Category Archives: Rezko

Alonzo Monk, Guilty plea background, Obama, Blagojevich, Rezko, Levine, Kelly, Harris, Cellini, Indictment, Rezko trial transcripts, Chicago IL corruption, Crime, Board rigging, Evelyn Pringle articles

Lest we forget about crime and corruption in Chicago

and the involvement by

Rod Blagojevich

Tony Rezko

Stuart Levine

Christopher Kelly

William Cellini

John Harris

Alonzo Monk

et al

and Obama’s ties to these corruption figures

 

Alonzo Monk Guilty Plea

Part II

 

In part I of this two part series on Alonzo Monk’s guilty plea, the Citizen Wells blog presented background on Monk’s involvement in corruption and how it impacted health care in Chicago and Illinois.

October 26, 2009
“It was further part of the conspiracy that defendants ROD BLAGOJEVICH and KELLY, along with Monk, Cellini, Robert Blagojevich, Harris, Rezko, and Levine, and others, used and attempted to use the powers of the Office of the Governor and of certain state boards and commissions subject to the influence of the Office of the Governor, to take and cause governmental actions, including: appointments to boards and commissions; the awarding of state business, grants, and investment fund allocations; the enactment of legislation and executive orders; and the appointment of a United States Senator; in exchange for financial benefits for themselves and others, including campaign contributions for ROD BLAGOJEVICH, money for themselves, and employment for ROD BLAGOJEVICH and his wife.”

The article reveals:

  • Just as Obama is politicizing now, Blagojevich touted health care for all in IL.
  • The IL Health Planning Facilities Board was rigged thanks to Obama.
  • Mercy Hospital construction was rigged for kickbacks.
  • Children’s Memorial Hospital was a corruption target.
  • Michelle Obama’s hospital pay nearly tripled after Barack was elected US Senator.

Alonzo Monk, et al corrupt IL Health Care

Now for more background on Alonzo Monk’s involvement in corruption.
From the Chicago Tribune, December 23, 2007.
“For years, Rod Blagojevich has projected two distinct images that define his tenure as Illinois’ governor.

In one, he is a populist champion with an agenda of “putting people first” by pushing causes like health care for all. In the other, he is a consummate politician with cronies who offer advice while raising campaign cash and asking for favors.

Now, under the lights of a federal investigation, the distinctions are blurring, and the crony image is threatening to wash out the populist one.

Federal prosecutors for the first time have put Blagojevich inside their widespread investigation of pay-to-play in his administration. Blagojevich told one convicted federal informant, “You stick with us and you will do very well for yourself,” according to a court document prosecutors filed.”
“Nix, however, disputed that Knapp’s influence is overriding. Instead, she said Blagojevich long has used a team approach to politicking and governing. In this vein, he is a public official heavily reliant on his aides. His team has a core nucleus of Nix, chief of staff John Harris, former chief of staff Alonzo Monk, longtime political aide John Wyma, state Rep. Jay Hoffman (D-Collinsville), state Sen. James DeLeo (D-Chicago) and campaign spokesman Doug Scofield.

But Monk, Scofield and Wyma are lobbyists, and their clients have won millions in state contracts under Blagojevich’s stewardship. And Kelly, another close adviser and friend, was indicted this month on federal tax fraud charges.”
Citizen Wells Note – I found this next statement interesting
Remember, originially, Blagojevich was going to be the presidential candidate, not Obama.

“Instead of concentrating heavily on winning votes for his health care plan, Blagojevich crafted a strategy to initially sell his idea via a media blitz—a strategy that quickly fell on its face. Critics, and even some of his allies, said the fatal flaw in this plan was funding the expansion through a gross receipts tax on businesses. True to political form, Blagojevich found his enemy—corporations—and railed against them.”
Read more:

http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/clout_st/2007/12/gov-blagojevich.html

From the indictment of

ROD BLAGOJEVICH, CHRISTOPHER KELLY, ALONZO MONK, WILLIAM F. CELLINI, SR., JOHN HARRIS, and ROBERT BLAGOJEVICH
“Alonzo Monk was a long-time associate of defendant ROD BLAGOJEVICH, and among other things served as his general counsel while a Member of Congress, as campaign manager for his 2002 and 2006 gubernatorial campaigns, on his transition team after his election in November 2002, and as his Chief of Staff from in or about January 2003 until in or about December 2005. Beginning in or about early 2007, Monk worked as a lobbyist, doing business as AM3 Consulting, Ltd. As a lobbyist, Monk principally represented businesses with interests involving Illinois state government, including businesses in the horse racing industry. In addition, Monk served as Chairman of Friends of Blagojevich from in or about December 2006 to in or about July 2007.”
“Means and Method of the Conspiracy
6. It was part of the conspiracy that defendants ROD BLAGOJEVICH and CHRISTOPHER KELLY, as well as co-conspirators Alonzo Monk, William
F. Cellini, Sr., John Harris, Robert Blagojevich, Antoin Rezko, and Stuart Levine, and others, engaged in a scheme to deprive the people of the State of Illinois and the beneficiaries of TRS of their intangible right to the honest services of defendant ROD BLAGOJEVICH, Alonzo Monk, John Harris, and Stuart Levine, as more fully described in Count Two, paragraphs 3 through 44 of this indictment.
7.
It was further part of the conspiracy that defendants ROD BLAGOJEVICH and KELLY, along with Monk, Cellini, Robert Blagojevich, Harris, Rezko, and Levine, and others, used and attempted to use the powers of the Office of the Governor and of certain state boards and commissions subject to the influence of the Office of the Governor, to take and cause governmental actions, including: appointments to boards and commissions; the awarding of state business, grants, and investment fund allocations; the enactment of legislation and executive orders; and the appointment of a United States Senator; in exchange for financial benefits for themselves and others, including campaign contributions for ROD BLAGOJEVICH, money for themselves, and employment for ROD BLAGOJEVICH and his wife.”

