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Country Club Hills mayor Dwight Welch said today that the girlfriend of Christopher Kelly has "lawyered up" and is no longer talking to police investigating the Saturday death of the former top Rod Blagojevich adviser. Meanwhile, the Cook County medical examiner's office said this afternoon following an autopsy that a determination of cause and manner of Kelly's death was "pending further studies," meaning officials need to conduct additional investigations to officially rule whether Kelly committed suicide. At a morning press conference, Welch also said police are searching for a man who went to Oak Forest Hospital while Kelly was being...

A key figure in ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's federal corruption case died Saturday of an apparent "aspirin overdose," a law enforcement source told the Chicago Sun-Times. Christopher Kelly, 51, was Blagojevich's former chief fundraiser, and was described by the newspaper as "go-to" guy in the ex-governor's administration.

Kelly’s death comes just four days after he pleaded guilty to a scheme involving $8.5 million in fraud at O’Hare Airport. It was the second conviction this year -- he still faced trial along with the ex-governor, in June. Kelly had been indicted three times since 2007 but refused to become a cooperating witness. When he pleaded guilty to the O’Hare scheme Tuesday, Kelly spoke of feeling intense pressure by prosecutors to abandon his loyalty to Blagojevich and cooperate with the feds. Chicago police are investigating Kelly’s death. A source familiar with the investigation told the Chicago

Christopher Kelly, a key figure in the federal corruption probe into former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, is dead. The Cook County medical examiner’s office today confirmed that Christopher Kelly of Burr Ridge was pronounced dead at Stroger Hospital at 10:46 a.m. The office said Kelly died of salicylate intoxication. According to medical reference guides, salicylates are used in anti-inflammatory and pain relief medications. An autopsy is scheduled for Sunday. *snip* Kelly is a former confidant and top fundraiser for Blagojevich, who was accused of using his office to leverage campaign donations and benefits for himself and his family. *snip* Kelly’s attorney,...

Two sources with knowledge of the situation told the Tribune today they have been notified that Christopher Kelly, a key figure into the federal corruption probe into former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, is dead.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Rates on 30-year home loans surged above 5 percent for the first time in nearly three months this week as investors pushed up rates on long-term government debt, which is closely tied to mortgage rates. Mortgage finance giant Freddie Mac said Thursday that average rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose to 5.29 percent this week, from an average of 4.91 percent a week earlier. It was the highest weekly average in nearly six months. Mortgage rates "caught up to the recent rise in long-term bond yields this week," Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist,...

High-profile suicides like that of the finance chief at embattled Freddie Mac highlight the dangers that an economic crisis poses to the powerful as well as the vulnerable, experts say. [...] It is too soon for this recession to show statistical evidence of a rise in suicides, but suicide has not typically been a symptom of past recessions, said Dr. Alan Berman, executive director of the American Association of Suicidology. High-profile cases get so much attention "that it appears that something is going on but that may not be so," said Berman. On average the annual U.S. suicide rate is...

Moving quickly to release Chinese Uighur terrorists into the United States, Obama administration officials have -- for the second time -- overridden objections of federal agencies responsible for national security. The first time -- as I reported on April 20 -- the White House overrode the inter-agency panel it created from all the national security agencies to review all the cases of the Guantanamo Bay prisoners. That panel found that the seventeen Uighurs -- members of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement captured at an al-Queda training camp in Pakistan -- were too dangerous to release in the United States.

VIENNA, Va. (AP) — Freddie Mac's acting chief financial officer was apparently told to take time off from work days before he committed suicide. David Kellerman of Vienna, Va., was found dead Wednesday in the basement of his home. A person close to the company says the chief human resources officer met with Kellerman earlier this week and encouraged him to take a few days off because he had been working hard. The person requested anonymity because the individual wasn't authorized to discuss the matter publicly. The 41-year-old Kellerman was promoted last September when the government seized the mortgage company...

Both the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal are reporting that Freddie Mac's Chief Financial Officer, David Kellermann, who was found dead Wednesday in an apparent suicide, was involved in recent months in a heated dispute with Freddie's regulator over how to reflect costs of President Obama's anti-foreclosure program. The Post said Kellermann and other Freddie officials "tussled" with the Federal Housing Finance Agency early last month as the company prepared to file a quarterly report with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Top executives, including Kellermann, were insistent that Freddie Mac inform shareholders of the cost to the company of...

