person come forward, it was worth it,” she said.
Joel Bennett, the lawyer for Cain accuser Karen Kraushaar, said today that a joint press conference with women who have complained of harassment by Cain could be as early as tomorrow or Friday. He said Kraushaar is reaching out to the other woman who filed a complaint with the restaurant group.”

 http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57321426-503544/sharon-bialek-herman-cain-knows-who-i-am/

From an interview of CBS Chicago anchor Bill Kurtis November 8, 2011.

Bill Kurtis appeared on the Roe and Roeper show and said, “When I arrived at the office, the story [that the accuser told] was quite different… Roles may have even been reversed given the track record here.”

http://www.breitbart.tv/bill-kurtis-on-herman-cain-accuser-theres-more-to-this-story/

48 Comments

Posted in Attorneys, CBS, Chicago, Citizen News, CitizenWells, Election 2012, Illinois, Lawyers, Lies, News, Presidential candidate, press conference

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Rezko sentencing November 22, 2011, Prosecutors seek stiff sentence?, Obama is not your friend, Tell all

Posted on November 9, 2011 | 20 comments

Rezko sentencing November 22, 2011, Prosecutors seek stiff sentence?, Obama is not your friend, Tell all

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

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

“I’m assuming the information is about the payments made by Rezko to Obama, so we know we’re talking about the right conversation, right?” …Attorney Daniel Konicek, Frawley Deposition

“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 November 04, 2011.

“Prosecutors seek stiff time for Rezko”

“Federal prosecutors downplayed the extent of the cooperation provided by Antoin “Tony” Rezko in calling for the former top fundraiser to disgraced ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich to be sentenced to 11 to 15 years in prison.

Prosecutors noted that Rezko agreed to cooperate only after a federal jury convicted him in 2008 on 16 counts of fraud, bribery and money laundering and that he continued to hide many of his criminal activities in his first 19 interviews with the government.

The government didn’t call Rezko as a witness at either the Blagojevich trial or the recent trial of Springfield power broker William Cellini, saying in its filing that “the value of the information he could have provided was overwhelmed by the attacks that could be made on Rezko’s credibility.”

The government’s 48-page memo was filed late Thursday, just hours after a federal judge had unsealed the defense’s position paper on Rezko’s sentencing, scheduled for Nov. 22. Rezko’s lawyers argued that he should be sentenced to time served. He has already spent almost four years in custody while awaiting sentencing.

In its filing, the defense made much of the fact that Rezko had been harshly treated in jail — first at the downtown Metropolitan Correctional Center and then in a county jail in Wisconsin. It said he had “not enjoyed a breath of fresh air or a ray of sunlight” in his 44 months in custody and said conditions of that kind were usually reserved for “the most violent or mentally disturbed inmates,” not a public-corruption defendant.

Prosecutors argued that Rezko’s conditions of confinement do not justify a sentence of time served but agreed that U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve, in fashioning her sentence, should consider the nine months Rezko spent in solitary confinement at the Loop jail.

The government compared Rezko’s level of wrongdoing to that of Stuart Levine, a corrupt insider who faces about 5 1/2 years in prison after cutting a plea deal. But prosecutors said Rezko deserved a much stiffer sentence because Levine’s cooperation had been far more significant.

Calling his cooperation “truly remarkable,” prosecutors pointed out that Levine agreed to cooperate after he had been charged and even wore a wire on former Chicago Ald. Edward Vrdolyak, leading to Vrdolyak’s conviction.”

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-11-04/news/ct-met-rezko-sentencing-1105-20111105_1_antoin-tony-rezko-stuart-levine-loop-jail

From the Chicago SunTimes November 4, 2011.

“In court papers asking a judge to free him from jail later this month
rather than having to do more time, convicted political fund-raiser
Tony Rezko said that after spending 20 years in Chicago politics, he
was still taken aback by a request that allegedly came from former
Gov. Rod Blagojevich.”

“The filing did give new insight to the extent of Rezko’s cooperation
with the government, saying he had met with authorities 29 separate
days over the three years following his conviction and that memo
summaries of his interviews fill 360 pages.

Lawyers said that it was Rezko who initially implicated Monk, who was
charged, and government witness Joe Aramanda. Rezko also implicated
lobbyist John Wyma, they say, and Wyma gave the feds probable cause to
wiretap Blagojevich’s phones.

