Free Republic

A close associate of convicted businessman Tony Rezko testified in Rod Blagojevich’s trial this afternoon that a onetime National Republican Committeeman loaned him $600,000 — no questions asked. As it turned out though, there was a hitch. Businessman Joseph Aramanda, testifying under a letter of immunity, said Springfield lobbyist and onetime National Republican Committeeman Bob Kjellander was “very receptive,” to loaning him the money so Aramanda could build up his pizza franchises. Prosecutors appear to be trying to link money that was in Aramanda’s account to earlier testimony, which indicated that more than half a million dollars was routed through...

Laying to rest the latest parlor game of Illinois politics, a federal judge on Monday made it crystal clear that "A" stands for Rod Blagojevich in the public corruption case against the governor's indicted fundraiser, Antoin "Tony" Rezko. A ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Amy St. Eve dispensed with an array of pseudonyms that had cloaked the identities of several people who allegedly benefited from Rezko's financial schemes, including Blagojevich. He had previously been referred to in court documents only as Public Official A. The nine-page ruling was heavy on political names and dealmaking, revealing for the first time...

President Bush faces a major test of his integrity when, or if, he ever gets around to reappointing Patrick Fitzgerald as U.S. Attorney in Chicago.The nation needs to know that Bush's failure to back Fitzgerald will betray a gapping hole in the conscience of the president. While most of America may think of Fitzgerald as the aggressive prosecutor in the Valerie Plame affair and the bombing of the World Trade Center, those of us in Chicago have a closer view of the man.He is one of the few government officials left in Chicago and Illinois that loathes corruption, and who...

CHICAGO (AP) - Federal prosecutors investigating corruption at a state pension fund have subpoenaed records concerning $4.5 million in fees a Washington-based investment firm is paying the new treasurer of the Republican National Committee, government sources confirmed Tuesday. The subpoena calls for documents related to the fund, the Carlyle Group and Robert Kjellander, said sources familiar with the investigation who spoke only on condition of anonymity, saying prosecutors want details of the probe kept secret. Kjellander, a lobbyist who headed President Bush's re-election campaign in three states, was named the RNC's treasurer over the weekend. Illinois Teachers Retirement System officials...