Free Republic

WASHINGTON — Barack Obama, the U.S. Senate candidate from Chicago who has become the Democratic Party's latest rising star, is drawing enough support from the entertainment industry to put on his own variety show. From comedian Chris Rock to singer Barbra Streisand to musician Herbert Hancock, entertainers have written out checks of $1,000 or $2,000 to help the 42-year-old Illinois state senator win the seat being vacated by retiring GOP Sen. Peter Fitzgerald. Film directors Rob Reiner ("The American President") and Edward Zwick ("The Last Samurai" and "Courage Under Fire") both contributed in the past three months, according to Obama's...

In the run-up to the 2012 election, a story surfaced about an Iraqi billionaire who managed to buy access to Washington policy makers while funding a Chicago Pay-to-Play scheme that helped produce a Governor, a U.S. Senator, and, ultimately, a President of the United States. The story was eight years in the making, yet despite the extent of his political influence, this Iraqi’s name remains widely unknown. He wants it that way. In fact, he has spent millions of dollars to hinder the reporting of his activities by the news media. The lack of attention paid to him, however, is...

It's business as usual in Chicago. After protecting President Barack Obama from criminal liability for his corrupt relationship with convicted political fixer Tony Rezko, former Chicago U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald has been rewarded with a partnership in the Chicago office of New York-based law firm giant Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. The firm counts among its partners, Greg Craig, Obama's first White House Counsel, who had to help navigate Obama through Fitzgerald's investigation of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's attempt to sell Obama's Senate seat, from which he resigned shortly after being elected President but before he was sworn...

How 'bout a little refresher re. Obama political Godfather  and actual (16-count!) convicted felon Tony Rezko...? The Syrian-born Rezko is an infamous Chicago slumlord, fast-food restauranteur, and sleazy political operator who played a key role in the Blagojevich case- as well as the unlikley ascension to power of Barrack Hussein Obama.Obama's longtime ally, friend, and top fundraiser was found guilty of 16/24 counts of felony influence peddling back in June 2008. Of course the story was mostly buried/detached from his bud Barry in the run-up to that year's most unfortunate (for us) presidential election whilst the jury convicted Rezko of wire...

The 2013 summer movie slate will feature the standard popcorn bait, from the third installment of "Iron Man" to a "Superman" reboot and a new "Star Trek" adventure. Now, "The Great Gatsby" is joining that blockbuster-heavy crowd. Director Baz Luhrmann's update on the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel is being moved from December 2012 to Summer 2013. Why? Warner Bros. insists the switch means the film's potential audience will be best served by a summer crowd. The LA Times says its sources pin the blame on the film's 3D effects. They just aren't ready for their close up yet.

MADISON – Together at last. All four of the lead GOP candidates for Wisconsin’s hotly contested U.S. Senate race appeared at a debate Monday, marking the first time these bitter rivals have shown up to the same debate since the campaign began. While the candidates threw verbal jabs and blasted negative advertisements and past voting records, their prescriptions for American policy could have come from the same doctor. Each candidate tried to appear more conservative than the next. Jeff Fitzgerald, who is in last place in the latest polls, pointed to his record as Assembly speaker during last year’s tumultuous...

MADISON — Eric Hovde’s wealth appears to be paying dividends. Hovde, a Madison businessman, has surged into second place among the Republican candidates contending for Herb Kohl’s Wisconsin U.S. Senate seat, according to the latest Marquette Law School poll, released Wednesday. That follows a report from left-leaning Public Policy Polling on Tuesday that showed Hovde actually leading former Gov. Tommy Thompson 31 percent to 29 percent. Hovde’s assets make him the wealthiest of the candidates, and he has lent his campaign at least $1 million, according to financial statements reported last week by The Associated Press. Hovde began running campaign...