“Defendants ROD BLAGOJEVICH and KELLY, along with Rezko and Monk, agreed to direct lucrative state business relating to the refinancing of billions of dollars in State of Illinois Pension Obligation Bonds to a company whose lobbyist agreed to provide hundreds of thousands of dollars to Rezko out of the fee the lobbyist would collect, and Rezko in turn agreed to split the money with ROD BLAGOJEVICH, KELLY, and Monk;”

Citizen Wells – Note Ata contributions to Obama below
“Rezko arranged for a total of $50,000 in contributions to Friends of Blagojevich from Ali Ata, a Chicago-area businessman, and in exchange for those contributions discussed with Ata, ROD BLAGOJEVICH, and Monk obtaining a high-level state appointment for Ata, whom ROD BLAGOJEVICH ultimately appointed as the executive director of the Illinois Finance Authority;”

“At times, ROD BLAGOJEVICH acted with the assistance of others, including Monk, Harris, and Robert Blagojevich. These efforts included, but were not limited to, attempts to:

a. withhold a state grant to benefit a publicly-supported school until a campaign fundraiser for ROD BLAGOJEVICH was held by a United States Congressman who supported the school, or by a relative of that United States Congressman;

b.
extort a campaign contribution from Children’s Memorial Hospital, a not-for-profit children’s hospital located in Chicago, Illinois, and its chief executive officer, in return for official action on state reimbursement for pediatric care;”

“It was part of the scheme to defraud that defendants ROD BLAGOJEVICH, MONK, HARRIS, and ROBERT BLAGOJEVICH, together with Kelly, Cellini, Rezko, Levine, and others, used and attempted to use the powers of the Office of the Governor, and of certain state boards and commissions subject to influence by the Office of the Governor, to take and cause governmental actions, including: appointments to boards and commissions; the awarding of state business, grants, and investment fund allocations; the enactment of legislation and executive orders; and the appointment of a United States Senator; in exchange for financial benefits for themselves and others, including campaign contributions for ROD BLAGOJEVICH, money for themselves, and employment for ROD BLAGOJEVICH and his wife.”

“It was further part of the scheme that to ensure that defendants ROD BLAGOJEVICH and MONK would continue to give Rezko substantial influence regarding matters such as appointments to boards and commissions, the selection of candidates for state employment, and the awarding of state contracts, grants, and investment fund allocations, Rezko gave certain benefits to ROD BLAGOJEVICH and MONK, including the following:
a.
In or about late August 2003, Rezko directed to ROD BLAGOJEVICH’s wife a payment of $14,396, purportedly in connection with a real estate transaction involving property at 850 North Ogden Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, for which transaction ROD BLAGOJEVICH’s wife had not performed any services.
b.
From in or about October 2003 to in or about May 2004, Rezko, through his real estate development company, provided ROD BLAGOJEVICH’s wife with payments of $12,000 a month, purportedly for real estate brokerage services.
c.
In or about January 2004, while Rezko’s real estate development company was paying ROD BLAGOJEVICH’s wife $12,000 a month, Rezko directed to ROD BLAGOJEVICH’s wife a payment of $40,000, purportedly for brokerage services in connection with the sale of property at 1101 West Lake Street, Chicago, Illinois, even though ROD BLAGOJEVICH’s wife had provided few, if any, services in relation to that sale.
d.
From in or about the spring of 2004 until in or about 2006, Rezko provided to MONK a number of $10,000 cash gifts to pay for various items, such as a car and home improvements, which cash gifts totaled approximately $70,000 to $90,000.”

Read more:

http://www.justice.gov/usao/iln/pr/chicago/2009/pr0402_01a.pdf

From the Tony Rezko Trial

“March 10, 2008; 12:46 a.m.

The government alleges that Antoin “Tony” Rezko and Stuart Levine worked together to try to rig decisions on where to invest tens of millions of dollars in state pension funds. Prosecutors worked Monday to link the two through the testimony of Jill Hayden, the former director of boards and commissions for Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Levine had been appointed to the teacher’s pension fund board by Blagojevich’s Republican predecessors, but his appointment expired in 2004. In mid-May 2004, Blagojevich reappointed him. Hayden testified that a few days before that appointment was finalized, she got a call from Rezko urging her to speed things up.

“He called me and he said we need to move on Stuart Levine,” Hayden testified. Hayden said Rezko told her he had already spoken to her boss, Blagojevich chief of staff Lon Monk, about the Levine reappointment and been assured the appointment would go through.

Hayden said Rezko laughed when she said she would have to check with Monk herself. “I took that to mean that I could go ahead and ask him, but it was already a done deal,” she recalled.

Government filings in the case suggest a reason behind the alleged rush. The government claims that Levine and Rezko were arranging to take kickbacks from investment firms in exchange for pension business that was to be voted on within days of Levine’s reappointment.

Hayden also testified that Rezko had at one point sought to have Ruth Rothstein, then the longtime head of the Cook County health system, appointed to the Health Facilities Planning Board, another regulatory panel prosecutors allege Rezko was involved in corrupting.”

“March 19, 2008; 11:21 a.m.

Prosecution witness Stuart Levine is walking jurors through the evolution of his relationship with defendant Tony Rezko. The two met at a dinner party shortly before the 2002 election in which Rezko’s close friend Rod Blagojevich was elected governor.

At the dinner, Levine said he learned that Rezko was holding up a lucrative real estate deal that would have rendered a hefty kickback for Levine. Rezko promised to back off and was true to his word, Levine said.

With the assistance of political insider Robert Kjellander, Levine said he set up a meeting with Rezko about a month later to discuss an insurance deal Levine was trying to get for a client with Cook County. Levine said Kjellander had told him Rezko held considerable sway in Cook County government.

Levine said he met increasingly with Rezko in early 2003 after Blagojevich was sworn in as governor. On occasion, Levine said, Rezko described his close relationship with Blagojevich.

“He said that he had raised a great deal of money for Gov. Blagojevich and that he had great hopes and expectations that Gov. Blagojevich would run for president,” Levine recalled. “And although he knew it was a long shot, he was working toward that end.”

Levine also said that Rezko told him that he and fellow Blagojevich fundraiser Christopher Kelly “exercised the most influence” in Blagojevich’s kitchen cabinet. And Levine said Rezko told him that “all the major decisions in the governor’s office were cleared through [chief of staff] Lon Monk and through Mr. Rezko.”

“Mr. Rezko told me that he was able to have individuals appointed to state boards and was able to have individuals hired into state agencies and that he spoke very often — and in fact went over decisions — that Lon Monk would put into place,” Levine said.

In summer 2003, Levine said he met with Rezko at his office on Elston Avenue and the two talked over the notion of Levine’s position on a state pension board to make money for themselves.

“Anything that I, Mr. Rezko, decide to do at TRS [the pension board], you’ll be a part of it,” Levine said Rezko told him.

Levine said Rezko made it clear that Levine’s assistance was required, and “any moneys that would be earned in doing that he would share with me.”

Levine said that as he left the meeting, he told Rezko he was “extraordinarily pleased to know him and I thought we could do a lot of business together.”

Asked by a prosecutor to elaborate, Levine said, “I meant there were illegal deals that I could bring to TRS and perhaps to the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board,” on which Levine also served.”
Chicago Tribune Rezko trial transcripts

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-rezko-court-story-archive,0,6366703.htmlstory

Evelyn Pringle Curtain time for Obama part 1
“Even in 2006, he said, Rezko assured him that things were going to turn out all right because of a plan to get rid of Fitzgerald. When asked why he believed Rezko could get him removed, Ata said, “Mr. Rezko has the influence and power to do that.”