A onetime fund-raiser to Barack Obama, Rezko had voluntarily
surrendered to prison after he was convicted on 16 of 24 counts to
begin immediately begin his sentence.

Rezko was convicted of using his clout to control state government and
direct kickbacks from government deals to himself and others.

He spent 276 days in solitary confinement at the downtown lockup,
something that the jail typically does with high-profile inmates. He
was later moved to a county jail in Wisconsin and has lost more than
80 pounds since he’s been locked up with his “weight dipping to a low
of 154 pounds.”

“With this dramatic weight loss, Mr. Rezko has shrunk from a robust,
if somewhat overweight, man to a frail and gaunt shell of his former
self,” his lawyers wrote.

“He has not enjoyed a breath of fresh air or a ray of sunlight for
nearly three and a half years, and he has not been allowed to hug his
wife or daughter since he left the MCC nearly three years ago.””

“Lawyers said Rezko’s own success in business led him to branch out and
support numerous national, state and local politicians.

“And, of course, Mr. Rezko was a friend, advisor, and early supporter
of a young politician named Barack Obama,” lawyers wrote.

Federal prosecutors are expected to file a position on Rezko’s
sentencing late Thursday and sources say they are expected to ask for
a sentence greater than the 5 ½ years that co-conspirator Stuart
Levine is slotted to get under his plea deal.”

http://www.suntimes.com/8593723-417/after-44-months-tony-rezko-asks-to-be-sentenced-to-time-served.html

From John Kass of the Chicago Tribune June 13, 2008.

“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.”

“They are pressuring me to tell them the ‘wrong’ things that I supposedly know about Governor Blagojevich and Senator Obama,” the fundraiser (and Obama’s personal real estate fairy) wrote in a letter to U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve.

“I have never been a party to any wrongdoing that involved the Governor or the Senator,” Rezko argued. “I will never fabricate lies about anyone else for selfish purposes. I will take whatever comes my way, but I will never hurt innocent people.”

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-kass-13-jun13,0,1570658.column

Every press report, every comment coming from Rezko’s attorney since then has indicated thet he has been cooperating with the feds.

The question is, why wasn’t Rezko called as a witness in the Blagojevich and Cellini trials?

The answer is.

To keep Obama’a name and activities out of court testimony and the press and set Rezko up with a tougher sentence as the fall guy. To keep him quiet.

If you are Tony Rezko, a Rezko family member or friend or one of Rezko’s attorneys, urge Mr. Rezko to reveal all about Obama. Obama is not your friend.

Contact me with a comment on this blog. I promise you that if Rezko talks, I will do everything in my power to get the information in front of the American public and appropriate members of Congress.

20 Comments

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

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Sharon Bialek Herman Cain accuser, Bialek hugged Cain at Tea Party event, Schaumburg Renaissance Hotel and Convention Center

Posted on November 8, 2011 | 124 comments

Sharon Bialek Herman Cain accuser, Bialek hugged Cain at Tea Party event, Schaumburg Renaissance Hotel and Convention Center

From the Chicago SunTimes November 8, 2011.

“Witness: Cain accuser hugged him during Tea Party meeting a month ago”

“The Cain Encounter …

They hugged each other backstage in a full embrace like old friends.

She grabbed his arm and whispered in his left ear.

She kept talking as he bent to listen, and he kept saying “Uh, huh. Uh, huh.”

Huh?

“I don’t know if what she was giving him was a sucker punch, but he didn’t put his arm down while she was talking to him,” said the Sneed source.

◆The “he”… is GOP presidential contender Herman Cain, who has been accused of sexual harassment by several women.

◆The “she”… is Chicagoan Sharon Bialek, who held a news conference Tuesday as the only woman to PUBLICLY accuse Cain of sexual harassment.

◆The Sneed source … is WIND radio co-host Amy Jacobson, who tells Sneed she witnessed the Cain/Bialek encounter a month ago while backstage at the AM 560 WIND sponsored TeaCon meeting in Schaumburg Sept. 30-Oct. 1 at the Renaissance Hotel and Convention Center.

◆Quoth Jacobson: “I had turned on TV to find out who was Cain’s accuser, and I almost fell over when I saw it was Sharon Bialek accusing Cain of groping her genitals.”