The GOP Senate race has tightened since last month with former governor Tommy Thompson and wealthy businessman Eric Hovde the top contenders in a four-man field, according to a poll released Wednesday by Marquette Law School. Thompson led Hovde 35% to 23% among likely Republican primary voters in the survey, followed by former congressman Mark Neumann at 10% and state Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald at 6%.A separate survey released Tuesday by Public Policy Polling found the Republican race even closer, with Hovde on top at 31%, Thompson at 29%, Neumann at 15% and Fitzgerald at 9%.Both surveys found Hovde on...

Former Gov. Tommy Thompson and wealthy political newcomer Eric Hovde are running neck and neck for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination in Wisconsin, according to a new survey by Public Policy Polling. Hovde leads Thompson 31% to 29% among people who say they plan to vote in the GOP Senate primary, followed by former U.S. Rep. Mark Neumann at 15% and state Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald at 9%, with 16% undecided. The Public Policy Polling survey shows a much tighter race than a poll last month by Marquette University Law School in which Thompson led Neumann and Hovde by double...

Tommy Thompson leads his three GOP rivals in the Aug. 14 Republican US Senate primary, but a quarter of likely voters polled were undecided in a survey taken June 13-16 by Marquette Law School poll. Thompson leads the four-way field with 34%, followed by Mark Neumann at 16%, Eric Hovde at 14% and Jeff Fitzgerald at 10%, among 344 likely primary voters (that result has a margin of error of plus or minus 5.4 percentage points). In possible November Senate matchups, Thompson leads Democrat Tammy Baldwin 49% to 41%. But Baldwin is tied with Republican Mark Neumann at 44%, and...

The story of Jay Gatsby (an excellently cast Leonardo DiCaprio) and the object of his affection, Daisy Buchanan (a gamine Carey Mulligan) gets the Baz Luhrmann treatment in this year’s adaptation of “The Great Gatsby.” If “Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet” and “Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge” taught us anything, it’s that a film can be set decades — or even centuries — ago and still feature current top 40 music on its soundtrack.

MADISON — Multimillionaire business Eric Hovde is piling his own cash into his campaign coffers in his bid for Wisconsin’s open U.S. Senate seat. Could this be deja vu for Wisconsin voters? The state’s soon to be senior U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Republican, self-funded his campaign in his successful 2010 Senate bid. Senate candidates’ campaign finance disclosure reports for the first quarter of the year were due April 15 to Federal Elections Commissions. As of Wednesday, only reports for Hovde and former Wisconsin 1st District U.S. Rep. Mark Neumann, both Republicans, were available on the FEC’s website. Reports for...

Madison - If primaries are held, voters would go to the polls on June 5 for recall elections involving Gov. Scott Walker, the lieutenant governor and four Republican state senators, under an agreement signed by a judge on Wednesday. The agreement also calls for primaries - or a general election in the event there are no primaries - to take place on May 8. As part of a stipulation entered in court, attorneys for the recall committees, their recall targets and the Government Accountability Board all agreed the state elections agency should receive an extension to certify petitions until March...

MADISON — The challenges begin. Four Republican state senators targeted for recall filed challenges late Thursday, contesting signatures collected on petitions in the campaign. Just how many challenges were filed was unclear late Thursday — the candidates weren’t talking and the Government Accountability, or GAB, was busy filing the challenge documents. State Sen. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, in an earlier news release, said he would contest 4,300 signatures as invalid, more than meeting the threshold to halt a recall election. The Committee to Recall Scott Fitzgerald needed to collect 16,742 signatures from the 13th Senate District electorate to force a recall....

MADISON — Four Republican state senators targeted for recall are expected to submit their challenges to the signatures that could result in voiding any elections. Today is the deadline for the senators to make any challenges to petitions filed with the Government Accountability Board. Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald has said he plans on challenging enough to stop the recall election against him. The other three senators haven't said how many signatures they will challenge. Those targeted senators are Van Wanggaard of Racine, Terry Moulton of Chippewa Falls and Pam Galloway of Wausau. Once submitted, it's then up to the...