Ata told prosecutors he lied to the FBI in December 2005, because he was encouraged to be a “team player” by people he believed to be acting on Rezko’s behalf. When he received a grand jury subpoena in late 2005, he said, people contacted him in an effort to stop him from cooperating.

After he met with Federal agents the first time, Ata said, he got a voice-mail from Michael Rumman. The voice mail said Rumman was traveling with “our friend,” meaning Rezko, and asked Ata to delay meeting with investigators.

On his final day on the stand, Ata told the jury he finally agreed to cooperate with the Feds in April 2008, after an unnamed person delivered a threat. He testified that prosecutors once had him wear a wire to make a recording after the person threatened him.

Ata told the jury he delivered one $25,000 contribution to Blagojevich at Rezko’s office in the latter part of 2002, and the three men discussed the prospects of Ata getting an appointment in the administration. He said people at the office that day included Blagojevich’s campaign chief and later chief of staff, Lon Monk, Christopher Kelly, and state Representative Jay Hoffman.

“I learned that Mr. Hoffman was part of a select group of advisers that were referred to as the kitchen cabinet,” Ata told the jury.

“The way Ali Ata described it, the waiting room in the North Side office of Antoin “Tony” Rezko seemed as busy as an airport terminal,” the Tribune noted on May 1, 2008.

Ata brought another $25,000 check to a fundraiser on July 25, 2003, and he was appointed to lead the Finance Authority.

Ata made a $5,000 donation to Obama less than a month earlier on June 30, 2003. Ata is also an investor in Riverside Park. Almost without fail, the people identified in the Board Games cases as investors in Riverside Park contributed to Obama’s US senate campaign.

According to the Sun-Times, to raise the $8 million to spring Rezko out of jail in April, in addition to the $2 million worth of property pledged by Alsammarae, six people who are “current or former state employees,” also put up property.

The list has three current employees from Rumman’s former Department of Central Management Services, including Jenan Shamoun, Donald Lynch, and Mustafa Abdalla.

A state employee familiar with the hiring of the employees told the Associated Press that CMS personnel were pressured by then-director Rumman to hire them

Campaign records show Mustafa Abdalla gave Obama $1,000 on June 30, 2003.”

Evelyn Pringle Curtain time for Obama part 2

“Feds track Obama’s visits to Rezko

In the media, Obama always made it sound like he rarely saw Rezko, saying they met for breakfast or lunch once or twice a year. However, the FBI mole John Thomas helped investigators “build a record of repeat visits to the old offices of Rezko and former business partner Daniel Mahru’s Rezmar Corp., at 853 N. Elston, by Blagojevich and Obama during 2004 and 2005,“ according to the February 10, 2008 Sun-Times.

During his March 14, 2008 interview, the Times told Obama, Thomas is an FBI mole and he “recently told us that he saw you coming and going from Rezko’s office a lot.”

“And three other sources told us that you and Rezko spoke on the phone daily.”

“Is that true?” the reporter asked.

“No,” Obama said, “That’s not accurate.”

“I think what is true,” he said, “is that, it depends on the period of time.”

“I’ve known him for 17 years,” Obama stated. “There were stretches of time where I would see him once or twice a year.”

He told the Times, “when he was involved in finance committee for the U.S. Senate race, or the state senate races, or the U.S. Congressional race, then he was an active member.”

“During the U.S. Senate race, there’s be stretches of like a couple of weeks – for example prior to him organizing the fundraiser that he did for us – where I would probably be talking to him once a day to make sure that was going well,” he said.

“But the typical relationship was one that was fond,” he added. “We would see each other.”

“But there would be no reason for me to be seeing him that often,” he stated.

This issue may be sorted out soon enough because Fitzgerald’s charts matching up Obama’s contributions, visits and calls are bound to be every bit as thorough as the ones produced to prove Rezko is guilty as charged in the first trial. They simply were not produced because they were not needed to prove the defendant guilty in the first case.

As an example of what records might be squirreled away, consider that an FBI agent presented a chart to the jury on April 28, 2008, showing 257 calls from Rezko’s phones to Blagojevich’s chief of staff, Lon Monk, between March 2004 and May 2004 alone.”
Evelyn Pringle articles

http://therealbarackobama.wordpress.com/2008/10/01/evelyn-pringles-operation-board-games-and-curtain-time-for-obama/

 We may never know the full extent of Alonzo Monk’s role in crime and corruption due to his guilty plea. One thing is certain, just as in the case of Blagojevich, Rezko and Obama, what we do know is just the tip of the iceberg.

Citizen Wells, Open thread, 2009, October 11, Open topics for discussion, Obama, ACORN, Leo Haffey, Health care reform, corruption, Congress, H1N1 flu, Flu vaccinations, Natural born citizen, Lawsuits

FREE LEO THE ATTORNEY FROM JAIL

 

“We must, indeed, all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately.“…Benjamin Franklin

I have been thinking about this for some time. We get a lot of comments on this blog. I thank you very much for your efforts and concern about this country. I have stated many times that I could not make this blog effective without the support of so many patriotic Americans.

I have tried to research and write about the major concerns of most Americans and cover the stories that the Main Stream Media has ignored or covered up. This has been a huge challenge that only could have happened with your help.

This article is the first in what I anticipate will be a regular if not daily effort to provide the commenters on this blog with a forum to read and report on issues that you find most relevant. This is a first step to make us more interactive and your input more relevant. We have been discussing some more ideas that will probably be implemented soon. Please be patient with me and at the same time persistent in those ideas that you believe will make us more effective.

I will continue to post articles that I believe are important and will certainly use your input as one of my guides. Please comment on any of the postings that you desire. My hope is that even if you are compelled to comment on the Open Thread, that you will also provide your input on the articles that I write or are provided by others.

Once again, thanks for all of your efforts.

Wells

Obama, Valerie Jarrett, Chicago, Olympics, Corrruption, Narcissism, Obama legacy, Taxpayers will pay, Michelle Malkin, Chicago pay to play politics, Jarrett real estate connections, Michelle Obama hospital job

The Barack Obama, Valerie Jarrett, Michelle Obama trip to Denmark to secure the 2016 Olympics for Chicago.

What is this really about?
Obama’s pay to play contribution to cronies, diversions away from troubling issues that cloud his presidency and trying to prop up his failing legacy.

  • We do not support the 2016 Chicago Olympics bid and it’s burden for the taxpayers.
  • We will not support the narcissistic agenda of Obama who is already trying to save his legacy.
  • We will not support ongoing pay to play Chicago politics.
  • We will not support the agenda of Velerie Jarrett.
  • We got rid of Van Jones, who was endorsed by Jarrett.
  • It is time to get rid of Jarrett and then Obama.

I was in the process of reporting more on Valerie Jarrett and her past ties to corruption in Chicago and I will do so. For now, Michelle Malkin does an excellent job in this video of exposing the truth about Obama and Jarrett and their motives for getting the Olympics for Chicago.

