Obama says nothing more to say about Rezko

[Karmadillo]

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/politics/blog/2008/01/obama_says_nothing_more_to_say.html

Obama says nothing more to say about Rezko
by John McCormick, updated

MACON, Ga. – The morning after winning South Carolina's primary, Sen. Barack Obama said he has shared everything that is to be known about his relationship with indicted Chicago developer Tony Rezko.

Appearing on ABC's "This Week," the Illinois Democrat and presidential hopeful also answered a series of questions about racial campaigning and his leading challenger, Sen. Hillary Clinton.

Obama was asked specifically about a paragraph in an endorsement in Sunday's editions of the Chicago Tribune that calls on him to "divulge all there is to know about that relationship."

The editorial continues: "Until you do, the journalistic scrubbing and opposition research will intensify. You should have recognized Rezko as a political seducer of young talent. But given that you've not been accused of any crime or ethical breach, your Rezko history is not a deal-breaker."

Obama responded by saying there is nothing more to say.

more...

[Joe the Revelator]

1. One day after getting smacked down for dirty campaiging, the Hillary supporters are back to their ..

old bullshit again.

Awesome guys, you're going to attack your way right out of this thing.

[rodeodance]

11. We're BACK!! -----WHINNING AGAIN??

[MethuenProgressive]

13. "Obama has given to charities $85,000 in Rezko-linked campaign contributions,"

Obama's Rezko problem; it's about judgment
by Frank James


"Obama has given to charities $85,000 in Rezko-linked campaign contributions, including $40,035 last weekend following a published report suggesting that Rezko funneled a $10,000 donation to Obama through a business associate."

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/politics/blog/2008/01/by_frank_james_in_monday.html

[niceypoo]

16. The article says nothing about Hillary

The Obama camp has been attacking Hillary relentlessly, but the slightest bump in the road for Obama is "old bullshit again." The Obama crowd need to stop playing 'boohoo' and start talking about the issues, you do remember the issues, no?

[ClintonTyree]

21. Issues don't matter.....

it's all about H-O-P-E, don't you know. ;) Issues have a way of bringing hope back to reality, and we can't have that.

[rodeodance]

23. That is because this IS Obama's PROBLEM.

[MADem]

17. Huh?? They own ABC news and the Chicago Tribune?

No one is allowed to post a news story dealing with a candidate INTERVIEW now that says anything except "How WONDERFUL he is?"

You are calling that ATTACKING?

Give me a break.

[sunonmars]

2. What, sweeping it under the carpet will not make it disapear, Barack!

[kurth]

3. Quit asking questions

How impertinent. Not to mention racist. Uncool.

[sunonmars]

4. lol

[journalist3072]

5. Exactly. He's have his "Let's move on...Nothing to see here" moment and it ain't pretty. eom

[rodeodance]

10. He learns well from Bush/ROVE.

[journalist3072]

19. Precisely.

[rodeodance]

22. I tire of hearing Obama people say it about Hill folks--Time to dish it back.

[rodeodance]

8. nope--the media will dig more now--good.

[Barack_America]

20. And insisting that there is more there, won't make it so.

It's entirely possible that this is it.

[indimuse]

6. What is a REZKO?

REZKO For Dummies
Friday, January 11th, 2008

In olden days, corrupt Chicago politicians would simply take a bag full of money. Usually the bag of money was passed under the table while corrupt politician and

corrupt fixer lunched or dined. Those were simpler times.

With all the do-gooders trying to stamp out political corruption things got more complicated for politicians on the take.

Republican Senator Alphonse D’Amato devised a clever system which got him in some trouble. D’Amato, played poker every Thursday night with lobbyists. D’Amato

won the poker games, got several hundred dollars on every poker hand played that night, and all was on the apparent up and up. After the lobbyist games were

revealed, and INVESTIGATED, D’Amato had to find a new job.



Now imagine this: A Chicago politician, in modern day Chicago, who wants things he can’t afford. Wifey likes expensive things and wants a big mansion to live in.

What new clever system would said modern day Chicago politician devise? Said Chicago politician first acquaints himself with ethics laws and how to skirt them.

