New mystery: Feds planned to link Obama-Rezko but backed off

Federal prosecutors planning their case against Illinois political fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko intended to invoke the name of his onetime associate, Sen. Barack Obama, often during the recently concluded two-month prosecution in Chicago.

Rezko was convicted on federal corruption charges.

The onetime political mentor and fundraiser for Obama, especially in the early days of his Illinois political career, arranged for a series of so-called straw political contributions to Obama, money from Rezko channeled through other people's names. Obama has since donated an equal sum to charities.

According to published reports in the Chicago Sun-Times, recently unsealed documents show prosecutors intended to call several witnesses who would tie Rezko to Obama. The federal judge ruled that they could.

"Witnesses will testify that Rezko was a long-standing supporter and fund-raiser of Barack Obama," one prosecutor wrote in their planning notes. But for unexplained reasons, they ended up not calling those witnesses.

--Andrew Malcolm

Photo credit: Nam Y. Huh / Associated Press

Comments

[dave]

how much sense would it make to bring up corruption charges in a critical stage against someone you're busy getting ready to represent corruption itself? not to say that a 'straw president', call him obama or mccain, would make any sense either - at least not when you have the interests of the people in mind.

[VJ Machiavelli]

The gift that keeps on giving. Maybe Hillary will make a "COME BACK" Still 2 months before the "Greening of Denver Convention". No wonder the Democ"rats" love everything green.

VJ Machiavelli
http://www.vjmachiavelli.blogspot.com

[Yellow Journalism Lives]

"But for unexplained reasons, they ended up not calling those witnesses"

Andy, Joseph McCarthy would be proud of your ability to mislead people by inventing percieved controversy.

[Wm Tate]

"Witnesses will testify that Rezko was a long-standing supporter and fund-raiser of Barack Obama"

If the media ever got serious about investigating Obama's fund-raising, they would find a number of issues ... including massive amounts of money donated by unions.

They won't. Instead, they'll continue to misrepresent Obama's prodigious campaign war chest as the result of small donations from millions of people over the internet, something directly contradicted by FEC records.

-Wm Tate,
http://www.atimelikethis.us/

[Tom J]

It's 'straw man', not just 'straw' contributions. Much like the straw man argument which you have created here.

The obvious reason the witnesses weren't called was because the Rezko-Obama connection wasn't about corruption. The prosecutors wisely decided to focus on their case, which was corruption.

Al Capone was well known for his many charitable donations, especially to Catholic churches and causes, while he was even more well known for being a gangster. Do you think Capone's trial should have brought in (and perhaps down) the Catholic Church?

[Girl with the bushy armpits]

So the arrogant elitist doctrinaire gets away with murder
one more time. You can bet your tuckus that his first pardon,if he is elected will be for that slime ball of a democrat Rezko. Al Capone and his gang were saints
compared to the Obama/Rezko clan of abusers of the
public purse. No doubt that blackmail and intimidation tactics played a major role in the feds decision about the
incriminating revelations of the witnesses.

[Wobling milking stoole]

The same repulsive spiritual pestilence that typefies
Chicago politics is showing it's ugly head at Obama
headquarters .Black-mail and strong arm tactics are
rampant. Will this moraly bankrupt amalgam of liberals
and hoodlums market it's way to the white house or will we witness a last minute coomon sense reaction ?

[John Ryskamp]

Obama wasn't brought in for the same reason LOTS of other Illinois politicians weren't brought into the trial: it wasn't necessary to do so. The evidence against Rezko was overwhelming. Why confuse the jury?

Obama will be indicted for MANY things, but above all, for his role in the boards legislation in 2003. Here is Evelyn Pringle's discussion of his illegal activity, from her "Curtain Time" articles at opednews.com. Read it and weep: he's dirty as the bottom of your shoe, and here it is in black and white.

. He will be indicted under 18 USC 1346, the same section under which Rezko was convicted. There are many good discussions of this Code section on the internet.

Now to Evelyn's discussion of this stupid little moron hood Obama. It turns out that he's nothing but a flunkey of the Syrian Mafia: Auchi, General Mediterranean and the whole gang. Plan on putting the Syrian Mafia in charge of the U.S. government? They will loot whatever is left!

What is especially interesting is what this reveals about Obama's supporters: they are the same sort of ignorant grifters he is. Just trash and killers, all of them.

Now to Evelyn:

Tony Rezko is a private citizen. Therefore, the evidence presented in the trial focused on his influence over officials in getting members appointed to the Boards. Prosecutors did not discuss how the legislation got passed that enabled the Planning Board to be set up in a way that allowed for the appointment of members to rig the votes to begin with.

That part of the scheme will likely be detailed in future indictments, probably starting with Blagojevich. Blagojevich signed the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Act with an effective date of June 27, 2003. However, before he could sign the act, a bill had to be passed by the Illinois House and Senate. As discussed fully in Curtain Time Part II, Obama was the inside guy in the senate who pushed through the legislation that resulted in the Act.

Obama was appointed chairman of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee. The minute the bill was introduced, it was referred to his committee for review. The sponsors of the bill also served on this committee with Obama. Within a month, Chairman Obama sent word to the full senate that the legislation should be passed.

On May 31, 2003, Senate Bill 1332 passed and specified that the “Board shall be appointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate." The legislation reduced the number of members from 15 to 9, paving the way for the appointment of a five-bloc majority to rig the votes.

