Times (UK): "Obama bagman is sent to jail over $3.5m payment by British tycoon"

[bidenista]

February 1, 2008
Obama bagman is sent to jail over $3.5m payment by British tycoon
James Bone in New York, Dominic Kennedy in London

An undeclared $3.5 million (£1.8 million) payment from a corrupt Iraqi-British businessman has landed Barack Obama’s former fundraiser behind bars.

The payment, disclosed in court papers, is the first time that Mr Obama’s long-serving bagman Antoin “Tony” Rezko, a Syrian immigrant to the United States, has been linked to Nadhmi Auchi, the Iraqi-born billionaire who is one of Britain’s richest men. The relationship is a potential embarrassment for Mr Obama, who has made his opposition to the Iraq war a central plank of his campaign. Court papers describe Mr Rezko as a close friend of Mr Auchi. The two are involved in a large Chicago land development together. But it is unclear how long the two men have known each other or whether they were linked before the 2003 Iraq war. Neither side would discuss their relationship.

The Times has, however, discovered state documents in Illinois recording that Fintrade Services, a Panamanian company, lent money to Mr Obama’s fundraiser in May 2005. Fintrade’s directors include Ibtisam Auchi, the name of Mr Auchi’s wife. Mr Auchi’s spokespeople declined to respond to a question about whether he was linked to this business. Mr Rezko, to be tried for corruption this month, had his bail revoked on Monday after he disobeyed a court’s instructions to keep it informed of changes to his finances. Prosecutors feared that he could try to flee abroad. The property developer has been condemned by Hillary Clinton as a “slum landlord”.

More: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article3284825.ece?CMP=KNC-LBN&HBX_PK=hillary+clinton&HBX_OU=50

[Windy]

1. Be careful with the spamming Bidenista...there is an AP report that Clinton took money from Resko..

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gpC0zgfaq3IWHyY4ssvz0Hv83AsAD8UH9IP01

By MICHAEL R. BLOOD – 8 hours ago

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a national co-chair of Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign, banked at least $7,500 in political donations linked to an indicted Chicago businessman whose past connections to Barack Obama have been used by Clinton to criticize her rival.

City records show Antoin Rezko, idenfitied as chairman of Rezmar Corp. of Chicago, contributed $1,000 to Villaraigosa's mayoral campaign in May 2001. Those records show Rezko also donated $500 to another Villaraigosa political committee in March 2003.

Records show Villaraigosa received at least another $6,000 from people or businesses with connections to Rezko.

Asked to confirm whether the mayor received donations from Rezko, spokesman Sean Clegg said "the contributions are currently under review."

Clegg said Villaraigosa doesn't know Rezko and was unaware whether Rezko or any of his companies were doing business with the city, or bidding on city contracts.

"The contributions from 2001 and 2003 were long before any issues related to Tony Rezko became public," Clegg said.

The donations could prove to be a political embarrassment for Clinton, who accused Obama in a South Carolina debate of representing Rezko "in his slum landlord business" when Obama was a young Chicago lawyer.

Rezko has been a patron of Illinois politicians for years and Obama's connections to Rezko go back more than 15 years. Rezko has contributed thousands of dollars to the campaigns of both Obama and Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Neither has been accused of any wrongdoing.

Obama's campaign has given to charity nearly $150,000 in contributions received by Obama's House, Senate and presidential campaigns that came from Rezko, his employees, his associates and his family.

Obama represented partners of Rezko's company in government-subsidized apartment rehabilitation projects, not Rezko himself. Obama says he did no more than five or six hours of work for the partners.

[bidenista]

2. no, CLINTON did not take money from Rezko

Someone working for her did for their own mayoral campaign. Clinton never received a dime from Rezko.

[MethuenProgressive]

4. Facts matter little to those with fairy tale dreams.

"Bag man" heh.
:kick:

[papau]

7. why lie? - Clinton took no money from Rezko - seems desperate

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

3. Hillary - the donors

She's got lots of baggage, and we have a chance to avoid the drag on the democratic party by all of
the investigations that will ensue if she were the nominee. Do we really need 4 years of investigations and Bill's zipper scandals?

Justice Dept Questions If Hillary Donors Were Coerced - Politics ...Nov 3, 2007 ... Justice Dept Questions If Hillary Donors Were Coerced - The Huffington Post.
www.huffingtonpost.com/_70839.html

Clinton Donor Under a Cloud in Fraud Case - New York TimesSenator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign said it would give away thousands of dollars that it ... The New York Times Store. Theodore Roosevelt Campaigns ...
www.nytimes.com/2007/08/30/us/politics/30bundler.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

Clinton campaign taps into an unlikely treasure-trove - Los ...Oct 19, 2007 ... New York's Chinese immigrants shell out -- but it doesn't all add up. ... The Times examined the cases of more than 150 donors who provided ...
www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-donors19oct19,0,4231217.story