“I was waiting for Herman Cain’s ‘Accuser No. 4’ to surface — and up pops Sharon!”

“I couldn’t believe it. I was shocked.”

“I recall Sharon was hell bent on going backstage at the TeaCon convention — where she cornered him,” said Jacobson.

“I was surprised to hear she claims she did not know Cain was going to be there. Cain was expected and was late.”

Bialek told the media on Monday: “I went up to him and asked him if he remembered me. I wanted to see if he would be man enough to own up to what he had done 14 years ago.”

◆The encounter: “It looked sort of flirtatious,” said Jacobson. “I mean they were hugging. But she could have been giving him the kiss of death for all I know. I had no idea what they were talking about, but she was inches from his ear.”

◆The introduction: “It all began when I took a convention break and joined my pals at the hotel bar. Sharon was drinking Mimosas with them. She said she was a Republican, a Tea Party member, had once dated [White Sox sports announcer’ Steve Stone] and had worked at WGN radio.”

◆The rendezvous: Sharon also said she was anxious to meet Cain again and had once gone to an afterparty with him and her boyfriend years ago. But she never mentioned he had sexually harassed her.”

◆The upshot: Bialek has since applied for employment in sales at WIND radio and is scheduled for a second interview Thursday.

http://www.suntimes.com/8592168-417/sneed-witness-says-cain-accuser-hugged-him-during-tea-party-meeting-a-month-ago.html

124 Comments

Posted in Chicago, Chicago SunTimes, Election 2012, Illinois, News, politicians

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Blagojevich sentencing set for December 6, 2011, District Judge James Zagel, Sentence may exceed former Governor George Ryan’s

Posted on November 7, 2011 | 26 comments

Blagojevich sentencing set for December 6, 2011, District Judge James Zagel, Sentence may exceed former Governor George Ryan’s

“I believe I’m more pristine on Rezko than him.”…Rod Blagojevich

From the Chicago Tribune November 7, 2011.

“A federal judge today scheduled former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s sentencing for Dec. 6.

The disgraced former government was convicted last summer on sweeping corruption charges, including allegations he tried to sell the U.S. Senate seat left open by Barack Obama’s election as president..

U.S. District Judge James Zagel had originally scheduled Blagojevich’s sentencing for Oct. 6, but it was indefinitely postponed in part because the judge was then presiding over the trial of Blagojevich co-defendant William Cellini, a Springfield power broker who was convicted last week.

Prosecutors have not said yet what sentence they will seek for Blagojevich, but it is widely expected that they will ask for more than the 6½-year prison term being served by his predecessor, former Gov. George Ryan, for his 2006 corruption conviction.

U.S. Attorney’s Office spokeman Randall Samborn said that the sentencing could go into a second day if necessary.”

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-blagojevich-sentencing-set-for-dec-6-20111107,0,2249696.story

26 Comments

Posted in Blagojevich, Blagojevich trial, Chicago, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, FBI, Federal Court, Illinois, Patrick Fitzgerald, Pay to play politics, US Department of Justice

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Obama Rezko Daley Blagojevich Chicago corruption, Chris Kelly and other mysterious deaths, Thomas R. Bennett Chicago perspective

Posted on November 4, 2011 | 40 comments

Obama Rezko Daley Blagojevich Chicago corruption, Chris Kelly and other mysterious deaths, Thomas R. Bennett Chicago perspective 

“Why was Christopher Kelly transported past 2 trauma facilities on the way to Stroger Hospital?”…Thomas R. Bennett

From Nuclear Chicago.

About

“Thomas R. Bennett, owner and publisher of NUCLEAR | CHICAGO is also the Principal of a Chicago-based commercial real estate company as well as the sponsor of several emerging technology and Next Generation Commerce early-stage investments.

Mr. Bennett’s citizen journalism endeavor via NUCLEAR | CHICAGO while recent, is not new to the extended Bennett family.  Investigative journalism and law enforcement is very much a part of Mr. Bennett’s DNA as several of Mr. Bennett’s relatives have backgrounds in both law enforcement and media.