MADISON — At an average rate of 2.7 signatures entered every second, Wisconsin’s recall petition vetting effort appears to be humming inside the Verify the Recall network. And a top official with the tea party-backed initiative said the review of hundreds of thousands of petitions to date has found numerous invalid signatures — validity issues that could spell problems for the campaign to recall Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, the group contends. Verify the Recall, a joint venture of the Wisconsin GrandSons of Liberty and We the People of the Republic, tea party organizations aligned with fiscal conservative movements, bills...

Madison - Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said Tuesday he will challenge thousands of signatures this week - enough to prevent a recall election against him if state officials agree. Fitzgerald made the comments Tuesday as the state Government Accountability Board disclosed it is considering using statistical sampling to determine how frequently duplicate names have appeared on petitions to recall Fitzgerald, Gov. Scott Walker and four other Republicans. The board's director, Kevin Kennedy, said the board is committed to creating a database of those who signed the Walker recall petitions to find people who may have signed twice. But the...

MADISON — The two titans of Wisconsin's highly watched GOP Senate race are each claiming victory in the campaign money chase. And each has a case to make, depending on how you crunch the numbers. Meanwhile, an also-ran is bowing out of the race, leaving three to contend for the GOP nomination to replace long-serving U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl, a Democrat, who is retiring. Former Gov. Tommy Thompson on Monday announced his campaign had raised north of $656,000 in the last three months of 2011. The candidate has about $540,000 in cash on hand, according to a campaign news release....

FBI: Terror suspect plotted fuel attackAl-Marabh planned to blow up tunnelJail informant reported `martyr' bid JOHN SOLOMONASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON - Nabil al-Marabh, who ran a print shop with his uncle in Toronto, plotted to steal a fuel tanker truck and blow it up in one of the heavily travelled tunnels between New Jersey and Manhattan, FBI documents allege. Al-Marabh, 36, was arrested Sept. 19, 2001, in Chicago in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. His arrest prompted an RCMP raid of his uncle's copy shop on Charles St. in Toronto. The U.S. deported him...

A former CIA officer was charged Monday with illegally leaking the identity of a covert officer and other classified information to journalists. John Kiriakou, a former CIA officer and author who defended waterboarding, was charged by the Department of Justice with one count of illegally disclosing a covert officer’s identity and two counts of violating the Espionage Act for illegally leaking classified national defense information. He was also charged with making false statements for allegedly trying to trick the CIA’s Publications Review Board to let him use information in his 2010 book, The Reluctant Spy. The investigation led by U.S....

Wow. One million signatures. Who could have guessed that one of the two entrenched American political parties — the one that claims the president of the most powerful nation on earth as one of its own and marshaled some $23.4 million in campaign spending for last year's wave of recall elections — would ever have the money and logistical wherewithal to gather 1 million signatures to recall a member of the other entrenched American political party? What a victory for democracy. Or should I say Democrat-acy? With the notable and laudable exception of the effort to recall Sen. Scott Fitzgerald...

A group working to recall state Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said Friday it has collected enough signatures to force the veteran Republican legislator into an election. Lori Compas, a Fort Atkinson photographer who serves as the recall group's chairwoman, said it had collected more than the 16,742 signatures needed to trigger the election, although she declined to say exactly how many. She said volunteers would continue to gather signatures through Saturday, the last day they are allowed. The signatures must be turned in to the state Government Accountability Board by Tuesday. "Over the last year we have watched Scott...

It’s been 36 years on Thursday since the ore boat Edmund Fitzgerald sank in a violent storm in eastern Lake Superior taking all 29 crew members with her. The storm of November 9-10, 1975, ranks among the most powerful to strike the Lake Superior region.