I suppose if Chicagoans really want to host the olympics it is their business, although it does not appear to be the case.
Chicago Tribune poll

47% for
45% against

However, we do not want any federal money going to corrupt Chicago for continued pay to play.

Contact your congressmen and let them know.
Everything that Obama has been involved with in the past in Chicago has hurt the taxpayers and the poor and ended in indictments for widespread corruption and crime in Chicago and Illinois.

God bless Michelle Malkin, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity and Fox News for reporting on this huge scandal.

 

Thanks to commenter LM.

Obama, Acorn, Patrick Fitzgerald, Rezko, Voter fraud, corruption, Captain Connie Rhodes letter, Chicago, Catholic Bishops, USDOJ, Justice Department, Main stream media corruption

I am on the road and following multiple big stories. There is so much happening at the moment that it is difficult keep up with breaking news. Those following this blog are aware that Larry Sinclair and I are trying to get some straight answers on the alleged Captain Connie Rhodes letter and apparent deployment to Iraq. Larry & I have both emailed Captain Rhodes. This entire sequence of events beginning with attempts to prevent Rhodes from initially appearing in court to Judge Land attacking the motives of this military officer to this suspicious letter all smell to high heaven. It appears to this observer that forces above in the chain of command are at work. More on this soon, hopefully.

There is a common thread to much of what I have been researching lately and going way back into 2008. That is Patrick Fitzgerald and the US Department of Justice, particularly the Chicago office. The common denominators of this common thread are Obama, Rezko and Acorn. There is so much substance, so much corruption, that before I can finish an article, another ugly head pops up. That has been so true over the past few days. Hopefully, with the attention being focused on Acorn regarding their monetary and moral corruption, the voter fraud that they were so entrenched in will be taken more seriously. After all, as I and many others pointed out in 2008 and years before, Acorn’s many consistent corrupt actions are known to many. Where in the hell was the Main Stream Media? Their inaction is criminal and un American. And where were many of the jackasses in Congress? Two of the facts I presented in 2008 and recently, the well researched Catholic Bishops report from 1997 and the complete cutoff of funds to Acorn in 2008 by the Catholic Church, should have been more than enough for a congressional investigation.

Now back to Patrick Fitzgerald. The Obama camp cleverly or in cahoots with Fitgerald, did not remove Fitzgerald from office when Obama seized control of the White House. What they soon did was give Fitzgerald a “temporary” supervisory assignment. Patrick Fitzgerald and the USDOJ waiting until after the election to arrest Blagojevich, when they clearly could have done so several months earlier, and from what I can discern, not following up on some other corruption, makes the Obama move stink even more.

I am aware of more, but obviously cannot yet write about it. All in due time.

Stay tuned

Christopher Kelly death, investigated as homicide, Chicago Tribune, September 13, 2009, Blagojevich, Rezko, Obama, 8 year sentence, Kelly plead guilty to federal corruption charge

From the Chicago Tribune, September 13, 2009.

“Kelly dies of possible overdose
Authorities say death may be suicide but are investigating it as homicide”

“Kelly, 51, who was to report to federal prison officials this week to start serving an 8-year sentence, died Saturday at Stroger Hospital in what authorities said was a possible suicide from an over-the-counter medication. An autopsy is scheduled for Sunday, and police in Chicago and south suburban Country Club Hills are conducting a death investigation.

Kelly’s death ended a tumultuous year in his life. He twice pleaded guilty to federal charges. He was estranged from his wife. And he faced serious financial problems, partly due to gambling debts. But Kelly indicated he was not going to turn on Blagojevich despite pressure from prosecutors.”

“A street-smart businessman who used connections and savvy to make millions, Kelly parlayed his wealth into power before becoming a member of Blagojevich’s “kitchen cabinet” of advisers. He had been at the former governor’s side through much of his political life since he ran for governor.”

“The Cook County medical examiner’s office said Stroger Hospital officials told them that Kelly apparently died of an overintoxication of salicylate, a drug used in anti-inflammatory and pain relief medications such as aspirin.

Authorities said Kelly was in his 2007 Cadillac Escalade in the parking lot of a lumber yard at 173rd Street and Cicero Avenue in Country Club Hills — a few miles from his Markham office — Friday night when he began vomiting. Sources said a girlfriend of Kelly’s drove him to nearby Oak Forest Hospital of Cook County. The Escalade remained there Saturday afternoon, guarded by police.

A hospital spokesman said Kelly arrived at 11:15 p.m. and was treated and stabilized. But doctors determined he needed more care and transferred him to Stroger Hospital in Chicago, about 25 miles away.

Kelly arrived at Stroger by private ambulance at 5:15 a.m., hospital spokesman Marcel Bright said. Kelly was treated for several hours but pronounced dead at 10:46 a.m., Bright said.

Investigators were still at the empty Forest Lumber yard Saturday night as they looked for evidence. The remote spot, opposite insect-filled cornfields near Interstate Highways 57 and 80, was taped off as officers used flashlights to search on hands and knees.

Country Club Hills Mayor Dwight Welch said detectives were looking for cigarette butts or anything else that might be traced to potential witnesses.

Welch said authorities are investigating whether Kelly overdosed, possibly on over-the-counter medicines. The mayor also said Kelly vomited in the lumber yard’s parking lot.

Oak Forest Hospital officials alerted authorities of Kelly’s whereabouts about 3 a.m., Welch said.

“We are treating this as a death investigation — it’s a possible homicide or suicide, but it’s a high-profile case so we have a homicide level investigation,” Welch said.”

“Kelly made millions as a south suburban roofing contractor who secured million-dollar deals at O’Hare International Airport, Midway Airport and other city agencies. A roofing firm Kelly oversaw, BCI Commercial Roofing, along with an affiliated company, Castle Construction, were paid $7.6 million for work at O’Hare and Midway between 1999 and 2004.”

Read more:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-christopher-kelly-dead-13sep13,0,3919783.story

Citizen Wells clarification

Do not let the fact that the federal prosecutors convicted Kelly because of his corruption involving O’Hare International Airport. Just as most of the corruption Blagojevich had to do with “pay to play” politics in Chicago and Illinois, Kelly was involved with Blagojevich, Rezko, Levine and ultimately Obama in the Planning Board rigging that corrupted the Mercy Hospital deal….Blagojevich, Kelly indictment

 

Thanks to commenter bob

Christopher Kelly dead, September 12, 2009, Ties to Blagojevich and Rezko, Obama, Chicago Suntimes, Kelly plead guilty to kickback scheme, Kelly dead of overdose of aspirin, federal corruption investigation, Cook County Medical Examiner

Christopher Kelly, who recently plead guilty to kickback schemes, with strong ties to Rod Blagojevich, Tony Rezko and
ultimately back to Barack Obama, is dead. From the Chicago SunTimes, September 12, 2009.

