Blagojevich trial update, Judge James Zagel refuses to throw out conviction
From the Chicago Tribune October 27, 2010.
“A federal judge on Wednesday refused to throw out former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s lone conviction from his trial last summer.
U.S. District Judge James Zagel rejected the defense contention that prosecutors brought an overly complicated case that confused the jury and then damaged Blagojevich’s right to defend himself by limiting his lawyers at every turn.
The jury convicted Blagojevich of a single count of lying to the FBI but deadlocked on all 23 other counts. He is set to be retried on those charges April 20.
Blagojevich’s lawyers had maintained that a “plethora of errors” at trial had led to the lone conviction. Blagojevich’s “fundamental right to defend himself through cross-examination was stomped upon by obstructionist (and continuous) objections that were sustained by the court,” the defense wrote.
But Zagel’s two-page opinion concluded that the defense tactics showed it didn’t have a legal leg to stand on.”
Blagojevich trial delayed, Retrial April 2011, Chicago Tribune feedback
From the Chicago Tribune.
“A federal judge agreed Friday to delay former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s retrial until April to give his defense team — down to just two lawyers — more time to prepare.
U.S. District Judge James Zagel, who had tentatively planned for the retrial to begin in early January, postponed its start until April 20.
Prosecutors objected to the delay, pointing out that Blagojevich’s two remaining attorneys took part in the first trial. “The faulty premise is that they are starting from scratch,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Reid Schar.
But the defense said the two will have to take on much heavier roles in the retrial.”
“Those of us who work for the Chicago Tribune speak with our readers every day. That conversation survives on our credibility and your trust. We understand the humbling truth that neither of those is assured.
Today we need to talk with you about painful developments that have threatened that credibility, that trust.
On Oct. 6, The New York Times reported that the Tribune Co. had been engulfed by “a culture run amok.””
“Much of the New York Times story was disturbing, but one passage particularly troubled us: It called into question the independence of the newsroom and this editorial board.
In June 2008, according to the story, Tribune Co. Chairman Sam Zell approached then-Editor Ann Marie Lipinski at a meeting, “saying that the Chicago Tribune should be harder on Gov. Rod Blagojevich. … In a news meeting later the same day, she found out that Mr. Zell was in negotiations to sell Wrigley Field to the state sports authority.” Lipinski says, “It was hard to avoid the conclusion that he was trying to use the newspaper to put pressure on Blagojevich.””
“Blagojevich was arrested in December 2008. Among the charges: that he sought to pressure Tribune Co. to fire members of the Chicago Tribune editorial board. Tribune editorials had been discussing the governor’s removal from office since October 2007. At the time of his arrest, the Tribune reported that negotiations on Wrigley Field had resumed shortly after the company had rejected the state’s offer.”
“Zell has denied that he sought to use the newspaper for business purposes. No one from the editorial board was present for the conversation between Zell and Lipinski. We can, however, say with certainty that Tribune Co. executives — from Zell on down — have never tried to influence this editorial board. Their approach has been completely hands-off. Completely. They have had no impact whatsoever on our Blagojevich editorials. We realize that we cannot prove a negative. All we can do is tell you the truth and ask you to believe us.”
The Chicago Tribune has done a decent and sometimes excellent job of covering Rod Blagojevich. They can be faulted, along with the rest of the mainstream media for not covering the complete Obama stories.
Blagojevich trial, Retrial hearing, October 22, 2010
The Chicago Tribune reports.
“Prosecutors and defense attorneys are scheduled to appear in federal court as the sides prepare for retrial in the corruption case against ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
Friday’s status hearing comes a week after prosecutors filed a response to defense claims that multiple legal errors led to Blagojevich’s conviction for lying to the FBI.
The government countered that it was overwhelming evidence that led to the conviction in the first trial and that allegations of prosecutorial misconduct are baseless.”
“A former business partner of convicted influence-peddler Antoin “Tony” Rezko was sentenced to three years of probation Tuesday for his role in a bank fraud scheme over the sale of Rezko’s pizza restaurants.
Abdelhamid “Al” Chaib had pleaded guilty to a single count of obstructing the Internal Revenue Service for his role in securing a $2.6 million loan from GE Capital Corp. to finance his bogus purchase of Rezko’s string of Papa John’s pizza franchises. The loan was in fact a scheme to obtain loan money to prop up Rezko’s businesses while Chaib would have no meaningful ownership of the pizzerias.”
Now for the rest of the story. Once again I would like to thank Evelyn Pringle for the fine work that she did early on to expose the truth about Obama. The highlighting is mine.
As you read the following, remember that it was written in mid 2008.
“Curtain Time for Barack Obama – Part 4 (Mansion Deal)”
“The solution to the problems arising from the unsuccessful attempts to shut down Operation Board Games would be for Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) to become president and issue a bipartisan pardon to all members of the “Combine” who funded his seat in the US Senate. The scam worked when Scooter Libby took the fall for the Bush administration.”
“Rezko-Obama Real Estate Deal
When Obama started setting up the purchase of the $2 million mansion with Tony Rezko in December 2004, he did not know he would be the presidential candidate in 2008. He therefore did not think about the repercussions in a presidential campaign. The Combine’s plan was for Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich to be the candidate at that point. Operation Board Games put an end to that plan.
Mike McIntire and Christopher Drew tracked Rezko’s “financial maneuverings” during the year that Rezko and Obama were entering into the real estate deals through an examination of lawsuits, documents in the Board Games cases, and land records, for a report in the March 8, 2008 New York Times.