In fact, the catalyst for Mr. Bennett establishing NUCLEAR | CHICAGO can be attributed to both Mr. Bennett’s aggressive and determined approach for uncovering The Truth as well as influenced by the legacy that was established by Mr. Bennett’s Irish Immigrant Great Uncle – Michael ‘Iron Mike’ Hughes.

‘Iron Mike’ Hughes, a native of Ballygar in County Galway, Ireland, was the Chief of the Chicago Police Department, and former Chief of Detectives during the Era in which Al Capone and his notorious gang of hoodlums were roaming the streets of Chicago.  According to the Chicago Tribune, ‘Iron Mike’ Hughes – had a ‘record without parallel’ and was regarded as ‘the personal nemesis of all crookdom’ during his tenure at the Chicago Police Department.

Upon Iron Mike’s retirement in November 1935 after a 41-year career with the Chicago Police Department, Iron Mike embarked upon a career as a journalist and reporter with the The Chicago American – the last of the aggressive journalistic traditions in Chicago.

In recent years, Mr. Bennett has been exposed to various levels of ‘crookdom’ emanating from Rich Daley’s City Hall for the past several years.  To this end, the final catalyst for Mr. Bennett’s launch of NUCLEAR | CHICAGO can be attributed to a handful of corrupt events that Mr. Bennett was subjected to beginning in 2007.  NUCLEAR | CHICAGO will be reporting upon his  own experience in great detail, as well as other instances of ‘crookdom’ throughout Illinois.

NUCLEAR | CHICAGO will be posting the biographies of other journalists and related team members in coming weeks.”

MISSION

“Our mission is to produce very relevant, uncensored (and unbiased), high-quality, old-school investigative journalism material. NUCLEAR | CHICAGO will be distributed via web, print, television mainstream media partnerships and radio partnerships.

NUCLEAR | CHICAGO is delivering the nuclear energy required to disinfect the systemic and pervasive public corruption that pollutes our city, state and our nation.

The majority of our local, state and national policy-makers have demonstrated both a lack of respect and understanding toward the U.S. Justice Louis Brandeis philosophy related to maintaining the benefits of openness and transparency in government – “Sunlight is the best disinfectant.”

As both publisher and owner of NUCLEAR | CHICAGO, I invoke the above-Brandeis quote as it’s appearing that sunlight alone is ineffectual in Chicago.

To this end, the only option remaining for our city, our state and our democracy is The Nuclear Option.

NUCLEAR | CHICAGO will create effective levels of openness, transparency and accountability by simply going nuclear and reporting upon what the local and national media essentially censure and refuse to report upon.

Stay tuned and stay informed.”

http://www.nuclearchicago.com/

Thomas Bennett sent the link to the following video to me yesterday. Mr. Bennett addresses the bigger picture of Chicago, not just the Blagojevich trial, including former mayor Daley. He also provides some additional insight into the death and treatment of Christopher kelly and the mysterious deaths of others tied to Rezko and Obama.

Breitbart.tv » The B-Cast B-Side: Blago Connections Raise All Kinds of Concerns.

From Chicago Breaking News September 13, 2009.

“Flores-Buhelos initially told police that Friday night she received
text messages from Kelly — who was married but estranged from his
wife — saying that he had tried to kill himself, Welch said.

She then arrived from Chicago at the Forest Lumber Co. parking lot —
near a storage yard owned by Kelly’s company — and found Kelly inside
his car, covered in vomit. She pushed him into the passenger seat,
Welch said, and apparently drove to Oak Forest Hospital.

What happened there, and the kind of medical care Kelly received after
arriving, are among the remaining mysteries behind his death.

After initially seeming incoherent, Kelly apparently became lucid
enough to speak to police and was, at one point early Saturday
morning, stabilized.

Later that morning, his condition apparently deteriorated enough for
hospital officials to send Kelly to Stroger Hospital in Chicago, about
25 miles away from Oak Forest.

Cook County health officials said Oak Forest Hospital doctors thought
it made more sense for him to be treated at Stroger, which, unlike
their hospital, has a trauma center.

When asked why Kelly wasn’t transferred to a closer hospital, Cook
County Health and Hospitals System spokesman Lucio Guerrero said it’s
“standard procedure” to transfer patients from one county health
facility to Stroger when trauma care is needed after they have been
stabilized.