The corrupt members appointed included three doctors who contributed to Obama. Michel Malek gave Obama $10,000 on June 30, 2003 and donated $25,000 to Blagojevich on July 25, 2003. Malek also gave Obama another $500 in September 2003.

Fortunee Massuda donated $25,000 to Blagojevich on July 25, 2003, and gave a total of $2,000 to Obama on different dates. After he was appointed, Dr Imad Almanaseer contributed a total of $3,000 to Obama. Almanaseer did not give money to Blagojevich.

When the first pay-to-play scheme was put in play, and the application for approval of a new hospital was submitted, the Department of Human Services, along with four other Illinois agencies, sent recommendations that the project should be approved even though experts said the hospital was not needed.

During the trial, Rezko’s attorney presented an email exchange to the jury that hinted at Obama's role in setting up the scheme. The exchange showed that Obama and seven other top Illinois politicians consulted on the legislation passed in 2003 and were involved in recommending the members for the board.

Matthew Pickering wrote the memo to Blagojevich’s general counsel, Susan Lichtenstein, on behalf of David Wilhelm, a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, who headed Blagojevich's 2002 campaign for governor.

Pickering said he and Wilhelm had “worked closely” over six months with state legislators. The memo recommended the appointees listed above and stated,“our attached recommendations reflect that involvement” with the political leaders.

The persons appointed to rig the votes, including those who contributed to Blagojevich and Obama, are cooperating in exchange for immunity or lighter prison sentences.

[EddyUdi]

But for unexplained reasons, they ended up not calling those witnesses

why didnt Malcolm investigate the 'unexplained reasons' before writing this rubish, that should have been his main task as a professional, to unvail the so called new mystery

what this writer failed to acknowledge is that if Obama is guilty by association then every one of us should be in jail

[JeNaaitUtSteeds]

Rezko has equally donated to Republicans, just like many businesses and other corporations. Seems sensible, it's called: HEDGING YOUR BETS. This story, along with the LAT
's consistently underpolling of McCain's poll numbers (a whole new version of the Bradley effect?) might indicate some clever effort as to determine this election in favour of McCain...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradley_effect)

[Jim]

Is this site a Fox News associate? There are no facts, but big headlines intended to influence people that assume a story would not be published unless it was true.

[Linda]

I appreciate the L.A. Times publishing this and putting a long-needed spotlight on the corrupt relationship between Obama and the Chicago mob. It would be great if you could also investigate his money relationship with Iraqi agents such as Nadhmi Auchi and Aiham Alsammarae.

This man has not been vetted. He came out of nowhere and he has documented ties to criminals. Rezko gave him at least $250,000 and helped him buy his house and Obama lied about it on National TV, saying he'd only done five hours of work for "this individual." His boss was working hand in hand with Rezko. Rezko just was convicted on 16 counts of bribery and corruption. Every Chicago politician is implicated in this. Ex-Governor Ryan is in Prison, Blagojevich is being investigated. There is NO way Obama didn't know this was going on or that he wasn't a participant in it. He could never have become a Senator if he wasn't willing to pay to play in Chicago.

I grant you, Obama is a great mimic. He sounds very convincing whether he's channeling Deval Patrick, Martin Luther King or some rap group. He is charming and says everything I want to believe about his "progressive" values. But he doesn't mean it. He will sell progressives down the river. He's already started with NAFTA, Health Care, and Campaign Finance Reform. He is NOT a progressive. He is a go along to get along politician who is very talented and smart, but also vicious and unprincipled. He doesn't care where his money is coming from or who got hurt for him to get it (subpar housing in his district or kickbacks from Pension funds anyone?).

Please report on this. Ignore the Obamabots. They are just like those people who were for GW Bush in 2004. They laughed about how their guy was going to win and now they hate him. It doesn't help the rest of us to say we told you so. We are stuck with him, just as we will be stuck with Obama. There is some reason the MSM is trying to shove him down our throats like they did the Iraq war and the way I look at it, that means it's not good. Obama will wreck the Democratic Party and let it be taken over by the same thugs that stole the election in 2000 and 2004.

Please think of the country! Report on this!

[Atlanta Jay]

It is without question that Obama is guilty of a quid pro quo. He sold his soul to Resko and accepted everything that he could get from him, even a house that he could not afford. Just because he gave money to charity that he never should have taken in the first place does not let him off the hook. He is guilty of at least the following:

1) Illegal Campaign Contributions
2) Influence Peddling
3) RICO
4) No Doubt, if he was interview by an FBI agent he lied, which is a felony as well (ask Barry Bonds, maybe he should call Barry Obama and give him the 411 on lying to a Federal Agent during an investigation, one Barry to another)

The fact is, between white guilt, total abandonment of reason on the part of the African American community, and a whole lot of money from people who know that Barack is dirty and for sale, he has bypassed any reasonable search of his background or scrutiny of his non existent record. The clock is ticking…Tic-Toc Barack…

[TD]

Article in Boston Globe (hardly a conservative publication) outlines connection between Obama, Rezko, and the Chicago Political Machine--the most corrupt in the US. This is proof that Obama's favorable house purchase was a payoff/bribe. Also, please note the article was published on Friday 06/27 when it should have been on Monday on the first page. The media has become a disgrace. What happened to telling the truth?

Concerned Citizen

[dresdin]

re: curse
hope you're safe mr malcolm...

http://www.upi.com/Business_News/2008/07/02/LA_Times_to_cut_250_jobs/UPI-35461215052564/

[Jim Wagner]

re: curse

hope you are too, raggin' cajun;)