They discovered that Rezko was fighting off lenders and investors trying to collect on defaulted loans and failed ventures the whole time. “But he side-stepped that financial dragnet by arranging for the land to be bought in his wife’s name, making it the only property she owned by herself,” they report.
As a result, when the Obamas bought part of the lot in January 2006, “the money they paid was beyond the reach of Mr. Rezko’s creditors, including one conducting a court-ordered hunt for his assets to recover a $3.5 million debt,” the Times notes.
Obama claims he had no idea Rezko was broke. During his March 14, 2008 Sun-Times interview, he said: “I was shocked – as I think a lot of people in Chicago were shocked – to find out the difficult financial straits he was in because I don’t think anybody suspected that at the time.”
Obama told the Tribune on November 1, 2006, that the lot next door had to be sold separately because, “It was already a stretch to buy the house.” However, affidavits filed in the Rezko case in November 2006, show the Rezkos had no money. Rita’s only income was a $37,000-a-year job when she paid $125,000 in cash and obtained a half a million dollar mortgage at the Mutual Bank to buy the $625,000 lot.
When documents unsealed in the case revealed a $3.5 million loan made to Rezko a month before the real estate deal, the money transfer raised “the question of whether funds from Nadhmi Auchi helped Mr Obama buy his mock Georgian mansion in Chicago,” a February 26, 2008 report by James Bone and Dominic Kennedy in the Times of London noted.
Obama claims he got the money because he pulled off a marketing coup for book sales with his speech at the July, 2004 Democratic National Convention and got elected.
“Because of the attention I received during Senate campaign and the convention, my book sold well,” he told Sun-Times in an interview on March 14, 2008. “I came into a sizeable amount of money that allowed us to move,” he said.
The way Obama set up the deal, the mansion and the strip of land were placed in a Land Trust with the Northern Trust Corporation. The price of the mansion was $1.65 million, and Obama came up $330,000 to obtain a $1.32 million mortgage at Northern Trust Bank.
Cook County land records show the deed for the lot to Rita was recorded on June 20, 2005 and she conveyed the land to Northern Trust Company Land Trust #10209, on January 11, 2006. According to a web site for Marquette Bank’s Trust Services, a Land Trust provides shared ownership protection when real estate is owned by more than two people, and divorce, legal disability or the death of one can hinder the sale of the property.
With the establishment of a Land Trust, a judgment against one beneficiary cannot create a lien on real estate held in trust and ordinary legal proceedings against one will not cloud the title, according to Marquette site.
The investigation by the New York Times found that between November 2002 and January 2005, at least 12 lawsuits were filed against Rezko and his businesses, including one by the General Electric Commercial Finance Corp.
In fact, GE obtained a $3.5 million judgment in November 2004, but put off collection in the first half of 2005, while negotiating for payments with Rezko, the Times reports. The lawsuit involves loans Rezko obtained for the sale of Papa John’s pizza parlors.
Papa John’s cancelled its franchise agreement with Rezko in 2004 because he was behind in payments. Rezko then transferred the pizza chains to companies owned by “personal friend(s) and long-time business associate(s),” to operate under trade names such as Papa Tony’s and Pizzeria Zia, according to a lawsuit filed in 2005 by Papa John’s.
Papa John’s alleges Rezko controlled the chains and the associates were running “front” companies. The companies in the lawsuit include AR Pizza, Chaib Investments, Newco Pizza and LayaZia. AR Pizza, Newco Pizza and LayaZia have their principal places of business at the same location as Rezko Enterprises.
Auchi’a firm, General Mediterranean Holding, owns 50% of AR Pizza and Rezko owns 50%. Auchi’’s lawyer told the Times of London the $3.5 million loan to Rezko in May 2005 was to “assist the financial position” of AR Pizza.
His attorney told the New York Times that Rezko was supposed to use the money for his pizza business, and said, “as far as my client is aware, Mr. Rezko used the loan for its intended purpose and not for any other purpose.”
However, the Times review showed Rezko only made a $1 million payment to GE months after he received the loan. GE finally obtained a court order in October 2005 and began seizing even the smallest assets. As the Times explains:
“The company’s lawyers filed a claim against the Rezkos’ home and began issuing subpoenas to banks where Mr. Rezko had accounts, finding very little cash.
“Court records show that G.E. was due to be in court on Jan. 5, 2006, for example, obtaining an order to seize $1,297.39 from one … checking accounts.”
“Less than a week later,” the Times wrote, “Mrs. Rezko sold a 10-foot-wide strip of the empty lot to Mr. Obama, for $104,500.”
Now Obama claims he never knew the lot was in Rita Rezko’s name until he read about it in the media. During his March 14, 2008 interview, the Tribune asked him: “When Tony sold the garden lot in his wife’s name, didn’t that strike you as odd?”
“You know,” he said, “I have no idea why he did it. I don’t think he was intending to hide something, because if he was then, you know, using your wife’s name, Rita Rezko, probably wouldn’t have been the best way to do it.””
“Did he ever explain to you what he was doing?” the Tribune asked.
“No,” Obama replied, “I didn’t discover it until the issue of him purchasing this lot broke through, uh, through you.”
Next trial will focus on pizza parlor schemes
Rezko’s next trial will focus on the fraudulent financial transactions with GE and the mystery of what happened to the missing $3.5 million from the loan made to Rezko the month before the mansion deal may be resolved.
