"This is a guy who lives in my neighborhood..."
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One of the weirder bits of Ryan's epic Obama story in the New Yorker earlier this year dealt with Blagojevich and Obama's relationship--and the question of just how tight it was. Ryan got conflicting information:
That year, he gained his first high-level experience in a statewide campaign when he advised the victorious gubernatorial candidate Rod Blagojevich, another politician with a funny name and a message of reform.
Rahm Emanuel, a congressman from Chicago and a friend of Obama’s, told me that he, Obama, David Wilhelm, who was Blagojevich’s campaign co-chair, and another Blagojevich aide were the top strategists of Blagojevich’s victory.
He and Obama “participated in a small group that met weekly when Rod was running for governor,” Emanuel said.
“We basically laid out the general election, Barack and I and these two.”
A spokesman for Blagojevich confirmed Emanuel’s account, although David Wilhelm, who now works for Obama, said that Emanuel had overstated Obama’s role.
“There was an advisory council that was inclusive of Rahm and Barack but not limited to them,” Wilhelm said, and he disputed the notion that Obama was “an architect or one of the principal strategists.”
David Axelrod, the preëminent strategist in the state, declined to work for Blagojevich.
“He had been my client and I had a very good relationship with him, but I didn’t sign on to the governor’s race,” Axelrod said. “Obviously he won, but I had concerns about it. . . . I was concerned about whether he was ready for that.
Not so much for the race but for governing. I was concerned about some of the folks—I was concerned about how the race was being approached.”
Axelrod’s unease was warranted. Blagojevich and people close to him have been tied to a seemingly endless series of scandals.
The trial of Tony Rezko revealed that Rezko used his influence in the Blagojevich administration to profit from companies seeking business with the state.
There is speculation that Blagojevich will be the next governor to be indicted, and the Democratic Speaker of the Illinois House, Michael Madigan, has raised the issue of impeachment.
You definitely got the sense from Ryan's piece that, with the notable exception of Emanuel, the Obama people wanted to make it clear that their guy wasn't that close to Blagojevich.
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Blagojevich
Obama
Emanuel
Alexrod
Wilhelm
~~DING!
That's a busy criminal conspiracy.
Rezko’s Ties to Obama
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the two met in 1990 while Obama was still attending Harvard Law School. Rezko offered Obama a job, but Obama declined.
In 1995, Obama billed 32 hours for work done on behalf of Woodlawn Preservation and Investment Corp., a company involved in a low-income housing partnership with Rezko. He also wrote letters supporting the proposed development.
Rezko was Obama’s second largest individual contributor when he began his run for an Illinois state Senate seat in 1995. Two Rezko companies contributed $2,000 to Obama’s campaign, and Rezko and wife Rita reportedly worked on Obama’s campaign.
In the first half of 1997, according to a report by Newsmax Contributing Editor Kenneth R. Timmerman, two Rezko companies contributed $2,000 to Obama’s ongoing political operation.
In the first half of 1998, Rezko provided Obama’s campaign food worth an estimated $457.70 as an “in-kind contribution.”
Rezko was one of Obama’s biggest contributors when he ran for U.S. Senate in 2003 and 2004, and Rezko was a member of Obama’s campaign finance committee, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
In June 2003, Rezko held a ritzy fund-raiser for Obama at his tony Wilmette mansion. Obama later said, “Rezko was not my largest fundraiser but a significant fundraiser.” According to Reuters, Obama said Rezko raised as much as $250,000.
In 2005, as news began to spread that federal authorities were investigating Rezko, Obama bought a house in Chicago’s Kenwood neighborhood for $1.65 million. Rezko’s wife, Rita, paid $625,000 for a lot adjacent to Obama’s new home, and the two deals closed on the same day.
Seven months later, Rezko’s wife sold one-sixth of her lot – a 10-foot strip of a 60-foot lot — to Obama for $104,500.
In December 2006, Obama told the Washington Post the deal was a “boneheaded” mistake. “There’s no doubt I should have seen some red flags in terms of me purchasing a piece of property from him,” Obama said.
