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Even before he was elected governor in 2002, Rod Blagojevich and three of his closest friends schemed about ways to enrich themselves by controlling state government, the former governor's former chief of staff alleged as part of a plea agreement today with federal prosecutors. When Blagojevich took office, his three friends became key players in his administration and met repeatedly with the governor to share moneymaking ideas and get updates on their plans to bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars that they could split up later, former top aide Alonzo "Lon" Monk alleged. Monk, who also was a groomsman...

Just a few short weeks ago the President spoke to Wall Street CEOs on the anniversary of the Lehman Bros. collapse: Unfortunately, there are some in the financial industry who are misreading this moment. Instead of learning the lessons of Lehman and the crisis from which we're still recovering, they're choosing to ignore those lessons. I'm convinced they do so not just at their own peril, but at our nation's. So I want everybody here to hear my words: We will not go back to the days of reckless behavior and unchecked excess that was at the heart of this...

CHICAGO (AP) -- Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich said Tuesday that statements he made on secret FBI wiretap tapes were taken out of context by prosecutors and that he might try to call senators and a top White House official as witnesses at his racketeering and fraud trial to back his version of events.

<p>The Wilmette mansion of former Rod Blagojevich fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko sold today for the opening bid of $2.8 million to the same bank that put the house up for auction.</p> <p>Bank of America, which foreclosed $5.9 million on the property last May, was the only bidder.</p>

Hannity said that Fitzgerald will be appointed by Obama to some White House position? Maybe it's just a rumor? Or just Hannity's humor? I don't find anything in the news. Some background. "It appears that the Chicago machine might be under scrutiny by US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald and his team of prosecutors as well." http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/07/former_blago_aide_pleads_guilt.html

WILMETTE | Home on auction block carries hefty back-tax burden A property tax bill of more than $200,000. That's the added cost that awaits whoever comes out on top in next month's auction of the foreclosed Wilmette mansion of convicted influence-peddler Tony Rezko. Records show Rezko stopped paying real estate taxes on the 8,400-square-foot mansion more than four years ago. He owes a total of $140,409.86 in back property taxes, plus $69,402.24 in interest. The new owner will have to pay that, says Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas. Rezko stopped paying the taxes around the same time he stopped paying...

In an almost-predictable move, the Obama administration has begun to mull the possibility of buying up homes nearing foreclosure and then renting the homes back to their current occupants. In a Reuters story on Tuesday, U.S. government officials were said to be considering the rental option, thereby reducing the number of foreclosures. Of course, such a move would also increase the property holdings of the federal government. Another possibility reportedly being discussed by Obama officials is to offer extra money--in addition to normal unemployment benefits--to those struggling with their mortgages. The administration didn't comment on whether it would be willing...

Whether the name of Richie Urso ever makes it into the corruption trial of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich next June is anybody's guess. You've probably never heard of Richie Urso. But the FBI sure has heard of him. His is a classic Chicago story, about a beefy yet charming guy born on Grand Avenue, who got in trouble with the law as a kid, only to make political friends and become extremely wealthy. He was arrested once for jewelry theft in the '60s by the Outfit's top Chicago police detective, William Hanhardt. Urso's alleged partner in the theft was the...

May 29, 2008 By Andrew Walden (Hawai'i Free Press) Nadhmi Auchi, seen here with the Governor of Illinois, Rob Blagojevich (middle) at a 2004 Chicago dinner in Auchi's honor arranged by Antonin Rezko (potentially, right)[1]. All three men have been convicted of corruption related charges (Auchi 2003, Rezko 2008, Blagojevich 2009).[2] “A British-Iraqi billionaire lent millions of dollars to Barack Obama's fundraiser (dual US-Syrian citizen Tony Rezko) just weeks before an imprudent land deal that has returned to haunt the presidential contender, an investigation by The Times discloses. The money transfer raises the question of whether funds from Nadhmi Auchi,...

Another “Friend of Barack” is under increased scrutiny these days, but only a mere handful of media reports have linked Obama with Allison Davis. Once upon a time, Davis, Obama and Rezko were as thick as thieves. Davis and Rezko relied upon their friend and politically ally, Barack, to promote their plans to redevelop dilapidated slums into affordable housing for low income residents of the former legislative district represented by State Senator Obama. Tax dollars were misspent and pocketed by the developers, while the minority tenants continued to live in substandard apartments. Obama managed to bob and weave throughout the...

Posterboard is up on screen showing translations of what Saddam and Tariq Aziz said on the tapes released this weekend at the Intelligence Summit. It sounds like former UN inspector Tierney is the one reading the translations.