The corruption in this case involves the Illinois Finance Authority. The IFA was established, “to support the Governor of Illinois’ economic development agenda,” and “IFA approves about $3 billion in project financing each year,” according to its web site.
Co-schemer Ali Ata was appointed to lead the IFA. He made a $5,000 donation to Obama on June 30, 2003.
Talat Othman was appointed to the IFA Board, and he donated $1,000 to Obama on June 30, 2003.
David Gustman was made chairman, and his wife, Lisa, also gave Obama $1,000 on June 30.
Co-schemer Abdelhamid Chaib is the former the director of Rezko Concessions. Chaib’s wife was appointed to the Department of Employment Security Review Board. Obama received $5,000 from Chaib on June 30, 2003.
This indictment alleges that Rezko fraudulently caused GE to extend more than $10 million in loans to finance what Rezko portrayed as sales of two different groups of Papa John’’s pizza restaurants in the Chicago and Milwaukee areas.
After closing on the loan for the Chicago stores, the loan became delinquent, and Rezko caused additional false financial information to be submitted to GE in asking for forebearance on the default, the indictment says. It also alleges that Rezko defrauded investors by concealing that he was transferring the company’s assets to himself and a straw purchaser.
As part of the scheme, Ata signed a letter on Finance Authority letterhead that falsely made it appear that Dr Paul Ray had applied for financing with the IFA for acquisition of the pizza restaurants. The letter stated that Ray’s financing would be recommended for approval by the IFA Board on March 15, 2004, and that the IFA would guarantee 50% of the total $16 million.
Ray contributed $3,000 to Obama on June 30, 2003. Ray also gave Obama $2,000 on October 2003, on top of a donation of $1,000 on December 31, 2002. Ray was an investor in Riverside Park.
During the Rezko trial, Ata testified that he told Rezko that IFA board members were worried over the approval of financing for the Papa John’s deal because there could be negative publicity due to Rezko’s association with the pizza businesses
But Ata said Rezko scoffed at the concerns. “He said as far as the publicity, he will get the governor’s office to approve the transaction, and as far as the board,” Ata told the jury, Rezko said, “We put them there.”
Rezko eventually called Ata and dictated the language of a letter that said IFA was guaranteeing half of the purchase price. But before the deal could go through, Ata brought the chairman, David Gustman, and the board’s financial advisers to Rezko’s office to tell him they did not believe the financing was good for IFA. Ata said Rezko seemed to agree, but he never gave back the letter Ata wrote on Ray’s behalf.
More Combine members throw in the towel
Testimony in the first trial opened the door to evidence in other Board Game cases and more Combine members threw in the towel. Ali Ata entered into a plea agreement in the GE case a week before the trial was set to end and he was the last witness to testify.
Ata pled guilty to charges that included tax fraud, and lying to the FBI in saying he received nothing in return for $50,000 in contributions to Blagojevich when according to the plea agreement, he did “receive something for those contributions, specifically employment with a state agency … with an annual salary of approximately $127,000.”
According to court filings, Ata also lied when he “intentionally concealed that he paid Rezko approximately $125,000 in cash … during 2003 and 2004 so that he could obtain a state appointment and then ensure its continuation.”
On his last day on the stand, Ata told the jury he finally agreed to cooperate with the Feds after a person delivered a threat to him. He told prosecutors he lied to the FBI because he was encouraged to be a “team player” by people acting on Rezko’’s behalf and when he received a grand jury subpoena in late 2005, people contacted him in an effort to stop him from cooperating.
Ata testified he gave Rezko the money because he wanted to keep his job. He told the jury he used to drop by Rezko’s office and would see other top officials waiting to see Rezko and in order to keep their jobs people had to follow orders and become a team player.
For instance, Ata said, he often saw Kelly King Dibble, a former Rezmar employee, who became director of the Illinois Housing Authority. But when Dibble balked at hiring a Rezko relative, Ata said, Rezko passed a message to Dibble “congratulating her on her new assignment,” and the new assignment was unemployment.
“It emphasized that you need to be a team player and follow the rules if you’re going to be a part of the administration,” Ata told the jury on May 1, 2008.
Dibble donated $250 to Obama on June 30, 2003, $250 on January 23, 2004, and $250 on April 25, 2007. She is now an attorney with the Northern Trust, Obama’s Land Trust holder. On September 30, 2007, Dribble donated $1,000 to Obama presidential campaign.
Ata testified that he and Rezko once delivered $50,000 in cash to the home of co-schemer Christopher Kelly and left it in the car while they went inside. Ata said Rezko told him, “there’s somebody from Downstate that’s coming to pick up the money.”
Ata said he delivered another $25,000 to Rezko in early 2004, because Rezko said it was needed to pay contractors to stop them from filing a lien on Blagojevich’s home.
Ata also explained that Rezko made a problem with a state lease disappear in exchange for a 25% ownership in a real estate partnership. When Rezko’s attorney pressed for details about how that worked, Ata said Rezko had gone to Michael Rumman to get the matter resolved, the head of the Department of Central Management Services.
Ata says that after he met with the Feds for the first time, he got a voice-mail from Rumman saying Rumman was traveling with “our friend,” meaning Rezko, asking Ata to delay the meeting with investigators.
The other person who pressured Ata was Orlando Jones, the godson and former chief of staff to the deceased former Cook County Board President, John Stroger. Jones was a former vice president of Rezmar development company and an investor in Riverside Park.