LOS ANGELES - Dealing a blow to the U.S. Senate candidacy of Republican Jack Ryan, a California judge ruled that several sealed divorce records likely to embarrass the candidate and his ex-wife should be opened to the public. Ruling on a request brought by attorneys for the Tribune and WLS-TV, Superior Court Judge Robert Schnider acknowledged that the resulting publicity from the disclosure would be harmful to the couple's son, a key argument Ryan had raised in seeking to keep the documents from public view. But Schnider said he had weighed the public interest of disclosure against the private interests...

Wisconsin Democrats still not allowed to vote even after returning to the stateMarch 14th, 2011 7:30 pm ET The Wisconsin Democratic state senators have now returned to the state, but they are still not having their votes counted in committee. Today Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald sent a letter to his members telling them that the Democrats' votes should not be counted since they are still in "contempt." It is the Republicans who passed a resolution officially holding the Democrats in contempt. Fitzgerald's letter can be seen below. "Please note that all 14 Democrat senators are still in contempt of...

Wisconsin State Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald says the evolving fight in Madison is “about the 2012 election.” In an interview with Fox News’ Megyn Kelly, Fitzgerald said efforts to recall senators were designed to impact the 2012 elections–even suggesting the recall of Republican senators was being orchestrated by the White House. “This is not some grassroots effort…there’s definitely more to this.” Under tough questioning from Kelly, who asked Fitzgerald for any proof of a connection between the Obama White House and the recall effort in Wisconsin, Fitzgerald insisted what’s happening in his state is all about who wins Wisconsin...

The leader of state Senate Republicans says dots are being connected on efforts to recall some of his members. State Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said Tuesday that the recall efforts targeting eight of his members are a real source of concern. “Sure. You know recall of an elected official is a very serious thing, and everybody takes it very seriously,” said Fitzgerald. And Fitzgerald suggested that the motivation and support for a lot of these recall efforts are not just about the Wisconsin Senate, but about presidential politics. “We’re really beginning, I think, to believe that this isn’t just...

With the first fine of $100 for missing a floor period kicking in today, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said he's nearing the end of tools he can use to cajole Dems back to the Capitol. "I've just about exhausted everything available to me to try and compel them to come back," Fitzgerald said after the Senate adjourned. The Senate will be back tomorrow for the final day of the scheduled floor period for March, meaning Dems face at least $200 in fines each if they aren't on the floor tomorrow as well. Fitzgerald said the body could come back...

Attorneys for former governor Rod Blagojevich have asked a federal judge to order prosecutors to produce two phone calls his lawyers say are mysteriously missing from evidence. In a motion filed overnight, Blagojevich's attorneys say the calls would support the former governor's contention that he is innocent of charges alleging he attempted to sell Barack Obama's U.S. Senate seat after the November 2008 election. While much of the motion is blacked out to comply with orders that the conversations remain under seal, it appears at least one of the alleged conversations was between then Chief of Staff John Harris and...

RIP. The 35th anniversary

Two Minnesota icons will share the stage when humorist and author Garrison Keillor welcomes former Vice President Walter Mondale to the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul. Mondale will discuss his new memoir, "The Good Fight: A Life in Liberal Politics." The book follows Mondale's career from Minnesota attorney general to U.S. senator to vice president under Jimmy Carter. Keillor is an avowed Democrat. The host of public radio's "A Prairie Home Companion" endorsed Barack Obama for president in 2008 and wrote the 2004 book, "Homegrown Democrat." The conversation will be held Nov. 22, starting at 8 p.m. Tickets are on...

After 14 days of jury deliberation, we have a verdict in the trial of disgraced former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. And I don’t think there’s a soul outside of the Blagojevich camp who believes justice was served. According to The New York Times: Prosecutors here once said that the conduct of Rod R. Blagojevich, the former governor of Illinois, was so despicable it would make Abraham Lincoln “roll over in his grave,” but 12 jurors in the federal corruption case against him were apparently not all so certain. After deliberating for 14 days, the jury found Mr. Blagojevich guilty of...

Chicago (AP) -- Former Ill. Gov. Rod Blagojevich says all he's guilty of is some "political horse trading" and that if that's a crime, prosecutors need to charge every politician in America. . . .