Hillary leads in donor refunds - - The Washington Times, America's ...Oct 17, 2007 ... The Washington Times Nation/Politics: Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's ... Mr. Hsu was charged last month in federal court in New York with ...
www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071017/NATION/110170092/1001

An Ex-President, a Mining Deal and a Big Donor
New York Times, United States - Jan 31, 2008
DONATING MILLIONS Former President Bill Clinton with Sir Tom Hunter, left, and Frank Giustra, major donors to Mr. Clinton’s charitable foundation.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/31/us/politics/31donor.html?bl&ex=1201928400&en=34871ee7da314ab4&ei=5087%0A

The Billary Road to Republican Victory
New York Times, United States - Jan 26, 2008
The Times found an overlap between library benefactors and Hillary Clinton campaign donors, some of whom might have an agenda with a new Clinton
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/opinion/27rich.html?ref=opinion

[peoli]

5. good one

[papau]

8. Afraid Rezko may make those October reports out of date

[stillcool]

6. Don't know if this will help you or not.....

but what they hey...

* Land deal

On November 1, 2006, the Chicago Tribune reported that Obama and Antoin "Tony" Rezko -- who had "pleaded not guilty to federal charges involving pay-to-play allegations that surround Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's administration" -- bought adjoining properties on the same day in 2005 and that as Obama and Rezko "jointly worked to improve their side-by-side properties, the two men entered an ongoing series of personal financial arrangements." The Tribune article alleged no wrongdoing and quoted Obama saying: "I haven't been involved with in any legislative work whatsoever or any government activities of any sort." The article noted: "In normal circumstances, the two real estate transactions probably wouldn't have raised an eyebrow. There is, after all, nothing illegal or untoward about an aggressive developer buying hot property next door to a rising political star." Indeed, the only apparent cause for the article's existence was that "these are not normal times for either Obama or Rezko."

Even though the article alleged no wrongdoing on Obama's part, the Tribune editorialized two days later, writing that "the senator's real estate tie to Rezko threatens to leave Obama hoisted by his ethics petard."

More than a month later, Slate.com teased a December 14 article, headlined "Barackwater" and written by Slate chief political correspondent John Dickerson, by suggesting that the article exposed a "Shady Real Estate Deal" involving Obama. The article, whose headline was a reference to the Clinton-era Whitewater real-estate "scandal," which gave rise to an extensive, multimillion-dollar investigation that turned up no evidence of illegality by the Clintons, in fact explained that there is "no evidence" Obama did anything wrong.

But even with the constant refrain that Obama had not "been accused of wrongdoing," as the AP reported, the discussion of the land deal came up again following Obama's announcement that he was forming an exploratory committee. For instance, on the January 20 edition of Fox News Watch, Newsday columnist Jim Pinkerton asserted that one of "the questions about a fellow ... named Barack Hussein Obama" is "about this land deal he had." Similarly, during a report on the January 16 edition of ABC's Nightline, ABC News senior national correspondent Jake Tapper asked, "Just who the hell is Barack Obama?" and noted that voters "may not like what they hear about a questionable land deal was involved in with a political operative since indicted for fraud."
http://mediamatters.org/items/200703200011#landdeal

Q: Senator, when did you first meet Tony Rezko? How did you become friends? How often would you meet with him, and when did you last speak with him?

A: I had attracted some media attention when I was elected the first black President of the Harvard Law Review. And while I was in law school, David Brint, who was a development partner with Tony Rezko contacted me and asked whether I would be interested in being a developer. Ultimately, after discussions in which I met Mr. Rezko, I said no.

I have probably had lunch with Rezko once or twice a year and our spouses may have gotten together on two to four occasions in the time that I have known him. I last spoke with Tony Rezko more than six months ago.

Q:. Have you or your wife participated in any other transactions of any kind with Rezko or companies he owns? Have you or your wife ever done any legal work ever for Rezko or his companies?

A: No.

Q: Has Rezko ever given you or your family members gifts of any kind and, if so, what were they?

A: No.

Q: The seller of your house appears to be a doctor at the University of Chicago . Do you or your wife know him? If so, did either of you ever talk to him about subdividing the property? If you ever did discuss the property with him, when were those conversations?

A: We did not know him personally, though my wife worked in the same University hospital. The property was subdivided and two lots were separately listed when we first learned of it. We did not discuss the property with the owners; the sale was negotiated for us by our agent.

Q: Did you approach Rezko or his wife about the property, or did they approach you?

A: To the best of my recollection, I told him about the property, and he developed an interest, knowing both the location and, as I recall, the developer who had previously purchased it.

Q: Who was your Realtor? Did this Realtor also represent Rita Rezko?

A: Miriam Zeltzerman, who had also represented me in the purchase of my prior property, a condominium, in Hyde Park. She did not represent Rita Rezko.

Q: How do you explain the fact your family purchased your home the same day as Rita Rezko bought the property adjacent to yours? Was this a coordinated purchase?