Prosecutors say Jones also wanted Ata to lean on another Rezko associate to get him to stop cooperating. Ata told prosecutors that Jones reassured him that Rezko was working to kill the Board Games investigation by getting the Bush administration to fire Fitzgerald. “Don’t worry, the plan is still in place,” Jones told Ata.
Jones committed suicide in September 2007, after news of a pending indictment in a pay-to-play scheme reaching all the way to Las Vegas hit the media. “The discovery of Jones’ body came just two days after FBI agents approached Jones,” FBI spokesman Frank Bochte told the Sun-Times. Jones “cordially declined” to speak with Chicago agents.
The scheme in Las Vegas involved a company called Crystal Communications, lead by Martello Pollock. On June 30, 2003, Pollock donated $1,000 to Obama.
According to the Sun-Times, Jones had been interviewed by federal authorities a while before his death about fees he received from pension fund deals approved by the Illinois Board of Investments.
Allison Davis, Rezko’s real estate partner, and Obama’s former boss at the Davis, Minor & Barnhill law firm, was appointed to serve on the Board of Investment. Davis is president of the Davis Group. On January 29, 2003, the group donated $2,000 to Obama and on June 30, 2003, it made a contribution of $6,000. Obama also received donations from the group of $2,000 on July 7, 2004, $2,000 on January 29, 2007, and $2,300 on June 30, 2007.
Prosecutors allege that another member of this pension Board, Joe Carriatore made a deal with Rezko where his brother would get a seat on the Board for a $50,000 contribution to Blagojevich. He donated $1,000 to Obama on June 30, 2003. Carriatore was an original investor with Rezko in Riverside Park.
Velma Butler was recommended for this Board, but did not get the job. She gave Obama $1,000 on June 30, 2003, and donated $25,000 to Blagojevich three weeks later on July 25, 2003. Butler was also an investor in Riverside Park.
Combine members of Middle Eastern Descent
Ata is a former president of the Chicago Chapter of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. He represents “a deeper corruption” in the Arab American community, “an aspect of the story that has not received much attention,” according to a May 2, 2008 report by Ray Hanania in the Southwest News-Herald.
Hanania points out that many in the Arab community are calling Ata a “rat.” But he’s not alone, Hanania says:
“The real rats are those who used their positions as “leaders” to rape and pillage their own community. The real rats are the so-called ““leaders” who worked to benefit themselves pretending they were doing it for the benefit of the community.”
In his report, Hanania explains how Ata and others would help organize political dinners attended by Arab Americans from the suburbs at which politicians where “honored.”
“These Arab community “leaders,” he says, “would tell the community that if they bought tickets to their “candidate’s nights,” their organization fundraisers or donated through them to local politicians, these politicians would respond by giving the Arab American community empowerment.”
“In truth,” Hanania says, “these political leaders lied.”
“They did get jobs, contracts and clout,” he notes, “but the people who benefited were not members of the community but rather the relatives, children, friends and business associates of these leaders.”
Ata has done well as a member of the Combine. In 2004, his net worth was $12 million, according to the Tribune. In one state deal, Ata and partners, Faysal Mohamed, Fuad Mohamed and Refat Zayed, “took in more than $3.2 million from taxpayers by leasing a West Side office building to the state over 10 years,” the June 6, 2005 Sun-Times notes.
Rumman is also of Middle Eastern descent. He left his $120,900-a-year job in April 2005, after “Auditor General William Holland accused CMS of wasting taxpayer money, skirting state purchasing laws and failing to document hundreds of millions of dollars in alleged savings the agency attributed to its hiring of high-priced consultants,” the March 11, 2007 Sun-Times reported.
Rumman went on to become a major investor with the Iraqi-born Auchi and Syrian-born Rezko in Riverside Park and Rumman was the point man on a now canceled $200 million power plant contract in Iraq.”
Vrdolyak prison sentence, Fast Eddie sentenced to 10 months
From the Chicago Tribune.
“Former Chicago Ald. Ed Vrdolyak was long known as “Fast Eddie” for his ability to work the angles in city politics and remain clear of criminal probes. He burnished that image last year when a judge spurned prosecution calls for prison and sentenced him instead to probation for a fraud conviction.
But his day of reckoning finally came Friday when Vrdolyak, forced by an appeals court to be sentenced again, was given 10 months in prison — followed by 5 months in a work-release center and an additional 5 months in home confinement. He was also fined $250,000.”
“The legendary dealmaker had thought he had escaped prison time after U.S. District Judge Milton Shadur sentenced him to five years of probation for setting up a $1.5 million kickback on a Gold Coast real estate deal.
But prosecutors objected, and the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ordered that a different judge resentence Vrdolyak, calling Shadur’s punishment a “slap on the wrist” that ignored Vrdolyak’s status as one of Chicago’s most influential insiders and gave too much weight to dozens of letters attesting to his acts of generosity.
On Friday prosecutors again sought about 31/2 years for Vrdolyak. Federal sentencing guidelines called for a minimum sentence of 21/2 years in prison. But U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly said the guidelines were too stiff a punishment for Vrdolyak and imposed the 10-month prison term as well as the additional work release and home confinement.
Monico said Vrdolyak will not appeal the sentence. He was ordered to report to prison Jan. 19.
Vrdolyak had pleaded guilty to steering the sale of a building owned by Rosalind Franklin University to a developer that agreed to secretly pay him a $1.5 million “finders fee.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Niewoehner said prosecutors were pleased Vrdolyak will serve some time in prison.
“The rich and powerful in this city deserve to be treated the same as anyone else,” Niewoehner had told the judge. “And if somebody else was involved in a fraud for $1.5 million … they would be looking at a long time in prison.””