The Post reports Rezko and Obama later “collaborated” to construct a fence to divide the two properties, which Obama said was required by city code. Obama paid for lawn maintenance for both properties.
In March 2008, Obama said Rezko had raised up to $250,000 to help underwrite his prior campaigns in Illinois – a much higher figure than had previously been reported.
Rezko helped Obama’s presidential campaign raise over $150,000. The campaign later donated Rezko’s contributions to charity.
Rezko Ties to Blagojevich
The FBI says between June 2001 and August 2004 Rezko raised over $1.4 million for Blagojevich’s political campaigns, according to the Los Angeles Times. (Blagojevich was elected governor of Illinois in 2002, and reelected in 2006.)
Rezko hosted Blagojevich’s first post-election party at his mansion. Although he had no official role in the Blagojevich administration, he reportedly participated in several Blagojevich strategy retreats.
In October 2006, authorities indicted Rezko for soliciting kickbacks from companies seeking state contracts that were awarded by officials under the governor’s authority. According to the Los Angeles Times and others, $20,000 that Rezko garnered from kickbacks found its way via a middleman into Obama’s Senate campaign coffers.
Rezko’s June 2008 trial on corruption strongly implicated Blagojevich. Blagojevich allegedly discussed a state job for a donor, after that donor wrote a $25,000 check for his campaign.
During the trial, prosecutors maintained that Rezko routinely arranged shakedowns while serving as a top Blagojevich adviser.
In all, prosecutors said, Rezko squeezed various companies for some $7 million in kickbacks.
Following his conviction on 16 counts of fraud, money laundering, and aiding and abetting bribery, Rezko said federal authorities tried to pressure him “to tell the wrong things” about the Obama and Blagojevich. The Sun-Times reported prosecutors pushed Rezko to cooperate in the corruption probe against Blagojevich.
It should be noted that Obama has consistently stated he never intervened on behalf of Rezko in any state or federal business. Authorities have yet to suggest any wrongdoing on the part of either Obama or his staff.
Here we go again!
"Rahm Emanuel, a congressman from Chicago and a friend of Obama’s, told me that he, Obama, David Wilhelm, who was Blagojevich’s campaign co-chair, and another Blagojevich aide were the top strategists of Blagojevich’s victory. He and Obama “participated in a small group that met weekly when Rod was running for governor,” Emanuel said. “We basically laid out the general election, Barack and I and these two.” A spokesman for Blagojevich confirmed Emanuel’s account...."
"This is a guy who lives in my neighborhood..."
Ping!! Thanks for the ping Starwise. Going back to read it. This story is breaking so fast and dems are spinning so fast, I can hardly keep up with it all...lol
None of this is surprising and should confirm to everyone, right, center, and left included, that this type of ‘pay and play’ attitude is rampant throughout our political system. If you read the complaint it goes into great detail about how Blago attempted to distance himself from Obama and concocted schemes that involved a three party trade of favors. He had no problem coming up with this stuff, and seemed to have a clear ‘understanding’ of how to make this work. Just from the short read, it appear that he is well skilled in this type of thing, which means he has had a great deal of practice. Had he not been caught, he would have pulled off something, and probably bagged a lot of money.
Who thinks that this does not go on every single day with the majority of our politicians? If Blago is playing games, he has to be playing with someone else. How many issues could he apply this type of pressure with?
Particularly with the nature of fund raising, how can any politician on a national level, ever survive without favors?
Our government is at the pinnacle of failure right now, and they have no idea how to fix it. They are all pros at conning people and working an angle to their benefit, so they have no ability to make good decisions for the benefit of us all. I hope Blago is just the first of many. I say we should wire tap them all. Since they work for us, nothing should be private when they are being paid by the citizens. We have a Sunshine law in Florida. There is a really good reason.
Sounds like Blagojevich was working on a cabinet appointment in the Zero administration.
Birds of a feather flock together.
This is what some of America voted, prayed and is swooning for.
And this is what the electoral college must decide is qualified to be the most powerful person on earth.
This is totally wrong.
Obamedia will hide this scandal. Google Rezko and Bathists to find where his money was coming from.
Pray for W and Our Troops