Free Republic

An already bizarre trial involving allegations an African despot hired a pair of obscure South Side businessmen to overturn U.S. sanctions against his regime — with the help of Illinois politicians — took an even stranger detour Friday. In the process, former U.S. Sen. Roland Burris got sideswiped, if not outright run over, with completely unrelated — and to this point unsubstantiated — accusations he once tried to shake down a contractor while in office. Burris might be asking what he did to find himself in the middle of this mess, or just maybe he knows. I’ve always been as...

In a previously unpublicized transcript from 2004, the Illinois State Senate specifically linked then US Senator-Elect Barack Obama with corrupt politician and Rod Blagojevich ally Emil Jones Jr. More than simply connecting the two, the transcript specifically calls Jones Mr. Obama's "mentor" and his "political godfather." The transcript was written on November 8, 2004, soon after Mr. Obama was elected to the United States Senate. Ironically, the subject of the section in which the soon-to-be Senator was linked to Jones was written in praise of Mr. Obama. The quote comes from Senate Resolution 716, which was in place to congratulate...

former chief of staff for the Illinois state public health department pleaded guilty Thursday to stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer money through a kickback scheme that began when Dr. Eric E. Whitaker, a close friend of President Barack Obama, headed the agency. Whitaker brought in Quinshaunta R. Golden, a niece of U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, D-Ill., as his top aide in 2003 after then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich hired him as public health chief. Their spouses — Dr. Cheryl S. Rucker-Whitaker and Victor Golden, who is now a $111,432-a-year administrator with the Illinois Lottery — went into business together...

Rod Blagojevich is peeling potatoes in prison Rod Blagojevich is "a lovely guy," according to defense attorney Sam Adam Sr. Apparently he isn't the only one with that assessment. Adam says that Blago's fellow prisoners "just adore him." So what does the Bureau of Prisons have him doing? "They've got him working in the kitchen peeling potatoes just like I did in the Army! They've given him a lot of time to run and exercise. He’s settled in now, which knowing the Bureau of Prisons, they’ll probably transfer him!"

Homaidan al-Turki had been held at the Limon Correctional Facility and was moved to the Federal Correctional Institution Englewood, a minimum security prison. ... Al-Turki's request to serve out his sentence in Saudi Arabia was denied in March by then prisons' chief Tom Clements. Clements was shot and killed the following week when he answered his front door.

Amrish Mahajan, former president of failed Mutual Bank of Harvey and a major fundraiser for imprisoned former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, has been barred from future participation in the banking industry under a newly released regulatory order. Mr. Mahajan consented, without admitting or denying unsafe or unsound banking practices, to a May 1 order by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. prohibiting him from participating “in any manner” in the conduct of the affairs of any federally insured institution. ... Mr. Mahajan was known for his political connections, particularly to Mr. Blagojevich. Mutual Bank briefly entered the realm of national politics after...

**SNIP** There was no evidence that Blago planned to spend the money on, say, a football signed by all the living ex-presidents. Although he could have used it. The vain governor and his first lady had spent $400,000 on clothes during his six years in office. As a result of such profligacy, their house was falling apart from disrepair. As the Tribune’s Mary Schmich wrote, “The roof needed repairs. The paint on the windowsills was cracked. The lawn was tired.” So how much would Blagojevich have had to steal to make his 14-year-sentence worth it? Using the Jackson standard of...

How 'bout a little refresher re. Obama political Godfather  and actual (16-count!) convicted felon Tony Rezko...? The Syrian-born Rezko is an infamous Chicago slumlord, fast-food restauranteur, and sleazy political operator who played a key role in the Blagojevich case- as well as the unlikley ascension to power of Barrack Hussein Obama.Obama's longtime ally, friend, and top fundraiser was found guilty of 16/24 counts of felony influence peddling back in June 2008. Of course the story was mostly buried/detached from his bud Barry in the run-up to that year's most unfortunate (for us) presidential election whilst the jury convicted Rezko of wire...

Chicago Sun-Times reporter Natasha Korecki followed every step of Blagojevich’s downfall. She details his demise in a new book — Only in Chicago: How the Rod Blagojevich Scandal Engulfed Illinois; Embroiled Barack Obama, Rahm Emanuel, and Jesse Jackson, Jr.; and Enthralled the Nation. The book raises the question of whether Jesse Jackson Jr., the congressman son of the famed civil rights leader, plotted to arrange a pardon for Blagojevich from President Barack Obama.

An upcoming book about Rod Blagojevich says undercover tape-recordings caught the former governor saying he had heard that convicted influence peddler Antoin "Tony" Rezko secretly channeled $25,000 in cash to Barack Obama, but federal authorities did not deem the claim credible. The book, "Golden: How Rod Blagojevich Talked Himself Out of the Governor's Office and into Prison," suggests Blagojevich was talking about an undisclosed payment to help Obama with his 2004 campaign for the U.S. Senate.