Edward Vrdolyak, Fast Eddie, Obama thugs, Pay to play politics
Edward Vrdolyak, Fast Eddie, a crony of Obama, Blagojevich, Rezko, Levine, et al, is back in the news.
From the Chicago Tribune October 13, 2010.
“Former alderman and Cook County Democratic chair, convicted of fraud, has tapped high-powered connections to benefit charity — and work off his sentence”
“Some felons sentenced to community service work end up doling out soup at homeless shelters. Legendary political insider “Fast Eddie” Vrdolyak worked off many of his court-ordered hours by organizing a star-studded fundraiser at Gibsons steakhouse and driving around in his car while recruiting friends by cell phone to aid a charity.
Handwritten log sheets released Wednesday by his lawyers show that Vrdolyak has logged 1,750 hours on behalf of a DuPage County charity that works with law enforcement to help needy children and veterans, mostly by making phone calls and holding “skull sessions” with donors.
In a controversial sentence last year, Vrdolyak eluded prison for a fraud conviction, but after prosecutors complained, an appeals court ordered he be resentenced. Prosecutors are seeking 31/2 years in prison for him Friday.”
“U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly, who will impose the new sentence, will have dozens of character reference letters to read from Vrdolyak supporters — and he can get an earful about Fast Eddie’s virtues from Elsner as well.
“I know I’m going to be crucified for saying this, but Ed Vrdolyak is the finest man I’ve ever met,” Elsner said. “You just come away from talking to him feeling better about things.””
I promised you that despite the best attempts of the Obama camp, US Justice Dept. and mainstream media to qwell Obama’s ties to Chicago corruption before the November elections, I would continue to keep this issue alive. Well, here is the truth about Vrdolyak and how the dots are connected to Obama and Blago.
The highlighting below is my doing. Also, in the spirit of “Subliminal Man” from “Saturday Night Live” I have added names in parenthesis that may be relevant.
From the Chicago Tribune August 7, 2008.
Attorney Michael Monico told U.S. District Judge Milton Shadur that prosecutors turned over 250,000 pages of discovery documents just two weeks ago, and the judge agreed to move Vrdolyak’s trial date to Nov. 4 from Sept. 15.
March 18, 2008; 5:16 p.m.
“In his first 20 minutes on the witness stand, Stuart Levine admitted that he had passed numerous bribes to win private and government business for several firms with which he was connected.
Levine said former Chicago Ald. Edward Vrdolyak acted as a middleman in two bribe schemes, including one to secure a contract with the city Board of Education. On both occasions, Vrdolyak was to pass the bribes onto others, he said.
Levine said he also paid a $500,000 bribe to an undisclosed city official to obtain a tire contract from the Department of Streets and Sanitation. Levine also said he passed on bribes of hundreds of thousands of dollars to win a contract to supply school buses to the Board of Education.
Levine also admitted that he had used hard drugs and distributed drugs to others since the 1970s.
(Obama)
“I experimented with LSD, marijuana, cocaine, quaaludes, Ecstasy, crystal methamphetamine and ketamine,” he said.
Levine, who faces up to life imprisonment, said he hopes to be sentenced to 67 months in prison in return for his cooperation with the government.
“If I lie, the plea agreement is null and void,” he said.
He admitted that after he agreed to cooperate with the government in early 2006, he lied once about Vrdolyak. “I tried to protect him,” he said.
Asked why he decided to allegedly tell the truth about Vrdolyak, Levine said, “I realized that the government realized that I was lying.””
March 18, 2008; 6:06 p.m.
“Stuart Levine also told the jury that at the request of former Chicago Ald. Edward Vrdolyak, he funneled money to Democratic candidates through straw contributors.
(Obama)
Asked by Assistant U.S. Atty. Christopher Niewoehner if he expected to get anything in return, Levine said: “Access.”
(Obama)
Levine testified that from 2000 to 2004, he made a combined $9 million to $10 million. Now, he works as a messenger for a delivery service at $800 a week, he said.
Levine walked through his history of serving on state boards, which, in addition to the Health Facilities Planning Board and the Teachers’ Retirement System board, also included a three-year stint on the Gaming Board. Levine said he eventually resigned.
(Obama)
“I didn’t enjoy the pressure I was getting,” Levine said in a poised manner that seemed well-practiced.
Levine then related how he first met Antoin “Tony” Rezko at a dinner party at the home of Fortunee Massuda, a podiatrist who was also a Rezko business partner.
The dinner took place Nov. 2, 2002, just days before the gubernatorial election. Levine had served as the finance chairman for Republican Jim Ryan. Rezko was an important fundraiser for Rod Blagojevich, Ryan’s opponent.
Levine said he was invited to the dinner by Ruth Rothstein, the head of the Cook County Health Services Department and a friend of Levine’s business partner Robert Weinstein.
Rothstein told Levine that Massuda invited him because she wanted to thank him for speaking up for her proposal before the hospital board to establish a free-standing surgical center on the South Side.
Levine said he had done so as a favor to Rothstein.
In addition to Massuda and her husband, Charles Hannon, others at the dinner included Rothstein, Rezko and his wife, as well as Orlando Jones, the godson of the late Cook County Board President John Stroger.
At the party, Levine said, he and Rezko began talking about their opposite roles in the campaign for governor. Rezko then told Levine that they had mutual friends in Republican power brokers Bill Cellini and Robert Kjellander.