The Auchi-Rezko-Obama connection came to public attention with federal marshals pounding on the door of Tony Rezko’s Wilmette Chicago mansion in the early morning of January 28, 2008. They hauled Rezko to jail after his bail was revoked for concealing a $3.5 million Auchi loan from the court. The Times outlines the story in two sentences. It should be of tremendous interest to the American public and the world. But there is more to this story than run-of-the mill political corruption. Nadhmi Auchi is alleged to have a long affiliation with Iraqi Baathism and Saddam Hussein—which his attorneys deny. How...

Barack Obama may have been a product of the cesspool of Chicago politics, but political corruption ultimately may have saved him from financial ruin caused by his own financial fecklessness. Permit us to explain: Democrat Carol Moseley Braun was a one-term U.S. senator from Illinois in the 1990s who might have been a two-term senator had she not used campaign funds to pay personal expenses. In 1998, voters instead elected Republican Peter Fitzgerald, a clean-government crusader who instigated the investigation that led to the indictment in 2003 of then-Illinois Gov. George Ryan. A Republican, Mr. Ryan is serving a six-year...

The arrest of Governor Rod Blagojevich in December cast a shadowy light on the relationships among four leading players in the Illinois Democratic Party—Blagojevich, Barack Obama, Rahm Emanuel, and David Axelrod. The new president and his two aides would like to minimize their dealings with the disgraced ex-governor. But the record tells a more complex story By David Bernstein (page 1 of 4) In the days following his arrest on corruption charges last December 9th, Governor Rod Blagojevich did his best to appear busy. He visited his 16th-floor suite at the Thompson Center, once even showing up in a jogging...

Why is there so little media investigation of the financing behind Barack Obama’s early political sponsor—and now convicted felon—Tony Rezko? The dual US-Syrian citizen Rezko--who assisted Obama in the purchase of his Chicago mansion--was heavily funded by loans from Iraqi-British ex-Baathist billionaire Nadhmi Auchi. According to testimony at Rezko’s trial, Obama met Auchi at an April 3, 2004 event at Rezko’s home during Obama’s 2004 US Senate campaign. The Times of London reports discovering, “state documents in Illinois recording that Fintrade Services, a Panamanian company, lent money to Mr. Obama’s fundraiser in May 2005.” Fintrade directors, according to The Times...

Obama's Chilling Crew   By Andrew WaldenFrontPageMagazine.com | Tuesday, April 28, 2009 Why is there so little media investigation of the financing behind Barack Obama’s early political sponsor—and now convicted felon—Tony Rezko?      The dual US-Syrian citizen Rezko--who assisted Obama in the purchase of his Chicago mansion--was heavily funded by loans from Iraqi-British ex-Baathist billionaire Nadhmi Auchi.  According to testimony at Rezko’s trial, Obama met Auchi at an April 3, 2004 event at Rezko’s home during Obama’s 2004 US Senate campaign.  The Times of London reports discovering, “state documents in Illinois recording that Fintrade Services, a Panamanian company, lent...

As President Barack Obama on Thursday talked up the economic benefits from the wave of home refinancing sweeping the nation, a mortgage broker said he and First Lady Michelle Obama would likely do well to stand pat with the 30-year mortgage they have on their stately mansion in Chicago. *snip* The Obamas, however, do not need to worry about lowering their monthly expenses as much as most Americans, and their Washington housing is free. Back in Chicago, they have a mortgage locked in at 5.625 percent, compared with the current national average of about 4.87 for a standard home loan....

Rahm, Rove, Rezko and the Blagojevich TrialBy Michael Isikoff | NEWSWEEK Published Apr 4, 2009 From the magazine issue dated Apr 13, 2009 **SNIP** Democrats won't be the only ones discomforted by the trial. Another accused co-conspirator is William Cellini, a powerful GOP power broker, who has denied wrongdoing. Blagojevich is also accused of directing lucrative state bond business to an unidentified lobbyist as part of a deal to funnel hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees to Rezko, who in turn allegedly agreed to split the money with the governor and two associates. The unnamed lobbyist, according to a...

The New York Times is once again filtering content to protect its Chosen One. Their Friday report on the indictment of former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich covers up the document's many allegations against Barack Obama's "political patron" and longtime friend and fund-raiser, Tony Rezko... Fund-raising and real estate. The two areas in which Rezko has been identified with Obama are the same two areas which the indictment now portrays Rezko as being involved with Blagojevich... And those "others known and unknown to the Grand Jury" to whom the Blagojevich indictment refers? (Can anyone say, unindicted co-conspirator?) Don't expect to read...