“The treatment or treatments necessary could be better facilitated at
Stroger,” wrote Marcel Bright, Stroger Hospital spokesman, in an
e-mail. “He was stabilized before being transported.”

Kelly was pronounced dead inside Stroger at 10:46 a.m. Saturday, officials said.”

http://archive.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/09/mayor-kellys-girlfriend-is-lawyered-up-not-talking.html

“He was stabilized before being transported.”

Apparently not!

40 Comments

Posted in Barack Obama, Blagojevich, Blagojevich trial, Chicago, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, corruption, Crime, FBI, Illinois, News, Obama, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, Obama thugs, Pay to play politics, Rezko, Richard Daley, The Case Against Barack Obama, Tony Rezko, US Department of Justice

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Obama corruption tie Christopher Kelly death, Some day the whole truth will come out, Donald Young, Murder and suicide?, Dead men speak

Posted on November 3, 2011 | 28 comments

Obama corruption tie Christopher Kelly death, Some day the whole truth will come out, Donald Young, Murder and suicide?, Dead men speak

“Some day, the whole truth will come out.”…Christopher Kelly, 4 days before his death

Two men with ties to Obama’s past are dead. Yet their voices and deeds can still be heard. We will not let their deaths go unnoticed, forgotten.

Donald Young, the choirmaster at TUCC, Obama’s church, was murdered in December 2007. Young had knowledge of Obama’s drug use and gay sex activities.

Christopher Kelly, whose name was mentioned over 140 times in the Blagojevich Evidentiary Proffer, conveniently died in 2009. His death, under very suspicious circumstances, was investigated as a homicide but ruled a suicide. Kelly was in the thick of Chicago corruption with Obama’s buddies Rezko, Levine, et al.

Four days before Christopher Kelly’s death, he stated the following:

“Some day, the whole truth will come out.”

I agree. Slowly but surely I believe that the truth is coming out. I will do my best to assist.
From Chicago Breaking News September 13, 2009.

“Police plan on Monday to go over security surveillance cameras at the
Oak Forest hospital to see who showed up after Kelly, partially in
hopes of identifying a white-haired man who tried to drive away in
Kelly’s car before hospital police stopped him.

The man left without an explanation, Welch said.

“That’s [Kelly’s] best friend, that’s all we know right now,” Welch
said, adding police also will target the text messages allegedly sent
by Kelly to Flores-Buhelos. “We have to get a court order to get that
stuff, and we will get that.””

http://archive.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/09/mayor-kellys-girlfriend-is-lawyered-up-not-talking.html

From Chicago Breaking News November 23, 2009

“New details about Christopher Kelly emerge”

“As Christopher Kelly was being treated for a fatal overdose, the
political fundraiser who was being pressured to testify against
ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich confided to his girlfriend to “tell them they
won.”

“It’s my life,” Kelly told Clarissa Flores-Buhelos, according to a
police report released today to the Tribune. “Tell them they won, tell
them they won.”

The report does not specify to whom Kelly was referring. It was one of
several new details contained in the 47-page police report released by
Country Club Hills, where Kelly took numerous pills before his Sept.
12 death that authorities have ruled a suicide.”

http://archive.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/11/new-details-about-christopher-kelly-emerge.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%253A+ChicagoBreakingNews+(Chicago+Breaking+News)

From Citizen Wells May 1, 2010.

“Dead men don’t talk or do they?

Three deaths.
Christopher Kelly  ( Suicide ?? )
John Stroger       ( Stroke complications )
Orlando Jones      ( Suicide ?? )
All three with connections to Rod Blagojevich and Barack Obama.”

“Six months before Obama bought the strip of land from Rezko’s “wife”
to enlarge his yard, on August 28, 2005, Natasha Korecki reported in
the Sun-Times that, “there’s so much corruption to investigate in the
Chicago area, the FBI is adding manpower.”

Robert Grant, FBI Special Agent in Charge, told the Times that he had
reorganized the bureau to add a third public corruption squad, giving
Chicago the largest corruption unit in the country, even bigger than
those in New York and Los Angeles.”
“The “fashion show” was chaired by Rita Rezko, co-chaired by the
Governor’s wife, Patti Blagojevich, and Michelle Obama was a special
guest that day, according to Merriner.