Chicago politician and Chicago fixer come up with this scheme: Funnel tens of millions of dollars in government money to the Chicago Fixer and get him to somehow

buy you a house, among other amenities. Yes, you have to turn your back on freezing Chicago constituents, African-Americans mostly, but hey, it’s the Chicago way.

* * *

What is a REZKO?

… Today, in a light-hearted, “down-to-earth” style, we will discuss REZKO. We will answer such questions as “What is a Rezko?”, “Why should I care about the

REZKO?”, “What is the deeper meaning of the REZKO?”

As regular reader of Big Pink know, we have tried to explain the REZKO before. We’ve written repeatedly about the REZKO. Among other articles, we have written Will

Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald Destroy the Obama Campaign?, The Case of the Missing State Senator, A Challenge To Big Media and Big Blogs, Obama’s $925,000

Question. But some people still don’t get it.

Yesterday, we received some assistance from ABC News and Good Morning America (We love that name - so sunshinny and cheery). Good Morning America ran a

package on Obama and Rezko. The ABC package was Youtubed. Patrick Fitzgerald is on the video. ABC News also posted the story on its website The Rezko

Connection: Obama’s Achilles Heel?

First, a few words of explanation as to how we will proceed in REZKO for Dummies:

Because so many journalists, much more than usual, are reading today (oy vey, don’t ask) we will go real slow. We will start with 2 video presentations - the Good

Morning America package and an earlier CNN production.

Then, later today, in response to popular demand, we will scour the internets and come up with real life questions and defenses from the Obama supporters

regarding the REZKO. We will then, in Part II, answer the questions (in Q and A style) you all have about the REZKO.


The piece then links to the aforementioned YouTube clips of media reports about Mr. Rezko.

And, as promised by these heroes, here is today’s offering:


REZKO For Dummies, Part II
Sunday, January 13th, 2008

In our post A Challenge To Big Media and Big Blogs we dared these peas in a pod to Prove us wrong. Show us where we are wrong in the Obama benefactor and

friend, the indicted Antoin “Tony” Rezko, story. No one has come forward to take up the challenge.



* * *

In old Chicago, paper bags filled with money were passed, literally “under the table” to politicians. These days complicated schemes are employed by politicians on

the take. Herewith, as lawyers say, is our “theory of the case”. As TV show detective “Monk” says “Here’s what happened”:

Obama had multiple land dealings regarding Rezko. Obama and his supporters answer a question about a particular land deal by bringing up details about a different

land deal. This is how they try to kill the REZKO scandal - distract, distort, deflect. But they never answer directly.

I. Obama/REZKO land dealings benefitting REZKO:

Both as part time State Senator and part time lawyer, Obama helped his friend of 17 years, REZKO, obtain tens of millions of dollars in government subsidies. There

are many of these land deals.

At the Chicago political machine law firm where Obama worked, Obama helped pump tens of millions of government subsidy monies to the REZKO company called

REZMAR.

As State Senator, Obama, in his official capacity, also helped pump tens of millions of more dollars to REZKO.
senator but this video proves that too was an Obama lie HERE]

II. Obama/REZKO land dealings benefitting Obama:

Obama received many contributions from REZKO and even more money from contributions raised by REZKO for all of Obama’s political campaigns (the failed

congressional race, the state senate race, the U.S. Senate race). But the biggest personal benefit Obama received from REZKO, that we know of, is the big house

Obama lives in today.

Obama was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2004. Obama and Michelle owned a condominum at that time but now that Obama was a U.S. Senator they wanted to move

to a big house. Obama could not afford the big house he wanted. The house cost $2,305,000. However, in 2005 Obama bought the house he could not afford. Here is

how Obama bought a house he could not afford:

Step 1 - Obama talked the doctor selling the house into selling the house and the house’s side yard separately. There would be two separate buyers of the single

property - both purchasing the property on the same day.

Step 2 - Obama had previously asked his friend REZKO to buy the side yard of the house. REZKO was doing financially well at this point.

Step 3 - Obama purchased the land with the house on it. REZKO, probably to hide his involvement in this land deal and protect Obama, had his wife Rita purchase

the side yard. Both purchases of the single property closed on the same day.