A: The sellers required the closing of both properties at the same time. As they were moving out of town, they wished to conclude the sale of both properties simultaneously. The lot was purchased first; with the purchase of the house on the adjacent lot, the closings could proceed and did, on the same day, pursuant to the condition set by the sellers.

Q: Why is it that you were able to buy your parcel for $300,000 less than the asking price, and Rita Rezko paid full price? Who negotiated this end of the deal? Did whoever negotiated it have any contact with Rita and Tony Rezko or their Realtor or lawyer?

A: Our agent negotiated only with the seller's agent. As we understood it, the house had been listed for some time, for months, and our offer was one of two and, as we understood it, it was the best offer. The original listed price was too high for the market at the time, and we understood that the sellers, who were anxious to move, were prepared to sell the house for what they paid for it, which is what they did.

We were not involved in the Rezko negotiation of the price for the adjacent lot. It was our understanding that the owners had received, from another buyer, an offer for $625,000 and that therefore the Rezkos could not have offered or purchased that lot for less.

Q: Why did you put the property in a trust?

A: I was advised that a trust holding would afford me some privacy, which was important to me as I would be commuting from Washington to Chicago and my family would spend some part of most weeks without me.

Q: A Nov. 21, 1999, Chicago Tribune story indicates the house you bought "sits on a quarter-acre lot and will share a driveway and entrance gate with a home next door that has not yet been built." Is this shared driveway still in the mix? Will this require further negotiations with the Rezkos?

A: The driveway is not shared with the adjacent owner. But the resident in the carriage house in the back does have an easement over it.

Q: Does it display a lack of judgment on your part to be engaging in real estate deals with Tony Rezko at a point his connections to state government had been reported to be under federal investigation?

A: I've always held myself to the highest ethical standards. During the ten years I have been in public office, I believe I have met those standards and I know that is what people expect of me. I have also understood the importance of appearances.

With respect to the purchase of my home, I am confident that everything was handled ethically and above board.

But I regret that while I tried to pay close attention to the specific requirements of ethical conduct, I misgauged the appearance presented by my purchase of the additional land from Mr. Rezko. It was simply not good enough that I paid above the appraised value for the strip of land that he sold me. It was a mistake to have been engaged with him at all in this or any other personal business dealing that would allow him, or anyone else, to believe that he had done me a favor. For that reason, I consider this a mistake on my part and I regret it.

Throughout my life, I have put faith in confronting experiences honestly and learning from them. And that is what I will do with this experience as well.

Q: Why did you not publicly disclose the transaction after Rezko got indicted?

A: At the time, it didn't strike me as relevant. I did however donate campaign contributions from Rezko to charity.

Q: Have you been interviewed by federal investigators about this transaction or about your relationship with Rezko? If not, do you intend to approach them?

A: I have not been interviewed by federal investigators. I have no reason to approach them.

Q: Did Rezko or his companies ever solicit your support on any matter involving state or federal government? Did Al Johnson, who was trying to get a casino license along with Tony Rezko, or Rezko himself ever discuss casino matters with you?

A: No, I have never been asked to do anything to advance his business interests. In 1999, when I was a State Senator, I opposed legislation to bring a casino to Rosemont and allow casino gambling at docked riverboats which news reports said Al Johnson and Tony Rezko were interested in being part of. I never discussed a casino license with either of them. I was a vocal opponent of the legislation. (http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/votehistory/srollcalls9... )

Q: Has this disclosure about your relationship with Rezko changed your thoughts about a White House run?

A: No. As I have said, how I can best serve is something I will think about after the 2006 election next Tuesday.

Q: Did Rezko ever discuss with you his dealings with Stuart Levine, Christopher Kelly or William Cellini or the role he was playing in shaping Gov. Blagojevich's administration?

A: No.

Q: Are the Obamas the only beneficiaries of the land trust?

A: Yes.

Q: Are you aware of any efforts by previous owners to develop what is now the Rezko lot, possibly as townhomes?

A: I was not aware of any prior effort by the seller to develop the property, but always understood the other lot was to be developed upon sale.

Q: Did Rezko have an appraisal performed for the 10-foot strip?

A: I had an appraisal conducted by Howard B. Richter & Associates on November 21, 2005.

Q: Was there a negotiation? Did he have an asking price, or did he just say, whatever you think is fair?

A: I proposed to pay on the basis of proportionality. Since the strip composed one-sixth of the entire lot, I would pay one-sixth of the purchase price of the lot. I offered this to Mr. Rezko and he accepted it.

Q: How many fundraisers has Mr. Rezko hosted for you? Were these all in his home? How much would you estimate he has raised for your campaigns?

A: He hosted one event at his home in 2003 for my U.S. Senate campaign. He participated as a member of a host committee for several other events. My best estimate was that he raised somewhere between $50,000 and $60,000.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/124171,CST-NWS-obama05.article