“Key Blagojevich adviser Christopher Kelly dead”

“Christopher Kelly, a key figure in the federal corruption investigation of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, is dead, sources said.

Christopher Kelly, 51, of Burr Ridge, was once the master of Blagojevich’s lucrative campaign fund and the “go-to” guy in the ex-governor’s administration.”

“Kelly was found at 7:01 a.m. by his family, according to a report given to the Cook County Medical Examiner. He was pronounced dead at 10:46 a.m., sources said. Kelly died of an apparent “aspirin overdose,” a law enforcement source said.

Just days ago, after pleading guilty to being involved in an illegal kickback scheme involving O’Hare Airport and his company, BCI Commercial Roofing, Inc., Kelly said he was under pressure from federal prosecutors to cooperate in their corruption probe of Blagojevich.”

Read more:

http://www.suntimes.com/1767469,christopher-kelly-blagojevich-dead-091209.article

PLanning board votes rigged for Mercy Hospital scheme

“Although the application was rejected the first time, Mercy moved for reconsideration and won approval at the April 21, 2004 meeting. Beck testified that after the meeting, he and Levine drove to Rezko’s office to tell him the plan was approved and Rezko was there with Christopher Kelly.”…Kelly’s role in Chicago corruption

From the Blagojevich, Kelly, Monk, Cellini and Harris indictment

“ROD BLAGOJEVICH and
CHRISTOPHER KELLY,
defendants herein, together with Alonzo Monk, William F. Cellini, Sr., John
Harris, Robert Blagojevich, Antoin Rezko, and Stuart Levine, being persons
employed by and associated with an enterprise, namely the Blagojevich
Enterprise, which enterprise engaged in, and the activities of which affected,
interstate commerce, did conspire and agree, with each other and others known
and unknown to the Grand Jury, to conduct and participate, directly and
indirectly, in the conduct of the affairs of the Blagojevich Enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity, as that term is defined in Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1961(1) and (5), consisting of:
a.
multiple acts indictable under the following provisions offederal law:
i. Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1341, 1343, and 1346 (mail fraud and wire fraud);
ii. Title 18, United States Code, Section 1951(a) (extortion,attempted extortion, and conspiracy to commit extortion); and
b.
multiple acts involving bribery chargeable under the followingprovisions of Illinois law:

720 ILCS 5/33-1(c) and (d).”
“7.
It was further part of the conspiracy that defendants ROD BLAGOJEVICH and KELLY, along with Monk, Cellini, Robert Blagojevich, Harris, Rezko, and Levine, and others, used and attempted to use the powers of the Office of the Governor and of certain state boards and commissions subject to the influence of the Office of the Governor, to take and cause governmental actions, including: appointments to boards and commissions; the awarding of state business, grants, and investment fund allocations; the enactment of legislation and executive orders; and the appointment of a United States Senator; in exchange for financial benefits for themselves and others, including campaign contributions for ROD BLAGOJEVICH, money for themselves, and employment for ROD BLAGOJEVICH and his wife.
8.
It was further part of the conspiracy that defendant ROD BLAGOJEVICH permitted defendant KELLY and Rezko to exercise substantial influence over certain activities of the Office of the Governor, as well as state boards and commissions with members appointed by the Governor, with the knowledge that KELLY and Rezko would use this influence to enrich themselves and their associates. In return, KELLY and Rezko provided benefits to ROD BLAGOJEVICH by (a) generating millions of dollars in contributions to Friends of Blagojevich, and (b) providing financial benefits directly to ROD BLAGOJEVICH and his family members.”

Read more:

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/iln/pr/chicago/2009/pr0402_01a.pdf

 

 

Thanks to commenter Hero

Obama liar, Joe Wilson, Obama lies, Health care lies, Obama lying history, SC Representative Wilson right, Obama speech to Congress on health care reform, more Obama lies

Barack Obama is a liar. There is a long pattern of Obama lies. Representative Joe Wilson was right when he yelled out “lie” when Obama was speaking to Congress and the American people.

We need more Joe Wilsons in Congress.

This article will not address Obama’s long pattern of ties to crime and corruption in Chicago and Illinois, but of course lying and corruption go hand in hand. When I first began investigating Obama early in 2008, it was rapidly clear that Obama was steeped in lies and corruption. Here are some of the more prominent documented lies from Obama:

Obama lied on his IL bar application when he failed to list numerous traffic tickets.

Obama lied about his contact with Tony Rezko. FBI mole John Thomas revealed this during the Tony Rezko trial.

Obama lied about his ties to William Ayers.

Obama lied about his involvement with Acorn.

Obama lied about his unawareness of Jeremiah Wright’s racist, un American speeches.

In an article dated July 2, 2009, Forbes magazine exposes Obama as a liar.

“But when it comes to health care reform, with every passing day, Obama seems less God and more demagogue, uttering not transcendental truths, but bald-faced lies. Here are the top five lies that His Awesomeness has told–the first two for no reason other than to get elected and the next three to sell socialized medicine to a wary nation.”
Lie One: No one will be compelled to buy coverage.

During the campaign, Obama insisted that he would not resort to an individual mandate to achieve universal coverage. In fact, he repeatedly ripped Hillary Clinton’s plan for proposing one. “To force people to buy coverage,” he insisted, “you’ve got to have a very harsh penalty.” What will this penalty be, he demanded? “Are you going to garnish their wages?” he asked Hillary in one debate.

Yet now, Obama is behaving as if he said never a hostile word about the mandate. Earlier this month, in a letter to Sens. Max Baucus, D-Mont., and Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., he blithely declared that he was all for “making every American responsible for having health insurance coverage, and making employers share in the cost.””
Lie Two: No new taxes on employer benefits.

Obama took his Republican rival, Sen. John McCain, to the mat for suggesting that it might be better to remove the existing health care tax break that individuals get on their employer-sponsored coverage,”

“Yet now Obama is signaling his willingness to go along with a far worse scheme to tax employer-sponsored benefits to fund the $1.6 trillion or so it will cost to provide universal coverage. Contrary to Obama’s allegations, McCain’s plan did not ultimately entail a net tax increase because he intended to return to individuals whatever money was raised by scrapping the tax deduction. Not so with Obama. He apparently told Sen. Baucus that he would consider the senator’s plan for rolling back the tax exclusion that expensive, Cadillac-style employer-sponsored plans enjoy, in order to pay for universal coverage. But, unlike McCain, he has said nothing about putting offsetting deductions or credits in the hands of individuals.”
Lie Three: Government can control rising health care costs better than the private sector.”