Well. well. the Justice Department is dropping the case against Ted Stevens now that they've succeeeded in driving him from office. That is a rather naked admission of their intentions in the case. I have another suggestion for our dear friends in the Injustice Department. How about checking to see if Barack Obama failed to pay taxes, as Stevens was accused of doing, when he accepted a enhancement to his property from a political donor (and dual resident of the US and SYRIA), namely a strip of land sold at a bargain price from the wife of Tony Rezko. Certainly,...

Just like that window from the Giannoulias family's Broadway Bank on Chicago's North Side, sometimes what you think is transparent is in fact not something you can easily see through. Illinois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, 32, is strongly considering a run for the Senate seat currently held by fellow Democrat Roland Burris. Giannoulias, who prior to his election was a senior loan officer at the bank, had never voted in an election until his name was on the ballot, announced yesterday that he won't be accepting campaign donations from corporate political action committees or federal lobbyists. Big deal. Will Giannoulias...

If you want to understand the political environment out of which President Obama emerged (unscathed, as his supporters would suggest), today's piece from the Associated Press provides a nice summary of many ways in which crooked Illinois politicians rob that state blind. One researcher, a former Chicago alderman and political scientist, has pegged the "corruption tax" at roughly $300 million annually, but that only includes the Chicago area. A few samples: Someone put in a government job because he knows the right people isn’t likely to work hard for his paycheck. In extreme cases, he might not show up for...

A Deerfield urologist caught up in the corruption probe surrounding Antoin "Tony" Rezko and other state government figures is scheduled to plead guilty next week, court records show. Dr. Robert Weinstein was captured on tape discussing a number of crooked state deals with convicted influence peddler Stuart Levine, Weinstein's longtime business partner who was the key witness in the Rezko trial. Weinstein was charged last summer with conspiring with Levine to steal millions from a charity and a medical school. He faced trial at the end of the month.

Apologizing, Northern Trust to Pay Back Bailout FundsBy Tim State in News on February 28, 2009 12:27 PM Northern Trust, after receiving $1.5 million in Troubled Asset Relief Program funds, has apologized for sponsoring the PGA Northern Trust Open golf tournament in Los Angeles last weekend, and has pledged to repay the bailout funds it has received. Northern Trust CEO Frederick Waddell wrote in a letter to U.S. Rep Barney Frank, D-Mass.: We understand this is a time of great anxiety and financial distress, and your question regarding our support of an event such as the Northern Trust Open is...

Earlier this month Amrish Mahajan resigned as president of Mutual Bank of Harvey, Illinois, an important financial institution for the Indian community of the Chicago area. Mahajan raised over $500,000 for ousted Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich campaign fund. His wife Anita worked with Patti Blagojevich, Illinois' former first lady, on several real estate deals. Anita is awaiting trial for allegedly over billing the Department Of Children & Family Services for drug-screenings. Mutual Bank once held the mortgage to the "Rezko lot" adjacent to Barack Obama's South Side mansion. Jailed-felon Tony Rezko advised Obama during the process of purchasing that home....

A bank that received $1.6 billion in bailout money just spent a fortune last week in L.A. hosting a series of lavish parties and concerts with famous singers ... Check out this post: Barack Obama got cheap loan to buy Chicago mansion http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2040237/posts

Listen To It! WMP | RealPlayer Audio clips available for Rush 24/7 members only -- Join Now! BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Folks, are you ready for the "Rezko Rescue"?  The Rezko Rescue plan to be announced in mere moments by the Bamster, President Obama, who is staying at a foreclosed resort out in Arizona.  He claims he didn't know that it was foreclosed when the staff decided to pick the place.  McCain also is going to use the same foreclosed resort to announce his campaign for a fifth term, and I assume that neither of those two guys' staff people had...

Gov. Pat Quinn on Wednesday installed as his chief operating officer an appointee of ousted predecessor Rod Blagojevich who also has close ties to convicted fundraiser Antoin “Tony” Rezko. The decision to name longtime friend Jack Lavin as one of his top aides raised eyebrows with some who said it might send a message of politics as usual in Illinois. “Certainly he comes with some baggage that we have to be very sensitive about at this moment in our state’s history, but personally I want to work with everyone right now to make sure we get through the very serious...

Tony Rezko's former development partner is broke. ### Dan Mahru -- a lawyer who became an ice peddler and real estate developer -- has filed for bankruptcy, declaring that he and his business partners, including Rezko, owe as much as $95 million to creditors. Mahru estimates his personal debts could be as high as $50 million. Mahru and Rezko split a few years ago. But they're still fighting dozens of lawsuits filed over housing developments they built. "I couldn't handle all the multitude of lawsuits involving Mr. Rezko,'' Mahru says. Mahru lists $48,970.61 in assets in the bankruptcy case he...

