Did Rezko find jobs for Obama staffers--campaign says "it's possible"

[carlotta]

Did Rezko find jobs for Obama staffers?

March 6, 2008

Did Barack Obama use indicted campaign fund-raiser Tony Rezko as a conduit to get jobs for people in Gov. Blagojevich's administration?

The question arises from a list of 39 people Rezko's lawyers said in a court filing he urged Blagojevich to give state jobs.
RELATED STORIES
Flushing campaign dollars

Among those on the list were two people who appear to have Obama links and a third who's now an Obama presidential campaign staffer.

But did the names come from Obama? His campaign staff's short answer: Don't know -- but it's possible.

"We do not know how decisions were made to fill specific state positions, and we have no records of any individual recommendations we were asked to make or made," says Obama spokesman Bill Burton "But we do know that Tony Rezko, among others, was helping to gather names for the positions coming open with a new administration, and, if it is established any names came through our office, we would have no reason to doubt it."

http://www.suntimes.com/news/watchdogs/828959,CST-NWS-watchcorner06.article

[bigtree]

1. drip

drip

[WDIM]

2. Norman Hsu

[monktonman]

3. whos Norman Hsu? n/t

[ccpup]

6. here you go:

Hsu Steered Major Fundraiser to Obama
Campaign Acknowledges Link to Democratic Donor Who Is Now Under Arrest

By Matthew Mosk and John Solomon
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, September 8, 2007; Page A05

Before becoming a major bundler for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign, disgraced Democratic donor Norman Hsu helped host a 2005 California event for Barack Obama's political action committee and introduced the senator from Illinois to one of the biggest fundraisers for his presidential bid.

Federal Election Commission records show that Hsu gave $5,000 to Obama's Hopefund PAC in connection with the fundraiser and that people publicly identified with Hsu and his companies gave an additional $19,500 to the PAC in 2005 and 2006.

Mark Gorenberg, who now sits on Obama's national finance committee and is one of his biggest fundraisers, said Hsu organized an early 2005 event for the Hopefund and invited him to help raise money.

"He introduced me to Barack Obama," Gorenberg said of Hsu. "He was working on an event for Barack's PAC, and he asked me to help, and I did. Barack came up to San Francisco, and introduced him to a bunch of people."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/07/AR2007090703047.html

[monktonman]

12. Funny how your post leans so heavily on Obama...

By 2007, Hsu's status within Hillary Rodham Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign had risen to the level where he was a "HillRaiser",<23><29> someone who had "bundled" more than $100,000 for her campaign, and to where he co-hosted a $1 million fundraiser at wealthy Democratic Party supporter Ron Burkle's Beverly Hills estate

http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Hsu

[ccpup]

16. point is, they both got burned by Hsu

but the Obama supporters conveniently forget that -- or just are unaware of it, which is certainly possible -- whenever they bring up Hsu to attempt to hurt Hillary.

[jefferson_dem]

4. Wow. What a total...

non-story.

Is there anything illegal or even unethical if that did happen?

[Tellurian]

5. It's the tie that binds..

forming a pattern of relationships... quid pro quo!

[bigtree]

10. funny, it's just that sort of association which Obama supporters want to castigate Clinton for

I understand, (most Obama supporters do not) that putting these reports forward is an attempt to demonstrate that Obama hasn't been above 'politics as usual' in the past, despite the 'integrity' theme he's built around his opposition to Hillary Clinton. It's just a matter of time before the public sours on both of them. That's the likely end result of a 'scandal' fight between the two. The public rarely takes sides in these things. They will both end up bloodied and weakened if this persists. I happen to think Obama has more of a potential for self-inflicted damage than Clinton. Her base of supporters know her, intimately.

[Tellurian]

29. I don't think the public will sour on Clinton..

People are used to seeing and hearing attacks on Clinton with the usual result ending in false charges. Otherwise, I would agree with you. A tit for tat fight would damage both parties. However, in the 'to be continued scenario' of Obama and (I hardly knew him) Rezko...

It's all drama and moving slow enough people will be keeping score of when Obama was Truthful and NOT. Because Obama's public statements hitherto are carved in stone. All that has to be done in the Obama Project is compare, contrast and keep score.

As facts are revealed, it would be fun to find new clues weekly in cereal boxes..

:rofl:

[jefferson_dem]

13. You mean guilt by assocation.

Do you, as a Hillary supporter, really want to go there?

[Tellurian]

23. Guilt by association is the wrong analogy

No, I mean, interaction with a particular individual forming a pattern of behavior. For instance, Bill & Hillary's picture with Rezko. Where it seems Rezko made himself available for a photo-OP at a Clinton event. Neither Clinton recognised Rezko or knew who he was or what the occasion was for the picture. Ultimately, the only one who know the circumstance was Rezko, as he provided the picture to nbc to somehow taint the Clintons as a Rezko affiliate.

But we know the Obama Campaign tricks by now. Whenever a negative surfaces about Obama. It's always: "Hillary did it too!"

[wndycty]

7. This is Illinois, it would be unusual if some of Obama's staffers didn't end up. . .

. . .in the Blagojevich administration, same with Durbin staffers, Emanuel staffers, Jackson staffers, Schakowsky staffers, etc. Having served in the Blagojevich administration from 2004-2007 I can tell you I worked with former Clinton staffers as well. This is ONLY problematic if the hiring rules and procedures were not followed.

[SKKY]

8. Didn't Vernon Jordan get Lewinski a job????

Glass houses are a motherfucker, as another poster on DU so eloquently pointed out.

[Tellurian]

26. yeah, I heard the Obamas mansion's roof is made of wood and shingles..

The stone thrower isn't taking any chances..

[blogslut]

9. That blurb is thin on content

But high on innuendo.

[Little Star]

11. drip

[Adelante]

14. Haha

:D

[LeftCoast]

15. Serious question

I thought that in the early stages of the Rezko issue, Obama claimed to have had very little contact. If I'm not correct, I would (truly) appreciate a correction.

I don't see this particular aspect of the story as very damning otherwise.

[dkf]

19. Hillary made a comment that Obama was Rezko's lawyer

And Obama answered that he had billed 5 hours for working on innocuous entities that were tangentially connected to Rezko, but it sounded like paper pusher type work, including incorporation paperwork.

[LeftCoast]

20. Mouse stutter

D'oh!

[LeftCoast]

21. Hmm...

I really don't know how much substance is in this whole story, but this trickle of conflicting stories isn't doing Obama any favors.

[Vinca]

17. Sometime, when I have a few spare hours, I'm going to gather

all the Clinton scandals in one place so I can repeatedly post them as a response. I hope we have enough band width.

[eilen]

18. Wasn't Hsu involved with the Chinese fundraising fiasco in the Clinton Admin?

[Tellurian]

27. and Obama too!

[Saturday]

24. We know about the Clinton "scandals". We've been through them.

It's the hypocrisy regarding Obama that is the problem.

[yourguide]

22. Major Clinton donor named in Rezko trial

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x4907332

[Schema Thing]

25. a straightforward answer n/t

[shenmue]

28. It's called "plausible deniability." Delegate responsibilities, then wash your hands of them...

and pretend you don't know where people got those crazy ideas.

:dunce:

[Exilednight]

30. Thy name is Karma !! From a letter sent to HRC:....

 The company’s attorney, Myron “Mike” Cherry, also a contributor of yours(Clinton's), has been identified in published reports as “Individual H” in the Illinois criminal indictment of businessman Antoin “Tony” Rezko. Cherry has acknowledged in published reports that he was the conduit for some of the IPA campaign contributions.

http://www.reversespin.com/?m=200709