Two weeks after the “fashion show,” on November 17, 2006, the
Sun-Times reported that Blagojevich’s wife Patti got nearly $50,000
from a real estate deal in late 2002 involving Rezko.

In terms of dollar amounts of campaign contributions directly from
Rezko in Illinois, the top four earners were, the now deceased
President of the Cook County Board, John Stroger, Blagojevich, Chicago
Mayor, Richard Daley, and Obama — in that order.

Rezko was the head of Stroger’s campaign finance committee at the same
time that he served on Obama US Senate finance committee.

When it came time for Stroger’s reelection campaign, in the midst of
the erupting Rezko scandals in the media, on April 8, 2005, the
Tribune reported that Stroger “has selected beleaguered businessman
and political powerbroker Antoin “Tony” Rezko as one of the honorary
chairs of his campaign fundraiser next month.”

Stroger appointed Rezko’s wife Rita to the Cook County Employee
Appeals Board, which hears cases filed by fired or disciplined
workers, at a part-time salary of $37,000 a year.

According to documents filed in the Rezko corruption case, this was
Rita’s sole income when she supposedly came up with a $125,000 down
payment and secured a $500,000 mortgage to buy the $625,00 lot next to
Obama. Less than a year after Obama bought his strip of land, Rita
sold the rest of the lot to attorney Michael Sreenan, and made a
profit of more than $50,000.

On February 27, 2007, the Sun-Times pointed out that Obama’s “new
neighbor, Michael Sreenan,” had contributed $5,000 to Obama’s
campaigns. Less than a year after buying the lot, Sreenan put it up
for sale for $1.5 million in October 2007.

Of course John Stroger will not be answering any questions about
corruption, or any other matter, because he died on January 18, 2008.
His former chief of staff and godson, Orlando Jones, will not be
talking either because he was found dead of self-inflicted gun wounds
in September 2007, “just as a corruption inquiry targeting him was
heating up,” according to a September 7, 2007 report by CBS News
channel 2 Chicago.”

https://citizenwells.wordpress.com/2010/05/01/blagojevich-trial-christopher-kelly-john-stroger-orlando-jones-dead-men-dont-talk-or-do-they-obama-and-blagojevich-corruption-cronies-tony-rezko-patti-rezko-patti-blagojevich-michelle-obam/

28 Comments

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

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Obama on Rezko deal: It was a mistake, Chicago SunTimes, November 5, 2006, BY DAVE MCKINNEY AND CHRIS FUSCO, Obama regrets Rezko lot purchase

Posted on November 2, 2011 | 90 comments

Obama on Rezko deal: It was a mistake, Chicago SunTimes, November 5, 2006, BY DAVE MCKINNEY AND CHRIS FUSCO, Obama regrets Rezko lot purchase

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

“Where did Rita Rezko get the money to buy the lot she sold to Barack and Michelle Obama?”…Citizen Wells

The following article was presented by the Chicago SunTimes on  November 5, 2006. It has been quoted numerous times since then. The article disappeared from the internet quite some time ago due to what appears to be the standard policy of the SunTimes to not retain articles for any length of time. I cannot guarantee that this is the entire original article.

From the Chicago SunTimes November 5, 2006.

“Obama on Rezko deal: It was a mistake

November 5, 2006

BY DAVE MCKINNEY AND CHRIS FUSCO Staff Reporters Contributing: Mark Brown
U.S. Sen. Barack Obama expressed regret late Friday for his 2005 land
purchase from now-indicted political fundraiser Antoin “Tony” Rezko in
a deal that enlarged the senator’s yard.
“I consider this a mistake on my part and I regret it,” Obama told the
Chicago Sun-Times in an exclusive and revealing question-and-answer
exchange about the transaction.

In June 2005, Obama and Rezko purchased adjoining parcels in Kenwood.
The state’s junior senator paid $1.65 million for a Georgian revival
mansion, while Rezko paid $625,000 for the adjacent, undeveloped lot.
Both closed on their properties on the same day.

Sen. Barack Obama says he regrets purchasing land from politcal
fundraiser Antoin Rezko.

Last January, aiming to increase the size of his sideyard, Obama paid
Rezko $104,500 for a strip of his land.
The transaction occurred at a time when it was widely known Tony Rezko
was under investigation by U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald and as
other Illinois politicians befriended by Rezko distanced themselves
from him.

