What Freepers who don't follow Illinois politics don't understand is TONY REZKO. He was the current governors money man, raising untold $$$$ for his election coffers. THe federal pay for play investigation has snared him and other big time Chicago democrat politically connected people. The dominoes are starting to fall and just this scandal is growing by the day. Senator Obama's relationship with Rezko will no doubt be under a microscope by the feds, and Fitzgerald has been excellent in turning over rocks and finding wrongdoing. Obama should be worried, very worried, and his even associating with Rezko after in was COMMON knowledge that he was under investigation leads me to believe Mr. Harvard Law Review President is not as smart as he thinks.
OIC, thank you for explaining.
I think you're right about this all being hushed up until AFTER 'Rat Doyle is re-elected again. But, since I've been working for the Mark Green Campaign, he has a VERY good shot at winning. The closest we've had in years.
RPW: Ethics Board Can't Clear Doyle of Bringing Dirty Illinois Politics to Wisconsin
10/24/2006
Contact: Bob Delaporte, (608) 257-4765
Madison - Jim Doyle can't escape his connections to dirty Illinois politics. Once again punting on its responsibility to hold elected officials accountable, the State Ethics Board is giving Doyle a pass for activities that have sent other lawmakers to jail. Wisconsin law prohibits elected officials and state employees from accepting anything of value - including tickets to exclusive sporting events.
However, the State Ethics Board is refusing to hold Doyle accountable. According to the Board:
"the Governor attended the event at the invitation of an owner of the Bears to meet Illinois government officials and business leaders and that that is what the Governor spent his time doing."
Two of those "business leaders" that Doyle had dinner with and went to the Bear game with were Tony Rezko and Christopher Kelly. Rezko is facing a 24-count indictment for his role in a scheme to steer campaign donations to troubled Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich and extort companies seeking business in Illinois for profit. According to the Sun-Times, Doyle donor Christopher Kelly was also involved in that same scheme. In the middle of a federal probe, Kelly gave Doyle the maximum contribution allowed by Wisconsin law - $10,000. According to the Sun-Times, Kell y is listed as "Individual B" by Federal prosecutors in the Rezko case. The Executive Director of the Republican Party of Wisconsin, Rick Wiley, says Jim Doyle won't be cleared by the voters of Wisconsin.
"If the Ethics Board won't hold Jim Doyle accountable for his dirty politics then the voters of Wisconsin will," Wiley said, "Jim Doyle brought Illinois style pay-to-play to Wisconsin and it ends on November 7th."
Doyle's dirty donor, Christopher Kelly's was recently named as a "go-between" in an investigation of whether Blagojevich's campaign put the squeeze on a company in the running for a $220 million state contract. (Chicago Sun-Times, 9/20/06) Federal authorities are also investigating a sweetheart deal that landed Kelly an exclusive $93 million no bid contract to provide food at rest stops on Illinois toll roads. (Chicago Tribune, 12/31/05)
Like Doyle, Blagojevich is the target of both federal and state probes involving pay-to-play. Kelly has been subpoenaed by a grand jury investigation trading campaign donations for positions in Blagojevich's administration. (AP, 5/16/05. AP 5/18/06) Kelly has also been linked to numerous pay-to-play scandals in Illinois. (The Northwest Herald, 9/16/05)
Doyle's donor, Christopher Kelly, has profited from his connections.
· A Cook County grand jury is looking into whether Kelly was part of political revenge after a landfill was hastily shut down by the state as a part of an on-going feud between Blagojevich and his father-in-law, Chicago Alderman Dick Mell. (Chicago Sun-Times, 2/24/06)
· A company with ties to Kelly won $25 million in state contracts and even did work for Blagojevich's campaign. (Springfield State Journal-Register, 2/2/05)
· Kelly managed to land a lucrative, no-bid contract for O'Hare Airport for $3 million higher than early estimates. (Chicago Sun-Times, 2/16/04)
· Blagojevich sent Kelly to reclaim the state's 10th gambling license from a bankrupt casino to and build a new casino in Rosemont, IL. Even though Kelly and one of Kelly's friends would have made millions off the deal. (AP, 5/28/04)
· Kelly isn't officially a state employee, but that didn't stop him from threatening state action if the casino license wasn't sold so the state could reap the profits. (Chicago Tribune, 6/20/03)
· Gertrude Kelly, Christopher Kelly's sister, got a job in Blagojevich's administration just five days after being issued a real estate broker's license. She became an assistant commissioner in the Office of Banks and Real Estate in December earning $92,000 a year. (Springfield Journal-Register, 2/8/04)
Jim Doyle's administration remains under investigation by Federal, State and County authorities.