CHICAGO—U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., who defeated a primary challenge this year despite being the target of a House ethics investigation, has been on a medical leave for two weeks and is being treated for exhaustion, his office announced Monday. In a three-sentence news release, Jackson's office disclosed that the Democrat went on leave June 10 but did not provide further details, including how long he would be away. In the release, he asked that his family's privacy be respected.

Convicted political fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko has granted his first television interview since he went to prison for corruption. "I was indicted, tried and convicted for a crime I did not commit," he told ABC7's Charles Thomas. "Here I am serving a 10 and a 1/2 year sentence that I believe I do not deserve." Rezko was the wealthiest and most influential member of former governor Rod Blagojevich's inner circle. As he sits in the federal penitentiary in downstate Pekin, Ill., four years after his conviction, Rezko still says he did not do it. At least not the 16 fraud,...

Documents obtained by The Daily Caller show that President Barack Obama’s close friend Eric Whitaker, who runs the University of Chicago Medical Center’s Urban Health Initiative, spoke at Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s Chicago-area church in 2006. Whitaker was a speaker at Wright’s Trinity United Church of Christ during a Sept. 17, 2006 “Health Care Justice Forum,” according to a church bulletin TheDC obtained. The bulletin is no longer on the church’s website. Whitaker made headline news Monday when New York Times bestselling author Edward Klein alleged during a radio interview with Sean Hannity that Whitaker offered Wright $150,000 to stay silent...

Eric Whitaker has been friends with Obama ever since...". Whitaker — who now runs the Urban Health Initiative (UHI) out of the University of Chicago Medical Center — often vacations with the first family, is a regular golf partner of Obama and has organized Chicago-area parties when the president visits the Windy City. Publicly released visitor logs show “Eric Whitaker” officially visited the White House 7 times during the Obama admin..." Whitaker had purportedly offered Rev. Jeremiah Wright — an infamous and challenging weight on Obama’s 2008 campaign — $150,000 to stay silent..."

CHICAGO (AP) — On his last full day of freedom, Rod Blagojevich will do what he loved doing while Illinois governor and as he unsuccessfully defended himself against corruption charges: He'll step up to a microphone and talk.Blagojevich, known for colorful speeches and a habit of quoting historical figures, is set to speak outside his Chicago home Wednesday evening. The 55-year-old Democrat is due to report to a Colorado prison on Thursday to begin a 14-year sentence, making him the state's second governor in a row to go to prison for corruption.More than 50 reporters were swarming his home by...

Bureau of Prisons assigns number to Blagojevich (FBI mugshot of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich) The Federal Bureau of Prisons has given Blagojevich the number 40892-424. Typically, once inmates are assigned a number, it is their individual number throughout their prison term. It is also typically affixed to their prison clothes. The 55-year-old Blagojevich has been ordered to report to prison on March 15. While he has asked to be incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution Englewood in Colorado, he could be sent elsewhere. Blagojevich in December received a 14-year sentence. He was sentenced on 18 corruption-related counts, including charges that...

Chicago area has most corruption convictions in nation, UIC study says The Chicago area logged the most public corruption convictions of any federal jurisdiction in the United States during the past 36 years, according to a report released today by the University of Illinois at Chicago. Federal prosecutors secured a total of 1,531 public corruption convictions in the Northern District of Illinois since 1976, said Dick Simpson, head of the university’s political science department. Meanwhile, Illinois logged 1,828 public corruption convictions, the third most of any state, according to the report. Only California and New York had more. But those...

A hysterically funny Email making the rounds is called Chicago Rules and would make me laugh if I didn’t want to cry first. “The guy on the left: He’s Santa Claus. And the guy on the right. . he’s the Easter Bunny! That’s all you need to know” introduces the Barack Obama quote denying any close contact with disgraced and soon to be jailed former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. According to the Email, Obama is alleged to have only acknowledged seeing the former governor from a distance in the stands at a Chicago Bears football game. The Chicago Rules Email...

According to some child psychologists, there is a demonstrable tendency among children who have been victimized by bullies to progress to becoming aggressors themselves. Another symptom associated with bullies is a pronounced tendency for such persons to also be braggarts. It does make you wonder. What exactly happened on the playground at recess when Rahm Emanuel was growing up? When it was announced that Bill Daley was leaving the position of White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel came to the defense of his successor at the White House. Emanuel was quoted as saying, “Historically, the modern Chief of Staff...

With morally-warped exhibitionist 'Hot' Rod Blagojevich checking-into the Gray Bar Hotel for a spell, you're now looking at FOUR of the last six Illinois governors sent to federal penitentiary- if anyone's still keeping count. The equivalent of batting .666... isn't that special. Anyhoo, you people sure do know how to pick a winner... and what a swell president you sent us! As for the shockingly-corrupt Illinois Democratic 'machine', at least they're getting caught, I guess- tho it's hard to say the convictions have produced any sort of deterrent effect.Call it the Illinois Institute of Kleptocracy... just the way things 'work' in the world's biggest cow...