Moments after a rare setback, a chastened U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald was acting nothing like the swaggering prosecutor who just 20 months earlier proclaimed he had arrested a sitting governor to stop a political crime spree. -snip- Fitzgerald's reticence stood in sharp contrast to the reaction of Blagojevich's father-and-son defense team. Sam Adam and his son Sam Adam Jr. launched into a diatribe against the city's longest-serving U.S. attorney after hearing the jury's verdict, calling him "nuts" and accusing him of running a "banana republic." In what clearly will become their mantra in the months leading up to a promised...

Former governor Rod Blagojevich was found guilty on only one of 24 counts against him. The jury appears hung on the others. The guilty verdict was on Count 24: providing false statements to officers. After the reading, the jury was thanked and asked to return to the jury room. *snip* Before the verdict was read, Judge Zagel said that there may not be verdicts in all 24 counts with which Blagojevich is charged -- and that any counts dealing with forfeiture will be dealt with on Wednesday morning.

EXCERPT That feeling is heightened by speculation that Fitzgerald, the longest-serving U.S. attorney in Chicago history, may have stayed in his post largely to shepherd the Blagojevich case. And no matter what the jury decides, the trial's end is almost certain to rekindle interest in the top prosecutor's possible next move, a popular parlor game in local legal and political circles. Many have wondered in recent years whether Fitzgerald's Chicago tenure was winding down and if he would seek a higher post within the Justice Department or forge a career in private practice. Shortly after President Obama took office, there...

An appeals court removed a Chicago federal judge from a criminal drug trial Wednesday after disagreements between the judge and U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald delayed the case.In a brief order, the U.S.Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit removed Chief Judge James Holderman of the Northern District of Illinois and instructed the district court to appoint a new judge to oversee the trial.Fitzgerald did not ask for Holderman’s dismissal. In a petition, the prosecutor asked the appeals court to reverse Holderman’s decision to exclude fingerprint evidence after prosecutors missed a court deadline. In the petition, Fitzgerald accused Holderman of...

May 29, 2008 By Andrew Walden (Hawai'i Free Press) Nadhmi Auchi, seen here with the Governor of Illinois, Rob Blagojevich (middle) at a 2004 Chicago dinner in Auchi's honor arranged by Antonin Rezko (potentially, right)[1]. All three men have been convicted of corruption related charges (Auchi 2003, Rezko 2008, Blagojevich 2009).[2] “A British-Iraqi billionaire lent millions of dollars to Barack Obama's fundraiser (dual US-Syrian citizen Tony Rezko) just weeks before an imprudent land deal that has returned to haunt the presidential contender, an investigation by The Times discloses. The money transfer raises the question of whether funds from Nadhmi Auchi,...

Obama Patrick Fitzgerald meeting?, Did Obama meet with Patrick Fitzgerald past 24 hoursJust this morning, May 29, 2010,  Citizen Wells reported the following:“Is this part of the setup?“These questions beg for an answer and we deserve one. Why wasn’t Rod Blagojevich indicted soon after the Rezko trial ended in June 2008? He was wreaking havoc on the citizens of Illinois. Why was the arrest of Blagojevich delayed until December 2008, after the 2008 elections? Why was prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald given this assignment by Barack Obama? August 5, 2009 “I was preparing a new article, a more detailed version of an...

34 years ago today, on November 10, 1975, the SS Edmund Fitzgerald - aka "Mighty Fritz," - foundered and sank during a storm on Lake Superior. Launched on June 8, 1958, the Edmund Fitzgerald was the largest ship on the Great Lakes for the next 13 years

SNIPPET: "Search at Grundy County plant called part of ongoing probe" SNIPPET: "But a source said the owner of the plant, which processes lamb and goat, was taken into custody at his home in Chicago. Documents and records were taken from the plant and from a Chicago travel agency on West Devon Avenue, also owned by the same person, the source said."