The talk at the dinner then turned to a valuable piece of Gold Coast property that had once been home to the Scholl School of Podiatry at Oak and Dearborn Streets.
The school was in the process of being sold to a North Chicago medical school, now know as Rosalind Franklin University.
Levine served on that school’s board of directors, as did his partner Weinstein. In his capacity at the medical school, Levine was also in charge of selling the Scholl building, and he testified that he had a buyer lined up who was going to pay $15 million. Some $1.5 million was going to be paid as a finder’s fee to Vrdolyak, Levine said.
Levine said Vrdolyak was going to share half of that money with Weinstein and him, even though as board members at the school, such an arrangement would be illegal.
At the party, Levine said, he mentioned that he was having problems closing the sale, and at that point, Massuda chimed in that she had a clinic in the building and would like to buy it.
Levine said he then asked her if she had any role in holding up the sale. Levine said that simultaneously Massuda said, “No,” but Rezko said, “Yes.”
Massuda and Rezko had a short talk, which ended with Massuda saying, “I didn’t want it to come out this way,” and Rezko saying, “Why not just tell him?”
Levine said Rezko then told him that if he already had a buyer lined up for the building, he would no longer stand in his way. Levine did not specify what Rezko was doing to block the sale.
By Election Day, the following Tuesday, Rezko was true to his word, and the sale’s obstacle was resolved, Levine said.”
April 1, 2008; 6:17 p.m.
“But the jury did hear a long call between Levine and his longtime business partner, Dr. Robert Weinstein, about Rosenberg and his larger TRS plans. Rosenberg would be given the choice to raise the campaign cash or to pay a finder’s fee on the $220 million allocation through former Chicago Ald. Edward Vrdolyak, whom Levine said he had used before to pass bribes.”
April 3, 2008; 5:56 p.m.
“Levine still had not agreed to cooperate, and Levine told Duffy that he did not believe the government was aware of the “secret part of his life,” meaning his drug abuse and hotel parties with male friends.
(Obama)
In August 2005, Levine was indicted again, and he still had not agreed to flip. Duffy asked again whether the fact that Levine thought his secret life was still concealed from his family and others was a factor in his decision not to help the government.
“I don’t have a recollection of even thinking about the government knowing about my drug use or not,” Levine answered.
In fall 2005, Levine said, he became aware that one of his drug friends had been interviewed, and Duffy said he wanted to know what role that played in Levine’s cooperation.
“Now you learn that the government is on to this–isn’t that right?” Duffy asked.
“I don’t believe I focused on that aspect whatsoever in that period of time,” Levine answered. “There were many things on my mind, Mr. Duffy.”
Levine said he eventually decided to cooperate a few months later after his lawyer reviewed with him what the results could mean for him if he were convicted.
“They were terrible,” Levine said of the consequences he faced.
To avoid a long jail term, Levine said, he knew he had to cooperate and be completely honest, but still, Duffy pointed out, Levine was not truthful. He lied despite knowing “the sword of Damocles” would come down on him, Duffy said, and Levine agreed.
“You knew the only way you could hurt yourself in this process was by lying?” Duffy asked.
“Yes, sir,” Levine answered.
Levine lied by not telling the government about his dealings with former Chicago alderman Edward Vrdolyak, a man Levine said he often worked bribes through.
Vrdolyak allegedly was to bring in a $1.5 million kickback from the sale of the Scholl School of Podiatry in Chicago to Rosalind Franklin University, and Levine was supposed to get half of it.
He would like to have seen the money even while he was cooperating, Levine admitted, but he insisted he was not truthful about Vrdolyak because he was trying to keep him out of trouble.”
April 4, 2008; 10:55 a.m.
“More tales of the Purple Hotel kicked off this morning’s session of the Antoin “Tony” Rezko corruption trial.
On Thursday, Rezko’s lawyer Joseph Duffy grilled prosecution star witness Stuart Levine about a $761 transaction on his credit card statement for Saturday, Nov. 2, 2002, at the garish purple-painted Lincolnwood hotel that at the time was part of the Radisson chain. Levine has testified that he and a regular group of “drug buddies” often went to the hotel for daylong binges of crystal meth, cocaine, animal tranquilizers and other drugs.
The significance of that date is that it was the same that Rezko and Levine first met. The occasion was a dinner party, and during the chitchat Levine has said the two men came to realize they had been on opposite sides of a shady real estate deal.
As Duffy tries to chip away at Levine’s credibility, the lawyer used the credit-card statement to suggest that Levine’s memory of that first meeting was suspect because he showed up at the party after leaving a drug binge.
Levine acknowledged that the charge on his credit card was likely legitimate, but repeatedly insisted that he did not remember being at the hotel on that day and considered it unlikely. Credit-card transactions are not always recorded on the same day a charge is actually made.
This morning, Duffy questioned Levine about more charges he incurred at the Radisson. On Saturday, Oct. 26, exactly one week before the dinner party, Levine’s credit-card statement reflected a $1,077 charge at the Radisson, and exactly a week before that there was another $1021 charge there.
Duffy appears to be trying to suggest that Levine had a regular Saturday thing at the Radisson with his drug buddies. In earlier testimony, Levine said the group would get together and party once or twice a month at the Lincolnwood hotel, and always on weekdays. Levine said he tried to hide his secret drug life from his family and wanted to be home and clear-headed on the weekends.”
