Posted on 06/05/2008 6:50:22 AM PDT by Positive
When Sen. Barack Obama decided to buy a stately $1.65 million home last year on Chicago's South Side, Antoin "Tony" Rezko and his wife wasted no time. 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
"Not sure what you mean here...."
There is an article on this at the Chicago Sun-Times...but when I click on the url below, the article is blank.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/124171,CST-NWS-obama05.article
....when her husband earmarks millions of dollars for a hospital that she is associated with...
Put a barn and some bulls on it - the result would be what Obambi says about this purchase.
Shouldn’t the headline read, “Rezko owns Obama”?
Obama pays his landscaper to mow and maintain Rezko’s 7,500-square-foot lot as well as his own property. After the 2006 Tribune story, Obama says he sent a bill to the subsequent owner for the work, but doesn’t recall how much it was.
“I confess that I didn’t look at it carefully. … I’m assuming a couple of thousand dollars. … We were probably paying a hundred to a couple of hundred dollars a month. I mean this is basically mowing a lawn and maybe trimming some brush. And, so, his half of it, I know that we actually got this reimbursed by the subsequent seller, or the subsequent owner. And so I can probably get you that figure. But I can’t imagine that it’s more than $1,000 or so.”
There is a new thread from National Review Online...they may see some angles that the Chicago paper doesn't...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2026441/posts
This is not the vacant lot Barack knew.
Course not...had it been, he would have "flipped" this property for one nearer his church...
If elected, Obama will be the Mayor Daley of America.
Barack Obama could no more disown that vacant lot than he could disown the entire Black Community.
Or the Robert Mugabe...
bttt
Rezko was well connected with Saddam Hussein’s bagman Nadhmi Auchi
Check out RezkoWatch.com for a trove of info re Hussein’s bagman Nadhmi Auchi, the primary oil-for-food money launderer...BHO is up to his scrawney neck with illegal funding from the worst of the Oil for Food scammers and other Narco/Criminal/tyrants world wide. If Hillary takes the VP position, we will know the fix is in!
AsDennis Miller said, "Calling him an empty suit is an insult to clothes hangers."
THE REZKO TRIAL - Levine: Obama a guest at ‘04 party for tycoon
Chicago Tribune (IL) - April 15, 2008
Author: Bob Secter, Tribune staff reporter
Just weeks after winning the Democratic U.S. Senate primary in 2004, Barack Obama was the guest of developer Antoin “Tony” Rezko at a party for a controversial British billionaire whom Rezko was trying to lure into an investment, a witness testified Monday at Rezko ‘s corruption trial.
Stuart Levine, the government’s star witness, said Obama and his wife, Michelle, were among the guests at Rezko ‘s home on April 3, 2004, for the party honoring Nadhmi Auchi , an Iraqi-born tycoon currently appealing a fraud conviction in France.
As he campaigns for president, Obama has acknowledged social and political ties to Rezko , as well as a real estate deal between the two that involved Obama’s South Side home. But Obama has not disclosed his presence at the Auchi party, which Rezko threw as part of a campaign to persuade Auchi to pour money into a financially troubled 62-acre development in the South Loop.
Though not flatly disputing Levine’s assertion, Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt repeated what the senator has said: “Sen. Obama does not recall meeting Nadhmi Auchi at any time or on any occasion, and this includes any event that may have been held for Mr. Auchi ,” LaBolt said.
Rezko , a fundraiser for both Obama and Gov. Rod Blagojevich, is accused of conspiring with Levine to rig decisions of two state boards in exchange for kickbacks. Levine has pleaded guilty in the case and is testifying for the government, but Rezko ‘s lawyers have hit repeatedly at inconsistencies in his story as they contend his memories are clouded by decades of drug abuse.
Obama’s past ties to Rezko have caused political headaches on the campaign trail, and a spokesman for Democratic rival Hillary Clinton was quick Monday to highlight Levine’s latest allegations for political reporters in case they missed it.
In an interview with Tribune editors and reporters last month, Obama described the evolution of a relationship with Rezko that dates back to the early 1990s. He described Rezko as a political backer and not too close friend who in 2003 used his Wilmette home for a fundraising event for Obama’s then fledgling U.S. Senate campaign.
Otherwise, Obama said he and Rezko met for breakfast or lunch infrequently, dined once in Chicago with their spouses, and got together another time with their wives in Lake Geneva, Wis., where Rezko owned a home. Aside from the fundraiser, no mention was made of any other get-together at Rezko ‘s home.
Levine testified that he was at the Auchi party and saw the Obamas there as well as other political luminaries, including Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn and various cabinet officials in the Blagojevich administration. The governor was not in attendance, Levine said.
(snip)
Obama’s name in Rezko trial - Levine says senator attended bash for Iraqi crook
Chicago Sun-Times (IL) - April 15, 2008
Author: Natasha Korecki, Chris Fusco and Tim Novak, The Chicago Sun-Times
EXCERPT
News reports and now court testimony have linked presidential hopeful Barack Obama with Iraqi-born billionaire Nadhmi Auchi through Tony Rezko . Here’s a rundown:
March 11, 2004 — Obama met Middle Eastern bankers at the Four Seasons hotel in Chicago at a reception hosted by Rezko , who was courting potential investors for a 62-acre South Loop development. Auchi later took control of that project but did not attend, sources say.
April 1, 2004 — Auchi flew in to Midway Airport on a private plane and attended a Four Seasons reception hosted by Gov. Blagojevich. Rezko planned the event and was there. Obama was not.
April 3, 2004 — Auchi attended a dinner party at Rezko ‘s Wilmette mansion. Obama and his wife, Michelle, also were there, according to testimony Monday at Rezko ‘s corruption trial. The Obama campaign’s response: “Senator and Mrs. Obama have no recollection of attending any such event.”
Oct. 11, 2006 — Charges against Rezko announced.
Jan. 28, 2008 — Rezko was jailed for withholding details of his finances — including a $3.5 million payment from an Auchi company in April 2007.
Community activist -- cattle futures.
The guy is more Clintonian than the Clintons.
1] 25 years in the pen
2] 12.5 years in the pen
It's called negotiation!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.