Result - Obama got a $300,000 discount on the much more valuable property on which the house stood. REZKO’s wife, Rita, purchased the side yard for full price.

After the deal, Obama paid for mowing of his front lawn as well as REZKO’s yard.

The math is this: Obama gets a $300,000 discount and pays $1,605,000 for his house; REZKO’s wife buys the yard at full price for the undeveloped, less valuable side

yard for $625,000. Obama gets a $2,305,000 house for $1,605,000. “Profit” to Obama = $925,000.

[indimuse]

9. Michelle Obama used Landmark Commission to navigate through Chicago law

III. Obama/REZKO land deal benefitting REZKO:

By 2006 Obama and REZKO had reversed fortunes. Obama was a U.S. Senator peddling books (his latest autobiography chock full of “composite” characters and

made up situations). Obama’s wife, Michelle, had fortuitously received all sorts of financial benefits from her new found status as wife of a U.S. Senator - including a

promotion and a $316,962 salary from the hospital she worked at. REZKO was in financial difficulty and it was reported that REZKO was about to be indicted.

Obama came to the REZKO rescue. REZKO, Obama’s friend, slumlord and Chicago fixer was in trouble. Money was drying up and Patrick Fitzgerald was on his tail.

REZKO needed money. The cash flushed Obama obliged. Obama offered to buy some of the REZKO-owned side yard.

The 10 feet of land Obama decided to purchase from REZKO was appraised at $40,000. Obama paid the financially troubled REZKO $104,500. Shortly thereafter,

REZKO was indicted by “Scooter” Libby prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald on charges including Bribes, Kickbacks, and Extortion.

Why Obama rescued REZKO remains a mystery. Why would an up and coming Chicago politician risk his political future for a slumlord about to be indicted remains a

question. Obama supporters will no doubt burn incense and declare Obama a great humanitarian and friend. Impartial observers, and prosecutors, might suspect this

transaction was “hush money”. “Hush money” talks real loudly in Chicago.

* * *

REZKO For Dummies - Questions and Answers.



Question: What is a REZKO? “Rezko” refers to Antoin “Tony” Rezko. Rezko is an Obama friend of 17 years, a slumlord, and an indicted Chicago “Fixer“. The New

York Times described Rezko this way: “Antoin Rezko, an entrepreneur of considerable charm who found riches in fast food and real estate, is known around Chicago

as a collector of politicians.” “Mr. Obama has portrayed Mr. Rezko as a one-time fund-raiser whom he had occasionally seen socially. But interviews with more than a

dozen political and business associates suggest that the two men were closer than the senator has indicated.”

Question: Isn’t this an “old” story? Most reporters and Democrats are unaware of the Rezko Obama wheeling and dealing. ABC News certainly does not think this is

an old story. The Rezko trial for Bribes, Kickbacks and Extortion begins on February 25, 2008. The unvetted Obama is running for president in 2008. There has been

zero investigation of this story. Obama has repeatedly been caught not telling the truth about his transactions with Rezko. Republicans are aware of Rezko and will

use this story against Obama if he ever became the Democratic nominee.
Obama/Rezko house deal.]

Question: Does this story really matter? This story goes right to the question of Obama’s experience and judgment. Obama’s Chicago constituents were abandoned

by Obama in unheated tenements while Obama relaxed in his big heated house counting the money slumlord Rezko donated to Obama. Rezko did not have money to

pay for heating oil for his tenements but he did have money to donate to Obama. Obama represented his small state senate district badly. At best Obama can say he

was incompetent and did not know African-Americans in his district were living in “buildings riddled with problems — including squalid living conditions, vacant

apartments, lack of heat, squatters and drug dealers.”

Question: Who says the Obama house and the Rezko purchased yard were once part of the same property AND that both were purchased on the same day? In the

words of the Chicago Tribune, “The same day the Obamas closed on the house, the Rezkos closed on the purchase of the adjoining vacant lot, which once was the

estate’s lush side yard.”