Freddie Mac chief financial officer David Kellerman was found dead in his home today. (April 22, 2009) Freddie Mac chief financial officer David Kellerman — who became a celebrity because his company's risky real estate loans helped to fuel the mortgage crisis — was found dead in his home this morning. Police said he committed suicide. Police didn't disclose the specific cause of death, according to the Associated Press, but they did say they found him in the basement of his $900,000 suburban Virginia home, where he lived with his wife and 5-year-old daughter. Neighbors say he had lost a...

It’s the nature of Washington to search for and usually find a politically charged subtext to any news event. But that instinct is never more ghoulish when the event is the sudden death of an important person by his own hand. David Kellermann, the acting chief financial officer of the troubled Freddie Mac mortgage company, is the latest example of a particular — and particularly macabre — subset of human tragedy: the Washington suicide. These happen often enough that they follow their own morbid rhythm. The normal human reaction — disbelief, horror, sympathy — is followed almost immediately by the...

It’s the nature of Washington to search for and usually find a politically charged subtext to any news event. But that instinct is never more ghoulish when the event is the sudden death of an important person by his own hand. David Kellermann, the acting chief financial officer of the troubled Freddie Mac mortgage company, is the latest example of a particular — and particularly macabre — subset of human tragedy: the Washington suicide. These happen often enough that they follow their own morbid rhythm. The normal human reaction — disbelief, horror, sympathy — is followed almost immediately by the...

WASHINGTON (AP) - WASHINGTON (AP)—David Kellermann, the acting chief financial officer of money-losing mortgage giant Freddie Mac, was found dead at his home early Wednesday in what police said was an apparent suicide. The Fairfax County police responded to a 911-call at 4:48 a.m. at the suburban Virginia home Kellermann shared with his wife Donna and five-year-old daughter Grace. The police would not release the exact cause of death, but spokesman Eddy Azcarate said Kellermann's body was found in the basement.

Police spokesman Lucy Caldwell told AHN that other people were present at the home at the time of Kellermann's death, in Reston, Va., and that there was a gun and a gunshot wound.

Law enforcement sources said they found David Kellermann, acting chief financial officer of mortgage company Freddie Mac, hanging in the basement of his Reston, Va., home, dead from an apparent suicide early this morning. Virginia police say they found David Kellermann, acting chief financial officer of mortgage company Freddie Mac, hanging in the basement of his Reston home, dead from an apparent suicide early this morning. (ABC News)The death was "an active investigation" and there were "no signs of foul play," Fairfax County police officer Sabrina Ruck said. Local police said they were called to Kellermann's home at 4:48am. Kellermann,...

The acting head of Freddie Mac, David Kellermann, has apparently committed suicide, Fairfax County Police tell WTOP. Fairfax County Police spokeswoman Mary Anne Jennings says Kellermann, 41, was found at his Hunter Mill Estates home Wednesday morning. Jennings says police responded to the home after family members called police around 5 a.m. "We were called from inside the house to come investigate an apparent suicide," Jennings says. Because of legal ramifications, Jennings says she can't describe the nature of the suicide. "We're not to give you details of the condition of the body, except to say it was an apparent...

<p>HARRISBURG, Pa. - A campaign donor who is the target of an federal investigation that forced New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson to withdraw from consideration for U.S. Commerce secretary also gave to Gov. Ed Rendell's campaigns and was a generous supporter of the Democratic Party and President-elect Barack Obama.</p>

One of Chicago's most well-known real estate moguls appears to have shot himself to death, police said. The body of Steven L. Good was found in his Jaguar on Monday. The car was spotted in a parking lot of a wildlife preserve in Kane County, Illinois, just outside Chicago, authorities said. No note was found, and police say they do not know how long the 52-year-old had been in the vehicle. Good was the chairman and chief executive officer of Sheldon Good & Co., a major U.S. real estate auction company. The death comes amid great turmoil in the country's...