Hundreds of students have allegedly been beaten by teachers, coaches and staff at Chicago Public Schools. 2 Investigator Dave Savini continues his ongoing investigation involving the illegal use corporal punishment. SNIP An exclusive CBS 2 investigation discovered Treveon Martin is one of at least 818 Chicago Public School students, since 2003, to allege being battered by a teacher or an aide, coach, security guard, or even a principal. In most of those cases - 568 of them - Chicago Public School investigators determined the children were telling the truth. SNIP The 2 Investigators found reports of students beaten with broomsticks,...

Tony Rezko is out of "the hole." The convicted businessman -- poised to become a crucial witness in the massive corruption case against ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich -- was quietly moved out of a downtown jail and into another facility in mid-December. Authorities seeking Rezko's cooperation pushed for the move after Rezko complained about being held in the tough confines of solitary imprisonment, known as "the hole," even as he was providing information to prosecutors. Records show Rezko was released Dec. 16 from the Metropolitan Correctional Center in downtown Chicago. Kim Widup, the U.S. marshal in Chicago, confirmed that Rezko was...

Interestingly, First Hawaiian's ownership structure leads back to Nadhmi Auchi, a former Iraqi Baathist official of Saddam Hussein's government, who more recently financed business ventures with now-convicted-felon and Chicago political 'fixer' Tony Rezko creating a condition of "longstanding indebtedness" of Rezko to Auchi's holding company. Rezko funded the political campaigns of impeached Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich and President Barack Obama. Rezko also assisted Obama in the purchase of his Chicago mansion.

January 21, 2009 - San Francisco, CA - PipeLineNews.org - Almost from its inception, the Weather Underground [WU] was viewed with great concern by the FBI. As a result, the decision was made to place a high level informant within the group to help keeps tabs on its members' activities. That person was Larry Grathwohl, a Vietnam veteran and the only publicly identified FBI informant who succeeded in penetrating the Weather Underground, serving in that capacity from August 1969 until April 1970. Prior to his service in the FBI, he was a member of the Cincinnati Police force. PipeLineNews.org contacted...

When these authors wrote these words, Israel is conducting a major ground assault in the Gaza Strip. Israeli ground troops and heavy armor had moved deep into the Gaza Strip. *snip* This ground assault followed hot on the heels of Operation Cast Lead, a December 27-28 series of Israeli airstrikes conducted in Gaza in response to Hamas' refusal to renew the truce brokered by Egypt in the summer of 2008 (Khalil, "The already-strained Hamas-Egypt relationship sours"). Hamas had been launching rocket attacks into Israel since December 24, when no less than 70 rockets hit the small Jewish state, and Israel...

Watching Illinois Gov. Nosferatu (the walking politically undead) continue his media blitz on ABC's "The View" on Monday was like watching an old cheesy horror flick—"The Brides of Dracula." (snip) As he sat with the women of "The View," the Illinois Senate began the final act of the impeachment. Democrats are certain he's become infected and deadly, and so they'll amputate in a matter of days.

Sweeping federal subpoenas of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's administration include requests for records involving David Axelrod and Valerie Jarrett, senior advisers to President Barack Obama.

White House reporters for The New York Times predict that the market collapse will force President-elect Barack Obama to abandon for now many of his campaign promises. If his stimulus plan "doesn’t work out, he may very well be a one-term president,” said Jeff Zeleny, who covered Obama’s campaign. “It’s hard to imagine that he could be reelected if the economy’s in the exact same position four years from now.” “A lot of the things he said on the campaign trail you can now dispense with,” said correspondent Peter Baker. “For the moment he has to focus on the economy.”...

On Dec. 25, 2008, LR blog reported on Governor Rod Blagojevich's past dealings with the Illinois Horse Track and Gaming industries. From LR: "Blago got the legislature to approve a "share the wealth" program, which would send 3% of annual revenues of the States' top three casinos to the tracks and to State coffers." Blago pushed through this legislation at the behest of top Horse Track owners, at least one of whom, is alleged to have given to him a very large contribution. The matter is currently part of the ongoing investigation of the Governor, by Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald....

Amid the controversy over whether he should become Illinois' next U.S. senator, Roland Burris has been described by friend and foe alike as an earnest public servant with a long history in state politics. A closer examination reveals a prototypical Illinois politician, who put a relative on the public payroll, steered legal business to political supporters and sought to trade on his ties when he became a lobbyist. While not in the core circle of power brokers and fundraisers who have dominated the state's pay-to-play culture, Burris has always hovered in the outer ring. His lobbying clients have gotten tastes...