In the Sun-Times interview, Obama acknowledged approaching Rezko about
the two properties being up for sale and that Rezko developed an
immediate interest. Obama did not explain why he reached out to Rezko
given the developer’s growing problems.

Last month, Rezko was indicted for his role in an alleged pay-to-play
scheme designed to fatten Gov. Blagojevich’s political fund. Rezko
also was accused of bilking a creditor.

“With respect to the purchase of my home, I am confident that
everything was handled ethically and above board. But I regret that
while I tried to pay close attention to the specific requirements of
ethical conduct, I misgauged the appearance presented by my purchase
of the additional land from Mr. Rezko,” Obama said.

“It was simply not good enough that I paid above the appraised value
for the strip of land that he sold me. It was a mistake to have been
engaged with him at all in this or any other personal business dealing
that would allow him, or anyone else, to believe that he had done me a
favor,” the senator said.

The land deal came up in a court hearing Friday that delved into
Rezko’s finances. Obama said he has not been approached by federal
prosecutors about the transaction nor has plans to go to them about
it.

Obama and Rezko have been friends since 1990, and Obama said the
Wilmette businessman raised as much as $60,000 for him during his
political career. After Rezko’s indictment, Obama donated $11,500 to
charity–a total that represents what Rezko contributed to the
senator’s federal campaign fund.

After the controversy surfaced on Wednesday, the Sun-Times presented
Obama’s office with a lengthy set of questions about the land deal,
Obama’s relationship with Rezko and the story’s impact on a potential
2008 bid for the White House.

Here are his responses:
Q: Senator, when did you first meet Tony Rezko? How did you become
friends? How often would you meet with him, and when did you last
speak with him?
A: I had attracted some media attention when I was elected the first
black President of the Harvard Law Review. And while I was in law
school, David Brint, who was a development partner with Tony Rezko
contacted me and asked whether I would be interested in being a
developer. Ultimately, after discussions in which I met Mr. Rezko, I
said no.

I have probably had lunch with Rezko once or twice a year and our
spouses may have gotten together on two to four occasions in the time
that I have known him. I last spoke with Tony Rezko more than six
months ago.
Q:. Have you or your wife participated in any other transactions of
any kind with Rezko or companies he owns? Have you or your wife ever
done any legal work ever for Rezko or his companies?
A: No.
Q: Has Rezko ever given you or your family members gifts of any kind
and, if so, what were they?
A: No.
Q: The seller of your house appears to be a doctor at the University
of Chicago . Do you or your wife know him? If so, did either of you
ever talk to him about subdividing the property? If you ever did
discuss the property with him, when were those conversations?
A: We did not know him personally, though my wife worked in the same
University hospital. The property was subdivided and two lots were
separately listed when we first learned of it. We did not discuss the
property with the owners; the sale was negotiated for us by our agent.
Q: Did you approach Rezko or his wife about the property, or did they
approach you?
A: To the best of my recollection, I told him about the property, and
he developed an interest, knowing both the location and, as I recall,
the developer who had previously purchased it.
Q: Who was your Realtor? Did this Realtor also represent Rita Rezko?
A: Miriam Zeltzerman, who had also represented me in the purchase of
my prior property, a condominium, in Hyde Park. She did not represent
Rita Rezko.
Q: How do you explain the fact your family purchased your home the
same day as Rita Rezko bought the property adjacent to yours? Was this
a coordinated purchase?
A: The sellers required the closing of both properties at the same
time. As they were moving out of town, they wished to conclude the
sale of both properties simultaneously. The lot was purchased first;
with the purchase of the house on the adjacent lot, the closings could
proceed and did, on the same day, pursuant to the condition set by the
sellers.
Q: Why is it that you were able to buy your parcel for $300,000 less
than the asking price, and Rita Rezko paid full price? Who negotiated
this end of the deal? Did whoever negotiated it have any contact with
Rita and Tony Rezko or their Realtor or lawyer?
A: Our agent negotiated only with the seller’s agent. As we understood
it, the house had been listed for some time, for months, and our offer
was one of two and, as we understood it, it was the best offer. The
original listed price was too high for the market at the time, and we
understood that the sellers, who were anxious to move, were prepared
to sell the house for what they paid for it, which is what they did.