“But lower administrative costs do not necessarily mean greater efficiency. Indeed, the Congressional Budget Office analysis last year chastised Medicare’s lax attitude on this front. “The traditional fee-for-service Medicare program does relatively little to manage benefits, which tends to reduce its administrative costs but may raise its overall spending relative to a more tightly managed approach,” it noted on page 93.”
Lie Four: A public plan won’t be a Trojan horse for a single-payer monopoly.

Obama has repeatedly claimed that forcing private plans to compete with a public plan will simply “keep them honest” and give patients more options–not lead to a full-blown, Canadian-style, single-payer monopoly. As I argued in my previous column, this is wishful thinking given that government programs such as Medicare have a history of controlling costs by underpaying providers, who make up the losses by charging private plans more.”

“But, as it turns out, it very much is his intention. Before he decided to run for office–and even during the initial days of his campaign–Obama repeatedly said that he was in favor of a single-payer system. What’s more, University of California, Berkeley Professor Jacob Hacker, who is a key influence on the Obama administration, is on tape explicitly boasting that a public plan is a means for creating a single-payer system. “It’s not a Trojan horse,” he quips, “it’s just right there.””
Lie Five: Patients don’t have to fear rationing.

Obama has been insisting, including during his ABC Town Hall event last week, that the rationing patients would face under a government-run system wouldn’t be any more draconian than what they currently confront under private plans. This is complete nonsense.”

“By that token, Obama’s stimulus bill has set in motion rationing on a scale unimaginable in the land of the free. Indeed, the bill commits over $1 billion to conduct comparative effectiveness research that will evaluate the relative merits of various treatments. That in itself wouldn’t be so objectionable–if it weren’t for the fact that a board will then “direct financing” toward approved, standardized treatments. In short, doctors will find it much harder to prescribe newer or non-standard treatments not yet deemed effective by health care bureaucrats. This is exactly along the lines of the British system, where breast cancer patients were denied Herceptin, a new miracle drug, until enraged women fought back. Even the much-vilified managed care plans would appear to be a paragon of generosity in comparison with this.”

Read more:

http://www.forbes.com/2009/06/30/obama-health-care-reform-opinions-columnists-public-option-medicare.html?partner=popstories

In case some of you believe that the propensity to lie on Obama’s part is a recent trend, let’s revisit the lie list from 2008:

3.) Father Was A Proud Freedom Fighter – LIAR, he was part of one of the most corrupt and violent governments Kenya has ever had

4.) My Family Has Strong Ties To African Freedom – LIAR, your cousin Raila Odinga has created mass violence in attempting to overturn a legitimate election in 2007, in Kenya. It is the first widespread violence in decades.

5.) My Grandmother Has Always Been A Christian – LIAR, she does her daily Salat prayers at 5am according to her own interviews. Not to mention, Christianity wouldn’t allow her to have been one of 14 wives to 1 man.

6.) My Name is African Swahili – LIAR, your name is Arabic and ‘Baraka’ (from which Barack came) means ‘blessed’ in that language. Hussein is also Arabic and so is Obama.

7.) I Never Practiced Islam – LIAR, you practiced it daily at school, where you were registered as a Muslim and kept that faith for 31 years,until your wife made you change, so you could run for office.

8.) My School In Indonesia Was Christian – LIAR, you were registered as Muslim there and got in trouble in Koranic Studies for making faces (check your own book).

9.) I Was Fluent In Indonesian – LIAR, not one teacher says you could speak the language.

10.) Because I Lived In Indonesia, I Have More Foreign Experience – LIAR, you were there from the ages of 6 to 10, and couldn’t even speak the language. What did you learn, how to study the Koran and watch cartoons.

11.) I Am Stronger On Foreign Affairs – LIAR, except for Africa (surprise) and the Middle East (bigger surprise), you have never been anywhere else on the planet and thus have NO experience with our closest allies.

12.) I Blame My Early Drug Use On Ethnic Confusion – LIAR, you were quite content in high school to be Barry Obama, no mention of Kenya and no mention of struggle to identify – your classmates said you were just fine.

13.)An Ebony Article Moved Me To Run For Office – LIAR, Ebony has yet to find the article you mention in your book. It doesn’t, and never did, exist.

14.) A Life Magazine Article Changed My Outlook On Life – LIAR, Life has yet to find the article you mention in your book. It doesn’t, and never did, exist.

15.) I Won’t Run On A National Ticket In ‘08 – LIAR, here you are, despite saying, live on TV, that you would not have enough experience by then, and you are all about having experience first.

16.) Present Votes Are Common In Illinois – LIAR, they are common for YOU, but not many others have 130 NO VOTES.

Read more:

http://www.audacityofhypocrisy.com/?p=62

And of course the biggest lie, many of us believe, is Obama being eligible to be POTUS based on being a natural born citizen. Obama signed a certification on the Arizona Presidential Preference Election Candidate Nomination Paper, form A.R.S. 16-242, that he is a natural born citizen. God willing, we will get a definitive answer on this soon.

Obama’s Rezko Auchi conflict of interest, Nadhmi Auchi, Saddam Hussein, Iraq war, Obama opposed war, Auchi high ranking official in Iraq Oil Ministry, 3.5 million dollar loan to Rezko, Obama home purchase

In case you thought we had forgottten about Obama being guilty of curruption, probably just as guilty as Rod Blagojevich, think again. The Citizen Wells blog series on why Barack Obama should be indicted and arrested will return soon. In the meantime, here is an interesting article for your consideration.

From the Hawai’i Free Press, September 17, 2008:

“Nadhmi Auchi is an Iraqi whose Baathist ties go back to 1959. A formerly high-ranking official in Iraq’s Oil Ministry, Auchi left Iraq at the end of the 1970s. His wealth then grew exponentially as a procurer of arms for Saddam Hussein’s government during the Iran–Iraq war. He is now one of the richest men in Britain. Saddam Hussein in 1995 selected BNP, which later merged with Paribas, as the sole conduit bank handling Oil-for-Food transactions. This Clinton-era arrangement was changed in 2001 by the incoming Bush administration.

Auchi was also a key financial backer for Chicago political fixer and dual US-Syrian citizen Tony Rezko. This writer explained the complex web of relationships in an August 24 article titled, “Iraqi Billionaire Threatens Reporters Investigating Rezko Affair”:

A secret $3.5 million loan from an Auchi company to key early-money Barack Obama fundraiser Antoin Rezko was exposed while Rezko was awaiting trial on fraud and money-laundering charges earlier this year. Rezko’s bail was revoked and police showed up banging on the doors of his Wilmette Chicago mansion to drag him off to jail early in the morning of January 28th. Auchi’s loan to Rezko had come on May 23, 2005 but had not been disclosed to the Court as required in his bail agreement. Three weeks later, on June 15, 2005, Rezko’s wife assisted the Obamas in the purchase of their South Chicago mansion by purchasing a next-door undeveloped lot being sold with the house. 