“”If we cant use the power of persuasion, we will use the persuasion of power. Workers of the world unite,” Andy Stern, SEIU
The SEIU union boss Andy Stern is reportedly linked to a federal corruption investigation initiated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Stern is known to regularly visited the White House and participated in so-called “closed-door Obamacare meetings” with the President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Stern, who sits on President Obama’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, is the target of an FBI probe focusing on his crooked dealings as head of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), according to a Washington, D.C. watchdog group.
Stern and Obama have long been good friends and last year the veteran Big Labor leader was the most frequent White House visitor, according to recently disclosed records obtained by Judicial Watch, a public-interest group that investigates political corruption.
In addition, Stern’s union members have a reputation for being the Democrat Party’s “Brown Shirts” by providing muscle in the left’s continued attack on Tea Party participants.
Stern is considered a key figure in secret Obamacare meetings, which violated the president’s own campaign promise of televising all healthcare discussions on C-Span. None of these meetings were televised and in fact it took a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) case to get a release of visitor records from the White House.
Health Department records obtained by Judicial Watch through a FOIA lawsuit reveal that Stern attended the covert pow-wows to take over the nation’s healthcare system along with other liberal-left union leaders, Vice President Joe Biden, Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, among others.
So far the president has refused to comment on his pal’s corruption probe, which centers on a six-figure book contract and a shady “confidential” deal he approved for a California SEIU leader (Alejandro Stephens) sentenced to prison a few weeks ago for fraud.
Under the secret agreement Sterns gave Stephens, who headed the Los Angeles SEIU local for county government workers, $150,000 for “consulting” work that was never performed, according to a Los Angeles Times report.”
Lakin court martial judge Pentagon Prostitute?, Colonel Denise R. Lind
There are plenty of pimps and prostitutes in our government, from Obama to his White House staff, to our courts and even our military. Pimps and prostitutes doing the bidding of the mack daddy in chief, Obama. When I read this article this morning, it had to go up.
From TheBirthers.org.
“This is a question that cost me more than a few stripes in my short but colorful military career, but I find that I need to ask Army Col. Denise R. Lind, (the Judge, Jury and Executioner in the trial of the United States vs. Lt. Col. Lakin,) this same question.
You did take an oath when they pinned those “butter bars”on your shoulders. As an officer you do not swear to obey a person, but to be faithful to the Constitution of the United States. Something about protecting and defending it against all enemies, foreign and domestic is missing from your perspective which is why I need to ask you this question.
It was more than one time coming back from the field I would run into some WM, looking for a salute, usually I was simply too damn tired to play their game. And I would usually found myself standing in front of the “Gunner” who would ask me why I didn’t salute the young lieutenant, and I would stand there at attention and with a straight face look the Gunner in the eye and say, “Sir, I could not distinguish between rank or jewelry, sir.” Normally it was a reduction in rank, and a nominal fine, and the WM would walk out of the Gunner’s office thinking she won. Then the Gunner would pull the bottle of Jack out of his drawer and give me words of his wisdom. He said if you cannot respect the person, you respect the rank. You do not salute the person who did not earn respect, but the rank on their shoulders.
Well Denise let me put it this way, I can never respect a Pentagon Prostitute, so I am looking at your shoulders to see your rank. What I see are not eagles, they are vultures. It is not rank I see, just cheap costume jewelry.”
Obama returns to crime scene in Chicago, Giannoulias campaign, October 7, 2010, Audacity of corruption
“Giannoulias is so tainted by reputed mob links that several top Illinois Dems, including the state’s speaker of the House and party chairman, refused to endorse him even after he won the Democratic nomination with Obama’s help.”…Lynn Sweet, Chicago Sun-Times
From the Chicago Tribune September 26, 2010.
“Barack Obama will visit Chicago on Oct. 7 to campaign for Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias, a White House official said Sunday.
Giannoulias, the state treasurer, is running against U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., for the Senate seat Obama once held.
Obama plans to attend a fundraiser for Giannoulias and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the official said.”
“Like the ill-advised connection to Obama in Aurora, thanks to Dan Shomon, Obama is mentioned in the same discusion with all these problems with Giannoulias.”
“Shomon’s main activities are political campaigns and helping Obama and his friends like Alexi Giannoulias who is now the Treasurer for the State of Illinois.”
“We think it’s HIGHLY unethical of Dan Shomon or Tom Weisner to exploit the taxpayers of Aurora for political purpose. Barack Obama’s credibility is also risked in the process of Shomon and Weisner’s games at the expense of taxpayers.
“Aurora Mayor Thomas J. Weisner gave Shomon the lobbying gig in exchange for political work, including getting the endorsement of Barack Obama back in 2005 when Obama first said he would remain “neutral” in the heated mayoral race.”
“In the 2006 Democratic primary, for example, Obama endorsed first-time candidate Alexi Giannoulias for state treasurer despite reports about loans Giannoulias’ family-owned Broadway Bank made to crime figures. Records show Giannoulias and his family had given more than $10,000 to Obama’s campaign, which banked at Broadway.”
“Alexi Giannoulias, who became Illinois state treasurer last year after Obama vouched for him, has pledged to raise $100,000 for the senator’s Oval Office bid.
Before he promised to raise funds for Obama, Giannoulias bankrolled Michael “Jaws” Giorango, a Chicagoan twice convicted of bookmaking and promoting prostitution. “
Texas voter fraud, 2008 elections, Texas caucus, Polling places, Dr. Lynette Long research, Fox News article
From Citizen Wells August 25, 2008.