Question: Any proof that Obama did “favors” for Rezko while Obama was a state senator? The Chicago Tribune: “On June 13, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that as

a state senator, Obama wrote letters to city and state officials supporting Rezko’s successful bid to get more than $14 million from taxpayers to build apartments for

senior citizens. The Sun-Times said the deal included $855,000 in development fees for Rezko and his partner, Allison S. Davis, Obama’s former boss, according to

records from the project, which was four blocks outside Obama’s state Senate district.

Question: Is there more to come on this Rezko story? Stay tuned to the Rezko trial. As reported immediately above, Allison S. Davis, Obama’s former boss at the

politically connected Chicago law firm was an investor in some of Rezko’s deals. Michelle Obama and the medical community in Chicago continue to swirl around this

story. As trial approaches Rezko might decide to try to get a deal. Usually, prosecutors will only work a deal if someone else is “offered up”.

Question: What about Hillary - what about Whitewater? Hillary has been fully vetted. The Clintons lost $50,000 in the media trumped up land deal known as

Whitewater. Every single little thing that the Republicans can throw at Hillary during an election has already been thrown at her to no avail. Few people know about

Rezko. Few reporters know the full Rezko/Obama story. With a Rezko trial starting on February 25, 2008 the Rezko tales will finally be told. At the very first glance it

looks like Obama made a $925,000 “profit” on the purchase of his house. Clinton’s lost $50,000; Obama gained $925,000.

Question: Maybe Obama didn’t know what he was doing - Is Obama a real estate lawyer? Obama was a real estate lawyer. Obama tried to hide that fact but the Sun

-Times exposed the truth:

Davis said he didn’t remember Obama working on the Rezmar projects. “I don’t recall Barack having any involvement in real estate transactions,” Davis said.

“Barack was a litigator. His area of focus was litigation, class-action suits.”

But Obama did legal work on real estate deals while at Davis’ firm, according to biographical information he submitted to the Sun-Times in 1998. Obama specialized

“in civil rights litigation, real estate financing, acquisition, construction and/or redevelopment of low-and moderate income housing,” according to his “biographical

sketch.” And he did legal work on Rezko’s deals, according to an e-mail his presidential campaign staff sent the Sun-Times on Feb. 16, in response to earlier

inquiries. The staff didn’t specify which Rezmar projects Obama worked on, or his role. But it drew a distinction between working for Rezko and working on projects

involving his company.”

Also, Lynn Sweet, of the Chicago Sun-Times caught Obama in another discrepancy between what Obama is currently saying and his record. “Well said, except that

this was not the first time Obama went through the process of buying a residence. Obama and his wife bought a condominium in Hyde Park before purchasing their

mansion in Kenwood. Perhaps Obama was making a distinction between buying a condo and a stand-alone home. But Obama was not the first-time residential

purchaser he portrayed in the interview.”

Michelle Obama served for 7 years on the Landmark Commission (1998-2005). Michelle Obama used those Landmark Commission contacts to navigate through

Chicago law when the Obamas decided to build a fence for, as Lynn Sweet calls it, their Kenwood mansion.

Question: Did Obama know Rezko was about to be indicted when he made the last of the Obama/Rezko real estate deals? Obama changes his story with regularity.

ABC News appears to have the evidence that Obama knew or should have known.

[Bluebear]

7. Shut up, pipe down, get "the BAM" & stop asking so many questions, voters.

:silly:

[rodeodance]

12. up, some think voters are sheep.

[rodeodance]

14. I suspect his lawyers told him to keep quiet.

Obama responded by saying there is nothing more to say.

more...

[kurth]

15. "We had an accountability moment, and that's called the South Carolina primary."

Move on, folks. Time to UNIFY.

[journalist3072]

18. ROFL!!!! My thoughts exactly....the equivalent of George W. Bush's comment to the WaPo in Jan 05

"We had an accountability moment. That's called the 2004 election."

[rodeodance]

24. like I said Obama/obama folks learned well from Bush/Rove.

[Marie26]

25. Checkers speech, anyone?

Ahaha, this will come back to bite him.

[AZ Criminal JD]

26. Obama might not want to talk now

But Patrick Fitzgerald will be trying Rezko next month. Obama will have to talk then. There will be too many questions brought out by the trial evidence.