According to the Times of London, “Mr. Rezko’s lawyer said his client had ‘longstanding indebtedness’ to Mr. Auchi’s General Mediterranean Holding (GMH). By June 2007 he owed it $27.9 million. Under a Loan Forgiveness Agreement described in court, M. Auchi lent Mr. Rezko $3.5 million in April 2005 and $11 million in September 2005, as well as $3.5 million transferred in April 2007. That agreement provided for the outstanding loans to be ‘forgiven’ in return for a stake in the 62-acre Riverside Park development.”

Rezko’s relationship with Barack Obama goes back to at least 1990, when Obama’s law firm did work relating to thousands of now-decaying Rezko apartment units in South Chicago. Rezko was a key early-money fundraiser in Obama’s state Senate campaigns and his failed run at the U.S. Congress.

According to The Times of London, “Mr. Auchi first met Mr. Rezko after the 2003 Iraq war and they have a business relationship.” At the time Auchi was facing the possibility of extradition to France. The Times of London explains: “Mr Auchi was convicted of corruption, given a suspended sentence and fined £1.4 million in France in 2003 for his part in the Elf affair, described as the biggest political and corporate scandal in post-war Europe. He, in a statement from his media lawyers, claims he is appealing against the sentence.”

In 2003, Nick Cohen of the UK Guardian wrote:

Allow me to introduce you to Nadhmi Auchi. He was charged in the 1950s with being an accomplice of Saddam Hussein, when the future tyrant was acquiring his taste for blood. He was investigated in the 1980s for his part in alleged bribes to the fabulously corrupt leaders of post-war Italy. In the 1990s, the Belgium Ambassador to Luxembourg claimed that Auchi’s bank held money Saddam and Colonel Gadaffi had stolen from their luckless peoples. In 2002, officers from the Serious Fraud Squad raided the offices of one of Auchi’s drug companies as part of an investigation of what is alleged to be the biggest swindle ever of the (British National Health Service). With allegations, albeit unproven, like these hanging over him, wouldn’t you think that British MPs would have the sense to stay away?”

 

“Here are some questions reporters should be asking Barack Obama:

Senator Obama: Lehman Brothers owes over $250 million to a bank owned in part by Nadhmi Auchi’s holding company. Auchi was a key financial backer of Tony Rezko. Sources indicate you met Auchi twice when he visited Chicago in 2004. If elected, how will your relationship with Rezko and Auchi affect your policy towards Lehman Brothers?

Senator Obama: There are reports that Nadhmi Auchi was in 2004-2005 seeking US residency while appealing his French court conviction in the ELF-Aquitaine case. If elected, would you look favorably on a US residency application from Auchi?

Senator Obama: You stated that the Lehman bankruptcy shows that Americans cannot afford four more years of the Republicans’ “failed philosophy”. Can Americans afford a President whose home was purchased with the assistance of now-convicted-felon Tony Rezko, a man characterized as having “permanent indebtedness” to Nadhmi Auchi?”

Read more:

http://www.hawaiifreepress.com/main/ArticlesMain/tabid/56/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/66/Lehman-Brothers-Obamarsquos-RezkoAuchi-conflict-of-interest.aspx

Obama arrest, Patrick Fitzgerald, USDOJ, Chicago, US department of justice corrupt?, Who is controlling USDOJ?, Why were Blagojevich and Obama indictments delayed?

Barack Obama

Arrest

Part 3

Where is Patrick Fitzgerald?

What is Patrick Fitgerald working on?

The issues surrounding Barack Obama’s eligibility to be president are crucial, yet they are but one piece of a disturbing puzzle picture of Obama.

The Citizen Wells blog has focused on the aspects of Obama and his past that we believe are the main issues surrounding Obama, the usurper. It boils down to this:

  • Obama’s persona is made up of lies, deception and fraud.
  • Obama is a narcissist. It is all about him.
  • What entities are controlling Obama, the puppet?

This blog will continue to cover the important eligibility issues. However, another important aspect of Obama’s life, one that helps explain his other behaviours, is his strong ties to crime and corruption as well as his involvement in crime and corruption. It is obvious why Obama has gone to such great lengths to hide his past.

It is clear that Patrick Fitzgerald and the US Department of Justice had more than enough evidence to indict Rod Blagojevich by mid 2008 at the latest. And since Obama made possible one of the main acts of corruption that Blagojevich, Rezko, Levine, Weinstein, et al, were indicted on, Obama should have been indicted before the general election.

  • Why did this not happen?
  • Is the USDOJ corrupt?
  • Is the USDOJ being controlled by the “secret government” Bill Clinton spoke of?
  • Is the USDOJ being controlled by a foreign government?
  • Is the USDOJ being controlled by the Obama camp? This is a distinct possibility.

OR

Is it as simple as this

What is the common denominator of these 3 politicians? 

 

ObamaContributions

Obama source

BidenContributions

Biden source

PelosiContributions

Pelosi source

Is this another reason why tort reform is not being pursued and why the politicians want more complicated government programs?

There are two primary criminal activities that Barack Obama was involved in that Patrick Fitzgerald is aware of and should have been working on. We will be providing details soon of the story that has been mostly overlooked.

Stay tuned.

Obama arrest, Blagojevich arrest, Patrick Fitzgerald, Rezko trial, Chicago corruption, Obama Rezko ties, Obama lies, Campaign donations, Fraud, Obama just as corrupt as Blagojevich, USDOJ corrupt?

Barack Obama

Arrest

Part 2

I was going over some notes, preparing to put up the next article explaining in detail why Barack Obama should have already been arrested when I came across some old articles that I had saved. The articles were so compelling on their own that I decided to present them as standalone evidence that Obama and Blagojevich should have been indicted and arrested by mid 2008. This leaves several glaring questions.

Why did Patrick Fitzgerald and the US Dept of Justice wait until after the election to arrest Blagojevich? The excuse of waiting for the US Senate seat to be sold was a diversion. There was plenty of evidence against Blagojevich. The amount of evidence placed before the public was sufficient and Fitzgerald has much more.

If you arrest Blagojevich, you have to arrest Obama. Obama was just as steeped in Chicago and IL corruption.

Perhaps that was the reason for focusing on the selling of the IL senate seat.

However, if you examine the complaint and subsequent indictment of Blagojevich, you will see the same references to corruption that ensnares Obama.

And now Obama has picked Fitzgerald to be the Interim chairman of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee of U.S. Attorneys.

What does that mean? 
What is also significant about the following articles is that they came from the Main Stream Media. However, prescious little of this was revealed on television.

From the LA Times blog, Top of the Ticket, April 7, 2008:

“Ticket Special Report: Obama and Rezko, the early years”

“The trial of Antoin “Tony” Rezko, one-time patron to Sen. Barack Obama and Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, has turned lurid.
 