We were not involved in the Rezko negotiation of the price for the
adjacent lot. It was our understanding that the owners had received,
from another buyer, an offer for $625,000 and that therefore the
Rezkos could not have offered or purchased that lot for less.
Q: Why did you put the property in a trust?
A: I was advised that a trust holding would afford me some privacy,
which was important to me as I would be commuting from Washington to
Chicago and my family would spend some part of most weeks without me.
Q: A Nov. 21, 1999, Chicago Tribune story indicates the house you
bought “sits on a quarter-acre lot and will share a driveway and
entrance gate with a home next door that has not yet been built.” Is
this shared driveway still in the mix? Will this require further
negotiations with the Rezkos?
A: The driveway is not shared with the adjacent owner. But the
resident in the carriage house in the back does have an easement over
it.
Q: Does it display a lack of judgment on your part to be engaging in
real estate deals with Tony Rezko at a point his connections to state
government had been reported to be under federal investigation?
A: I’ve always held myself to the highest ethical standards. During
the ten years I have been in public office, I believe I have met those
standards and I know that is what people expect of me. I have also
understood the importance of appearances.

With respect to the purchase of my home, I am confident that
everything was handled ethically and above board.

But I regret that while I tried to pay close attention to the specific
requirements of ethical conduct, I misgauged the appearance presented
by my purchase of the additional land from Mr. Rezko. It was simply
not good enough that I paid above the appraised value for the strip of
land that he sold me. It was a mistake to have been engaged with him
at all in this or any other personal business dealing that would allow
him, or anyone else, to believe that he had done me a favor. For that
reason, I consider this a mistake on my part and I regret it.

Throughout my life, I have put faith in confronting experiences
honestly and learning from them. And that is what I will do with this
experience as well.
Q: Why did you not publicly disclose the transaction after Rezko got indicted?
A: At the time, it didn’t strike me as relevant. I did however donate
campaign contributions from Rezko to charity.
Q: Have you been interviewed by federal investigators about this
transaction or about your relationship with Rezko? If not, do you
intend to approach them?
A: I have not been interviewed by federal investigators. I have no
reason to approach them.
Q: Did Rezko or his companies ever solicit your support on any matter
involving state or federal government? Did Al Johnson, who was trying
to get a casino license along with Tony Rezko, or Rezko himself ever
discuss casino matters with you?
A: No, I have never been asked to do anything to advance his business
interests. 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.
(http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/votehistory/srollcalls91/pdf/910SB1017_05251999_001000C.PDF)
Q: Has this disclosure about your relationship with Rezko changed your
thoughts about a White House run?
A: No. As I have said, how I can best serve is something I will think
about after the 2006 election next Tuesday.
Q: Did Rezko ever discuss with you his dealings with Stuart Levine,
Christopher Kelly or William Cellini or the role he was playing in
shaping Gov. Blagojevich’s administration?
A: No.
Q: Are the Obamas the only beneficiaries of the land trust?
A: Yes.
Q: Are you aware of any efforts by previous owners to develop what is
now the Rezko lot, possibly as townhomes?
A: I was not aware of any prior effort by the seller to develop the
property, but always understood the other lot was to be developed upon
sale.
Q: Did Rezko have an appraisal performed for the 10-foot strip?
A: I had an appraisal conducted by Howard B. Richter & Associates on
November 21, 2005.
Q: Was there a negotiation? Did he have an asking price, or did he
just say, whatever you think is fair?
A: I proposed to pay on the basis of proportionality. Since the strip
composed one-sixth of the entire lot, I would pay one-sixth of the
purchase price of the lot. I offered this to Mr. Rezko and he accepted
it.
Q: How many fundraisers has Mr. Rezko hosted for you? Were these all
in his home? How much would you estimate he has raised for your
campaigns?
A: He hosted one event at his home in 2003 for my U.S. Senate
campaign. He participated as a member of a host committee for several
other events. My best estimate was that he raised somewhere between
$50,000 and $60,000.”

Original link.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/124171,CST-NWS-obama05.article

90 Comments

Posted in Barack Obama, Chicago, Chicago SunTimes, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, corruption, Illinois, News, Newspapers, Obama, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, Pay to play politics, Rezko, Senator Obama, The Case Against Barack Obama, Tony Rezko

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