CHICAGO -- Real-estate executive Steven L. Good was found dead of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound Monday in his Jaguar in a forest preserve outside Chicago, said the Kane County Sheriff's Department. [Image of Steven Good] Newscom Steven L. Good Mr. Good, 52 years old, was chief executive of Sheldon Good & Co., one of the nation's largest real-estate auction firms. His father had founded the company in 1965. Whether the apparent suicide had any connection to the business is unclear. Real-estate auction companies can do well in downturns. As chairman of the Realtors Commercial Alliance Committee, Mr. Good said...

First, Obama's fellow Daley machine hack, Rod Blagojevich, tried to sell Obama's Senate seat. Obama's Chief of Staff, Rahm Emmanuel, discussed the future of the Senate seat with Blagojevich. Obama has since "cleared himself" of any wrongdoing. Then, Obama's advisor, Caroline Kennedy, tried to steal a Senate seat in New York, citing royal prerogative. Now, Obama's Commerce Secretary nominee, Bill Richardson, has withdrawn his nomination, amid speculation that he will be indicted for corruption. All this, and Obama hasn't even been sworn in!

This is the 9 week countdown thread to all of our "checks in the mail". Make sure you send your bank account numbers to the Barry O @ The White House for direct deposit.

NEW YORK—Terence Tolbert, a longtime political operative in New York who directed Barack Obama's presidential campaign in the swing state of Nevada, died of a massive heart attack just two days before the election. He was 44. Tolbert was stricken at about 8 p.m. Sunday while driving alone near the campaign offices in North Las Vegas. He was taken to nearby North Vista Hospital, where he died. No one else was injured and no accident report was filed, campaign spokeswoman Kirsten Searer said. Tolbert lived in Harlem and had left his job as the chief lobbyist for New York City's...

BIDEN GRILLED BY NEWS ANCHOR: IS OBAMA MARXIST? I know this has been played before, but its BIG RED LETTERS ON DRUDGE

Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., got asked some rather interesting questions from Orlando TV reporter on Thursday. You can watch it here Youtube link of Biden interview with Barbara West The questions are: * If Biden is "embarrassed about the blatant attempt to register phony voters by ACORN," since Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., worked with the organization in the past; * If Obama's comment about wanting tax policies that "spread the wealth" is "a potentially crushing political blunder"; * "You may recognize this famous quote: 'from each according to his abilities to each according to his needs.' That's from Karl Marx....

Barack Obama’s campaign killed all interviews with a Florida TV station after Sen. Joe Biden, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, faced tough and critical questions from a reporter at the Orlando station. During a satellite video Thursday, WFTV’s Barbara West quoted Karl Marx and asked Biden how Obama’s comment to "Joe the Plumber” about spreading the wealth wasn’t being Marxist. “Are you joking?,” Biden asked. West replied, “No.” Click here to watch the interview. Later in the interview West questioned Biden about his comments that if Obama wins the election next month, he would be tested early on as president...

WFTV-Channel 9's Barbara West conducted a satellite interview with Sen. Joe Biden on Thursday. A friend says it's some of the best entertainment he's seen recently. What do you think? West wondered about Sen. Barack Obama's comment, to Joe the Plumber, about spreading the wealth. She quoted Karl Marx and asked how Obama isn't being a Marxist with the "spreading the wealth" comment. "Are you joking?" said Biden, who is Obama's running mate. "No," West said. West later asked Biden about his comments that Obama could be tested early on as president. She wondered if the Delaware senator was saying...

Authorities investigated the mysteries surrounding the death of U.S. Senate aide Fred Hutchins on Wednesday, a day after his body was found beside his sport utility vehicle on U.S. 220 near Fincastle. "We're just working to let the evidence go wherever it goes," said Botetourt County Sheriff's Maj. Delbert Dudding. One of his deputies obtained a search warrant to look through the downtown Roanoke apartment of Hutchins, who was 26 and ran U.S. Sen. Jim Webb's office in Roanoke County. According to the search warrant, potential evidence was sought that might exist in Hutchins' computer, his cellphone, his answering machine...

A nice-sounding bill called the "Global Poverty Act," sponsored by Democratic presidential candidate and Senator Barack Obama, is up for a Senate vote on Thursday and could result in the imposition of a global tax on the United States. The bill, which has the support of many liberal religious groups, makes levels of U.S. foreign aid spending subservient to the dictates of the United Nations. Senator Joe Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has not endorsed either Senator Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton in the presidential race. But on Thursday, February 14, he is trying to rush Obama's...

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