--When one reads the indictment and criminal complaint against Rod Blagojevich and studies the corruption and crime committed in Chicago and Illinois over the past 10 years, one name is conspicuous. Tony Rezko. Stuart Levine, the main witness in the Rezko trial, did most of the dirty work for Rezko. Obama was no stranger to Levine.
--Many of the corruption figures involved with Tony Rezko, Stuart Levine and Rod Blagojevich have been indicted and convicted. Most of these corrupt figures had ties to Obama including donating to his campaigns.
“Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama was again drawn into Tony Rezko’s corruption trial on Monday, when the prosecution’s star witness placed Obama at a party for an Iraqi-born billionaire who was later barred entry to the United States.”
—Chicago Sun-Times, April 15, 2008.
Obama has repeatedly said that he cannot recollect any meeting with Auchi, a London-based businessman who is appealing a conviction for fraud in France. Auchi was a business contact of Antoin Rezko, a former Chicago developer and Obama fundraiser currently on trial for corruption.
With a fortune estimated at more than $5 billion, Auchi is one of the world’s richest men. According to U.S. prosecutors, Rezko lobbied the U.S. government to get a visa for Auchi after he was banned from entering the country.
According to Stuart Levine, a former Rezko associate turned prosecution witness, both Barack Obama and his wife Michelle were among the guests at a April 3, 2004 party at Rezko’s Chicago home for Auchi. At that time, Rezko was trying to impress Auchi with his political connections. The British billionaire would later buy part of Rezko’s pizzeria business and invest $170 million in a prime piece of Chicago real estate that Rezko wanted to develop.
While acknowledging his friendship with Rezko, Obama has minimized their social dealings. Interviewed last month by the Chicago Tribune, he said that he and Rezko met for breakfast or lunch infrequently. He said that he attended a fundraising event at Rezko’s home in Wilmette in 2003, but made no mention of the April 2004 party for Auchi.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/04/obamas_rezko_connection.html
April 1, 2008.
Star witness Stuart Levine testified in the Rezko trial on Monday that he partied from dusk to dawn at the Purple Hotel in Lincolnwood and sometimes in Springfield with five male friends whom he would fly downstate in a private jet. His stash over the years included pot, coke, Special K, ecstasy, speed and crystal meth.
Largely lost in the haze of Levine’s drug testimony was his statement that Rezko reassured him that recently passed ethics legislation – now championed by Rezko pal Barack Obama as a signal achievement in his political career – was “just for show.”
March 19, 2008
“Millionaire attorney Stuart Levine testified Wednesday that he curried favor with political big shots by chartering planes to ferry Gov. Rod Blagojevich to visit campaign donors and fundraiser Antoin ‘Tony’ Rezko to a Christmas dinner at the White House,” NBC5 reports.
“And [Levine] said he once ferried Rezko’s family and a Rezko family friend back from a vacation in Mexico on a plane Levine partially owned. He said Rezko had to leave Mexico early to prepare for a dinner he was holding for Iraqi billionaire Nadhmi Auchi.”
We can expect that the powers on all sides will protect Obama first and foremost. Blago will do everything he can to protect Obama because he will be looking for a possible commutation of his sentence. The prosecution will be out to protect Obama because of Holder and the Chicago machine.
Hopefully, the new media will be able to make some of the connections to Obama more transparent regardless. One thing is certain..it’s gonna get interesting.