The Trial That Roared
Tony Rezko and the "Chicago
Way"
Editor's Note: Thomas's commentary is in blue and
Marcie's is in purple.
Tony Rezko is a well-known
figure in Chicago political circles. He is a fixer. He is very
good at getting anyone virtually anything and it always comes
with a price. Need a job on the governor's staff? Slide him some
money, and he will pull all the right strings. Right now, he is
pulling no strings because he is on trial. He was indicted in
October of 2006 for extortion and wire fraud, and he is facing
down Patrick Fitzgerald and crew who are determined to put him
away. But there is more to this little drama than most know about.
See, Mr. Rezko has many, many ties to big names in Chicago political
circles, including connections to Barack Obama. He also has international
ties which, to say the least, look no different than the "Chicago
Way" of politics he is used to. Let us give you a primer
about him, his associations, and what he is on trial for ...
First, he's on trial for allegedly extorting
funds from businesses looking to do business with the Illinois
Teachers Retirement System Board and the Illinois Health Facilities
Planning Board. Additionally, he is facing a wire fraud charge
for false financial transactions in an attempt to secure a $10
million loan from GE Capital for his pizza businesses. The feds
have him dead to rights on this, but what is interesting is that
if he goes down he likely won't be the only one. He has ties to
Bob Cellini and Robert Kjellander, two prominent Republican "bosses"
in Illinois politics; both of which are sitting under federal
investigations for corruption. Rezko has had numerous "business"
dealings with these two men, and none of them have been on the
up-and-up. Mr. Cellini has made a fortune out of shady business
deals and real estate, and he worked with Mr. Rezko in a shakedown
of the producer of the Hollywood movie "Million Dollar Baby."
Mr. Kjellander is basically Mr. Cellini's "gofer," who
quietly pocketed $809,000 in finder's fees in a bond deal closely
connected to the governor. $600,000 was paid to Mr. Rezko and
his cronies as a "loan." And to say that he has a "passing
relationship" with Governor Rod Blagojevich is a lie. He's
been doing business with the governor for years, and has paid
kickbacks to him to have his cronies placed on commissions that
oversee businesses so they can shake them down, and all the while
they're paying kickbacks to Governor Blagojevich.
But if you think that he only has ties to
Chicago politicos, think again. Two names are bound to turn up
in court proceedings. In fact, one already has. His name is Nadhmi
Auchi and he is an Iraqi-born British billionaire who has been
involved in two, high-level fraud scandals. The first was the
Clearstream affair. Clearstream was a clearing bank that was involved
in money laundering and tax evasion, and Mr. Auchi was at the
center of the investigations. They also surrounded the scandal
with the petroleum company Elf, and the United Nations Oil-For-Food
program. For that, he was fined three million dollars, and received
a fifteen month suspended sentence in the biggest corporate scandal
in Europe since the end of World War II. Mr. Auchi was also involved
in the plot to assassinate Prime Minister Abdul-Karim Qasim of
Iraq; a plot cobbled together by Saddam Hussein in 1959. How he
fits into the puzzle is a $3.5 million loan given to Mr. Rezko
three weeks before Mr. Rezko helped Barack Obama buy a house in
Chicago. At the time, Mr. Rezko was still under investigation
for extortion and fraud. It is speculated that some of that money
went into the house purchase. After the indictment was handed
down to Mr. Rezko, Mr. Auchi sent another $3.5 million loan to
him, and when prosecutors discovered that they had Mr. Rezko's
bond revoked claiming he was a flight risk.