“For months there have been outcries from all over the nation of illegal practices at primaries and caucases around the country. Hillary Clinton and her supporters have cried foul over and over again. The Obama Campaign has made deception, attacks and dirty politics it’s hallmark. Recently it has been revealed that the Obama Campaign paid over $ 800,000 to Acorn, an organization with a history of documented voter fraud involvement.
Dr. Lynette Long has collected data and reports from the primaries and she has analyzed the data for accuracy. Texas has many reports of voter fraud and suspicious activity. This article will focus on Texas to provide a glimpse at how serious voter fraud was. Here are some reports from texas from Dr. Lynette Long:
“FROM TEXAS
I was at the Texas Caucus and the Obama supporter’s took the Packets as early as 6:30 AM which they were told not to do, They never let go and then when time came to vote they took over the precinct by some of them pushing the people that were supposed to run it across the room to chairs. They called in incorrect totals for Obama instead of correct ones. He actually had 4 delegates and they called in 19 delegates.
When my 88 year old Mother showed up, who can hardly walk on her walker, and they took her walker away from her when she said she was there to vote for Hillary. They said you are in the wrong place old woman; this is an Obama precinct, and you need to go across town. When I saw what was happening I called the police. Blog post no quarter evelyn
FROM TEXAS
As an eye witness at the Precinct and Senate District Conventions, this is how Obama won many caucuses. First of all, vast numbers of Obama supporters were bused in to the conventions. They were loud and intimidating. Texas Democratic rules state that each person who participates in the Precinct Convention should have voted in this precinct and sign-in personally on a formal sign-in sheet. So many Obama people showed up, that there were not enough sign-in sheets available, so when the conventions ended, there were many sign-in sheets for Obama filled out in the same handwriting, not signed-in as specified. As Hillary supporters, we obtained copies of these sign-in sheets from all over south Texas, Harris County in particular. We laboriously compared the names on the sheets to see if the person who attended the precinct convention had voted in the primary election. Many listed Obama people had not. We then cross-checked the names of the Obama people to see if they lived in the correct precinct. Many times the Obama people did not come to the correct precinct and often appeared on sign-in sheets, as being present in several precinct conventions at the same time (a violation of the space-time continuum).
FROM THE TEXAS CONVENTION
I walked into the Nueses,Texas County Convention only to discover that I was already there as an Obama delegate.
FROM THE TEXAS CONVENTION
They shoved Obama signs in Clinton delegates’ faces, three inches from the nose, called them racists, and told my friend that she had to move from her third-row seat in one meeting and go sit in the back. She also said that the proceedings were heavily laced with black power speeches by preachers as well as public officials.”
Here are some exerpts from the analysis of data by Dr. Lynette Long:
“by Lynette Long
On March 4, 2008, Texas held its Democratic Primary, affectionately called the Texas-Two Step. Polls were open from 7 am to 7 pm and then after the polls closed, persons who voted in primary could participate in a caucus. According to CNN a total of 2,867,454 votes were cast in the Democratic Primary with 1,458,814 (51%) votes cast for Senator Hillary Clinton and 1,358,785 (47%) votes cast for Senator Barack Obama, and a smattering of votes (49,855) for John Edwards, Bill Richardson, Joe Biden, and Chris Dodd combined. A total of 8,247 precinct conventions, commonly called caucuses, took place throughout the 254 counties in Texas, most of which were held at each precinct’s Primary polling place. If 100 people attended each of these “caucuses” than at least 800,000 people attended caucuses. The Dallas Morning News reported a projected turnout of 1.1 million. Overwhelmed by the participation, Texas stopped counting the results at only 41% of precincts counted. As a result of the Texas caucus, Obama was awarded 56% of precinct delegates and Clinton was awarded 44% of the precinct delegates. Since people who voted in the caucuses were required to have voted in their precinct, the voters in the caucus were statistically a subset of the voters in primary, but the results were statistically different. A more sophisticated analysis is required.””
“When Catherine Engelbrecht and her friends sat down and started talking politics several years ago, they soon agreed that talking wasn’t enough. They wanted to do more. So when the 2008 election came around, “about 50” of her friends volunteered to work at Houston’s polling places.
“What we saw shocked us,” she said. “There was no one checking
IDs, judges would vote for people that asked for help. It was fraud, and we watched like deer in the headlights.””
““The first thing we started to do was look at houses with more than six voters in them” Engelbrecht said, because those houses were the most likely to have fraudulent registrations attached to them. “Most voting districts had 1,800 if they were Republican and 2,400 of these houses if they were Democratic . . .
“But we came across one with 24,000, and that was where we started looking.”
It was Houston’s poorest and predominantly black district, which has led some to accuse the group of targeting poor black areas. But Engelbrecht rejects that, saying, “It had nothing to do with politics. It was just the numbers.””
““Vacant lots had several voters registered on them. An eight-bed halfway house had more than 40 voters registered at its address,” Engelbrecht said. “We then decided to look at who was registering the voters.”
Their work paid off. Two weeks ago the Harris County voter registrar took their work and the findings of his own investigation and handed them over to both the Texas secretary of state’s office and the Harris County district attorney.
Most of the findings focused on a group called Houston Votes, a voter registration group headed by Steve Caddle, who also works for the Service Employees International Union. Among the findings were that only 1,793 of the 25,000 registrations the group submitted appeared to be valid. The other registrations included one of a woman who registered six times in the same day; registrations of non-citizens; so many applications from one Houston Voters collector in one day that it was deemed to be beyond human capability; and 1,597 registrations that named the same person multiple times, often with different signatures.”
Citizen WElls 