Under cross-examination by Rezko attorney Joseph Duffy, star prosecution witness Stuart Levine, a Chicago-area lawyer, is admitting to conspiracy, extortion, bribery, fraud and other bad acts while he “served” at the Illinois public school teachers pension fund board.
 
At Duffy’s urging, Levine is detailing 30 years of drug usage including sordid day-long binges with other men at a Chicago inn called the Purple Hotel. Rezko’s attorney Duffy is wondering whether all that cocaine, crystal meth and other drug use has perhaps fogged Levine’s memory.
 
That aside, much of the trial’s focus is on money — much of it given in the form of campaign money in the careers of Obama and Blagojevich.
 
It’s an unfolding, seemingly local political story that’s fascinating in its revealing details about the subterranean world of business, financial and family connections in Illinois and Chicago politics that helped take a virtually unknown black Chicago attorney, nurtured him politically and financially and turned him into….
 
the polished candidate who today thrills crowds of thousands across the country with his eloquence.
 
Obama currently leads in delegates for the Democratic nomination for president.
 
This tale is long by Ticket standards. We’ll do this rarely. But for those interested in delving into details it provides important background about the early political connections of a little-known newcomer to the national political scene.
 
This story concerns two men, neither of whom face any legal charges today. They are two of Illinois’ top Democratic politicians — Gov. Blagojevich, who’s been mentioned often in court, and Sen. Obama, who’s received only passing mentions. They’re entwined in the Rezko saga, particularly through the bounteous campaign money he raised for them both.
 
Get used to that name. Rezko’s currently in a long-running Chicago trial on federal extortion and bribery charges. Few campaign donors were more responsible than Rezko for the rise of Blagojevich (Blah-goy-ah-vitch) and Obama. Both politicians came to rely on him for political and personal advice — and lots of campaign money.
 
 
 
Their intimate relationship is coming into focus through Rezko, a Syrian-born businessman who made his money in real estate and restaurant franchises and now sits daily in the federal courtroom of U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve. The trial’s daily events are covered in this Tribune Rezko court blog.
 
So far, Blagojevich, reelected in 2006, is more deeply enmeshed in the scandal than Obama, who’s not been implicated in any wrongdoing.
 
But all three operated in the murky world of Illinois Democratic politics, where money, family relationships and long business associations provide the invisible glue of the local political world.
 
Witnesses in Rezko’s trial have testified that Rezko recommended friends and associates for government jobs and posts on Illinois state boards when Blagojevich took office in 2003, and some of those friends were generous donors to Blagojevich.
 
An early trial exhibit from prosecutors was a spreadsheet. Prepared by an FBI agent , the spreadsheet identifies Rezko-related donors who supplied $1.43 million between 2001 and 2004 to Blagojevich, who was first elected governor in 2002.
 
Using Federal Election Commission and Illinois state records, The Times’ Dan Morain compared donors on the FBI spreadsheet to Obama’s contributors. Guess what.
 
Sen. Obama received $222,000 during the same 2001-2004 period from Rezko-related Blagojevich donors.
 
And Obama received at least another $32,000 from them for this presidential run — although Rezko, indicted in 2006, has not been involved in Obama’s current campaign.
 
Those Obama-Blagojevich donors include Rezko himself, along with his family members, employees and associates of his various business enterprises. There’s also the head of a major Chicago investment firm that received Illinois public teachers’ pension money to invest.”

Read more:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/04/obamarezko.html

From the Chicago SunTimes April 23, 2007:
“Obama and his Rezko ties
DAY ONE OF TWO”
“For more than five weeks during the brutal winter of 1997, tenants shivered without heat in a government-subsidized apartment building on Chicago’s South Side.
 
It was just four years after the landlords — Antoin “Tony” Rezko and his partner Daniel Mahru — had rehabbed the 31-unit building in Englewood with a loan from Chicago taxpayers.

Rezko and Mahru couldn’t find money to get the heat back on.

But their company, Rezmar Corp., did come up with $1,000 to give to the political campaign fund of Barack Obama, the newly elected state senator whose district included the unheated building.
 
Obama has been friends with Rezko for 17 years. Rezko has been a political patron to Obama and many others, helping to raise millions of dollars for them through his own contributions and by hosting fund-raisers in his home.
 
Obama, who has worked as a lawyer and a legislator to improve living conditions for the poor, took campaign donations from Rezko even as Rezko’s low-income housing empire was collapsing, leaving many African-American families in buildings riddled with problems — including squalid living conditions, vacant apartments, lack of heat, squatters and drug dealers.
 
The building in Englewood was one of 30 Rezmar rehabbed in a series of troubled deals largely financed by taxpayers.

Every project ran into financial difficulty. More than half went into foreclosure, a Chicago Sun-Times investigation has found.
 
“Their buildings were falling apart,” said a former city official. “They just didn’t pay attention to the condition of these buildings.”
 
Eleven of Rezko’s buildings were in Obama’s state Senate district.
 
Obama, now a U.S. senator running for president, has come under fire over his friendship with Rezko, who was charged last fall with demanding kickbacks on state business deals under Gov. Blagojevich.”
 

“Rezko and Mahru had no construction experience when they created Rezmar in 1989 to rehabilitate apartments for the poor under the Daley administration. Between 1989 and 1998, Rezmar made deals to rehab 30 buildings, a total of 1,025 apartments. The last 15 buildings involved Davis Miner Barnhill & Galland during Obama’s time with the firm.
 
Rezko and Mahru also managed the buildings, which were supposed to provide homes for poor people for 30 years. Every one of the projects ran into trouble:”
 
•                         Seventeen buildings — many beset with code violations, including a lack of heat — ended up in foreclosure.
 
•                         Six buildings are currently boarded up.
 
•                         Hundreds of the apartments are vacant, in need of major repairs.
 
•                         Taxpayers have been stuck with millions in unpaid loans.
 
•                         At least a dozen times, the city of Chicago sued Rezmar for failure to heat buildings.”
“Obama works on Rezmar deals

Obama spent the next eight years serving in the Illinois Senate and continued to work for the Davis law firm.  Through its partnerships, Rezmar remained a client of the firm, according to ethics statements Obama filed while a state senator.”
“But Obama did legal work on real estate deals while at Davis’ firm, according to biographical information he submitted to the Sun-Times in 1998. Obama specialized “in civil rights litigation, real estate financing, acquisition, construction and/or redevelopment of low-and moderate income housing,” according to his “biographical sketch.”
 
And he did legal work on Rezko’s deals, according to an e-mail his presidential campaign staff sent the Sun-Times on Feb. 16, in response to earlier inquiries. The staff didn’t specify which Rezmar projects Obama worked on, or his role. But it drew a distinction between working for Rezko and working on projects involving his company.”

Read more:

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/353829,CST-NWS-rez23.article