Player number two is Aiham Alsammarae who
was the Minister of Energy in the Interim Iraqi government in
2003. He left in 2005 when the Iraqis were allowed to elect their
government. In 2006, he was arrested by Iraqi authorities when
it was discovered that over $600 million in reconstruction funds
were either misappropriated or went missing altogether. Mr. Rezko
had a deal worked out with Mr. Alsammarae to build a power plant
in Iraq, and train the guards there through his own security company,
Companion Security. Both Mr. Auchi and Mr. Alsammarae have loaned
millions to Mr. Rezko. Consequently, Mr. Alsammarae paid Blackwater
USA to break him out of jail before his trial could go forward,
and it is believed he fled to Chicago. While Mr. Alsammarea's
ties to Mr. Rezko aren't exactly as deep as Mr. Auchi's are, they
are still questionable. It was Mr. Alsammarae who approved the
power plant in Iraq that Mr. Rezko was involved with, and that
plant was never even started once Mr. Alsammarae was arrested
by Iraqi authorities. It's alleged that a lot of the $600 million-plus
that went missing for Iraqi reconstruction might have found it's
way to Mr. Rezko, and was bundled as political contributions to
local politicians, such as Governor Blagojevich, and national
ones, like Senator Obama.
Which brings us to Senator Obama's involvement
with Mr. Rezko. While Senator Obama claims they were "friends,"
he states they were not close. Yet in 2005 he helped Senator Obama
buy a home in Chicago for $300,000 below the asking price. On
the same day Mr. Rezko's wife, Rita, bought the adjacent lot for
the full price. Both had to be sold on the same day or neither
deal could be done. Later, Senator Obama bought a ten foot strip
of the property owned by Rita Rezko for $60,000 above the assessed
value. It has also come to light that Mr. Rezko has donated a
great deal of money to Senator Obama's presidential campaign,
and in light of the indictment, Senator Obama has returned a small
portion of it, and donated the rest to charity. But the amount
he claims to have received is three times lower than the amount
the Chicago Sun-Times discovered in June of last year. So, Senator
Obama is not exactly being truthful about the donations he has
received from Mr. Rezko, nor is he being upfront about his relationship
with him. Numerous blogs, including Rezkorama
and RezkoWatch
have been digging into the relationship between these two men,
and their connection to the "Chicago Way" of politics.
What does all of this mean? Well, for one
thing, Tony Rezko is in trouble. He is looking at a long prison
sentence if he's convicted. And this trial, with all of it's twists
and turns and uncomfortable facts, won't reflect well on Governor
Blagojevich. US attorney Patrick Fitzgerald is also steering the
investigation of Governor Blagojevich, and it was confirmed in
the Rezko trial that Governor Blagojevich was "Public Official
A" who was directly connected to Tony Rezko. Mr. Cellini
and Mr. Kjellander might also not appreciate the prying eyes of
federal investigators when they are named in this trial, and they
could very well face indictments of their own. Neither Mr. Auchi
or Mr. Alsammarae will likely see any sort of probe. (Mr. Auchi
is a British citizen, and it's unlikely that extradition would
be asked for as all he has done, thus far, is provide Mr. Rezko
with a couple of large loans.) Mr. Alsammarae is still a wanted
fugitive in Iraq, and if found he would probably be sent back
there to face the charges still waiting for him. Senator Obama,
on the other hand, stands to lose the most in this next to Tony
Rezko. He has presented himself as a reformer with a squeaky-clean
image. What is being revealed is that he was involved with Tony
Rezko on more than just a house purchase, and has benefited from
Mr. Rezko's friendship for a few years. If he does convince voters
he was unaware of what was going on, then it sends a message that
he is too inexperienced to even see corruption when it rears it's
ugly head. And, at the very least, a Senate Ethics investigation
could be launched to look into the house purchase. From the outside,
the deal stinks, and could be construed, under Senate rules as
a gift. That is illegal, and an apology isn't going to get him
out of that trouble.
He is a scholar of history, especially American
history, and the United States Constitution. She has finished
her undergrad studies, graduating with a BA in English and history
and will move onto law school this fall where she will specialize
in Constitutional Law. Together, Thomas and Marcie form the vanguard
of conservative opinion at Hamilton,
Madison, and Jay -- a blogging site devoted to advancing the
conservative cause by challenging the liberal lies and deceit
spread by the media, and espoused by the Left in general. Both
are expert debaters, and have beaten many liberals into submission
with their collective wit, and unmatched knowledge. The pair is
married, and resides in Arizona
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