University of Illinois reverses decision, unseals Obama-Ayers documents

A couple of days ago The Ticket wrote about how the University of Illinois in Chicago had sealed dozens of boxes of documents relating to the joint work that Barack Obama did on a civic project there with William Ayers, the former 1960s radical from the Weathermen.

Just like that, the university has now reversed itself. Shows what The Ticket can do when it exercises its clout -- a Chicago kind of word.

Actually, we had nothing to do with it. On Friday the school said it will release records of Obama's service to a nonprofit organization linked to Ayers, now a Chicago education professor.

Sen. John McCain's allies have been trying to exploit the ties between Obama and Ayers, with a McCain fundraiser donating nearly $2.9 million for an independent TV ad focusing on Ayers, whose Weathermen group took credit for bombings that included nonfatal blasts at the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol four decades ago.

The records of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, which Obama chaired and which Ayers co-founded, will be made available to the public on Tuesday, the university said in a statement.

National Review magazine had attempted to obtain the records and was told the donor had not cleared their opening. Today, the university said it now has legal authority to allow public access to the material.

Our prolific blogging colleague Mark Silva, who seems to be in both Washington and Denver at the same time while writing about Chicago events, has the full story over here at the Swamp.

--Andrew Malcolm

Comments

[KoOti]

It s refreshing to see that the Obama Daily for a change is paying attention for the real story, that of preventing themedia from finding significant information on a candidate that could help voters understand what their candidate is made of. The L.A Times was slow and behind on the Edwards' story, on the Clinton stories and without a doubt, has been very tardy with the Obama story. The L.A Times has not explained the link of Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama to Saul Alinsky, the Communist mentor, shaping their views in Chicago and his impact o their thinking, it has not pursued the trail of his years of close relationship with Mr. Ayers, including a family one, working for a law firm affiliated whose partners and clients were of a specific political bent which is your duty to explain. Since the new owners took over, the daily has gone downhill and it has become a big disappointment for many L.A residents.

[Ladyhawkke]

I believe the records have been re-released because they have been SCRUBBED by Obama of any damaging info. Hope I'm wrong but I've seen his thuggery before.

[max]

If the press had properly vetted Mr. Obama, Hillary would be the nominee. You have slandered and sent teams of investigators to find any negative information on Palin while giving Obama a free ride on Wright, Ayres, Rizko,Saul Alinsky, his association with Acorn and The New Party a Socialist party. Why is the press not asking hard questions of Obama? It is YOUR job to report the FULL truth about all candidates so that we the people can make an informed choice. You all have failed to look for and report the truth. CNN, New York Times and other MSM media whitewash these relationships. Gibson interviewed Obama where were the follow up questions? The Ayres relationship is much deeper than reported, It is the media's job to find the complete truth. Thank Mc Cain for making us aware because of him I have been able to investigate Obama and his connections, this is not a man that I want to call my President and many others may reach that conclusion if given the full truth.