A federal judge has ordered the Justice Department to release notes and summaries of former Vice President Dick Cheney's 2004 interview with Special Prosecutor Pat Fitzgerald in the CIA leak case, but is allowing the deletion of what may be some of the most interesting details in the documents. In a ruling issued Thursday morning, Judge Emmet Sullivan flatly rejected claims by both Bush and Obama appointees at DOJ that the entirety of the records should be withheld because their disclosure could discourage White House officials from cooperating in future investigations. The judge said the prospect of such inquiries was...

Has anyone stayed on this story?

Hannity said that Fitzgerald will be appointed by Obama to some White House position? Maybe it's just a rumor? Or just Hannity's humor? I don't find anything in the news. Some background. "It appears that the Chicago machine might be under scrutiny by US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald and his team of prosecutors as well." http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/07/former_blago_aide_pleads_guilt.html

The top federal prosecutor in Chicago is threatening to sue publisher HarperCollins, calling a book about the war on terrorism that focuses in part on cases he was involved in "a deliberate lie masquerading as the truth." If HarperCollins publishes the new edition of "Triple Cross" by Peter Lance this month "and it defames me or casts me in a false light, HarperCollins will be sued," Patrick Fitzgerald said in a letter to the New York-based company. The book focuses on, among other things, major terrorism cases that Fitzgerald prosecuted when he was an assistant U.S. attorney in New York...

Jack Fitzgerald, owner of nine Washington area dealerships -- seven of which are on the chopping block by General Motors and Chrysler -- left his headquarters on Rockville Pike mid-morning yesterday, armed with a black bag full of thick consumer reports, pie charts and line graphs on cars. In the past three weeks, he's been a virtual one-man PR machine, meeting with local and national politicians and blitzing the media in a desperate attempt to save his business.

Attempted Censorship by U.S. Attorney — A Book to Watch! ### On June 16, the paperback edition of Triple Cross: How Bin Laden’s Master Spy Penetrated the CIA, the Green Berets and the FBI by Peter Lance will be released by HarperCollins. This is happening despite a prominent U.S. Attorney’s best efforts to stop it. Since this book was first published in hardcover in 2006, Patrick Fitzgerald, US Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago (the same Patrick Fitzgerald of the Valerie Plame investigation) has repeatedly attempted to have the publisher bury the book, and to prevent publication...

Ald. Isaac Carothers (29th), a staunch ally of Mayor Richard Daley, was indicted today on charges he accepted about $40,000 in improvements to his residence as well as meals and tickets to sporting events in exchange for backing a major project by a developer. The developer, Calvin Boender, was also indicted. Carothers, 54, was charged with four counts of wire and mail fraud and one count each of accepting a bribe and filing a false federal income tax return. Boender was charged with four counts of wire and mail fraud, two counts of obstruction of justice, two misdemeanor counts of...

Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, his brother Rob and Christopher Kelly, a former top fundraiser for Blagojevich, were all indicted today on corruption charges, the U.S. attorney's office in Chicago announced. Also charged in the indictment were Lon Monk, a lobbyist and former Blagojevich chief of staff; John Harris, also a former chief of staff to Blagojevich; and William Cellini, a Springfield insider for decades. The indictment comes four months after Blagojevich was arrested and charged with engaging in pay-to-play politics in a sweeping federal complaint that accused him of trading state jobs, contracts and regulatory favors for campaign contributions. The...

Federal prosecutors have only a week left to indict former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. When authorities arrested Blagojevich back in December, it was based on a criminal complaint. Prosecutors didn't have the case all tied up in a bow, but U.S. attorney Patrick Fitzgerald rushed to bring charges because he said Blagojevich was in the middle of a crime spree. FITZGERALD: Sometimes when there's ongoing criminal conduct, and this is a very different case than what we often see, we will expose the criminal conduct and bring charges to let people know we're on to it, and to hopefully, to...