How long will the media continue its gushing adoration of Barack Obama? This is the question raised by the adulatory prose of The Washington Post's Eli Saslow: Between workouts during his Hawaii vacation this week, he was photographed looking like the paradigm of a new kind of presidential fitness, one geared less toward preventing heart attacks than winning swimsuit competitions. The sun glinted off chiseled pectorals sculpted during four weightlifting sessions each week, and a body toned by regular treadmill runs and basketball games. Such "reporting" ought to make Saslow a laughingstock among the hard-bitten cynics of the Washington press...

Remember that little land deal "Favor" that convicted felon Tony Rezko did for his friend Barack (Don't Say My Middle Name) Obama? As you can see from this google earth picture. It wasn't an adjacent "undeveloped lot" it was for OBAMA'S BACKYARD. Recently former bank officer involved in the loan for the property says that the appraisal was tampered with, before the property was purchased. He sued because he was fired for complaining about the integrity of the funky appraisal. Now there is NEW news. According to Documents, Rezko's attorney is listed as the owner of the Obama household:

An attorney for convicted fundraiser Tony Rezko is listed as the owner and taxpayer for Barack Obama's Chicago mansion, according to records obtained by WND. William Miceli is a lawyer at the Chicago law firm Miner, Barnhill & Galland, which also formerly employed Obama. The controversy began when a website called News and Commentary for Thinking People published a 48-page document that lists Miceli as the owner of the Obama home at 5046 S. Greenwood. Miner, Barnhill & Galland was Obama's employer when he did extensive legal work for Rezko, who awaits sentencing after he was convicted in June of...

Craig's assertions that the transition team was unaware of Blagojevich's efforts to sell off Obama's old seat do not correspond to the transcripts of wiretapped conversations released by the FBI two weeks ago in which the governor repeatedly swears and expresses frustration in his attempts to strike a deal on the Senate seat.

Dr. Eric Whitaker and Sen. Barack Obama go way back. Their friendship began when they were graduate students at Harvard University. Now, Whitaker is one of Obama's closest advisers. Whitaker, 43, of Chicago, often travels with the presidential hopeful on the campaign trail and has vacationed with him in Hawaii. There's talk Whitaker could be in line for a federal appointment if Obama becomes president. Five years ago, Obama, then an Illinois state senator, gave a "glowing'' reference for Whitaker to Tony Rezko, the now-convicted political fixer who helped Gov. Blagojevich find people to run state agencies. Blagojevich hired Whitaker...

How many have heard of Nadhmi Auchi? Why are we not hearing more about him? Nadhmi Auchi was born in 1937. He is an Iraqi born British-resident and Britain's 22nd wealthiest individual. Nadhmi Auchi co-conspired with fellow Baathist Saddam Hussein in 1959 to assassinate then Prime Minister Abd al-Karim Qasim. Rezko and Obama are both financially connected to him. MSNBC reports that Nadhmi Auchi had helped Orascom (which owns Djezzy GSM), owned by Onsi Sawiris, gain a contract to set-up mobile phone networks in post-Saddam's Iraq. As per Orascom's annual report, page 65, Huawei Technologies is listed as a subsidiary...

CHICAGO – Corruption charges against Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich focus on much more than the claim that he tried to sell or trade Barack Obama's U.S. Senate seat. That charge is the cream. But the meat and potatoes are buried deep within a 76-page affidavit prosecutors tacked onto the charges, and they have a familiar look. Evidence of misuse of political clout, fixed contracts and illegal campaign fundraising — the basic staples of corruption in Illinois — proved persuasive with the jury at influence peddler Tony Rezko's fraud trial. He was convicted and awaits sentencing.

It was an historic moment in the nation's history - a year when old barriers fell. It was a year when one word filled the air - change. It was a year Democrats came to believe in the audacity of hope. Or maybe just plain audacity. One governor was caught with his pants (but not his socks) off, hooking up with an aspiring singer who preferred cash payments and called customers by their numbers. Another was discovered trying to sell a Senate seat in language not allowed on HBO mob shows (and anyway, viewers would have dismissed the plot as...

CHICAGO – Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich says he is not guilty of any criminal wrongdoing and plans to stay on the job. In his first official statement since his arrest on corruption charges last week, Blagojevich (blah-GOY'-Uh-vich) says he will fight until he takes his "last breath." ... The Democratic governor says he intends to "answer every allegation in a court of law."

Post any comments about the Blago 2:00 (Central Time) News Conference.

Suppose you're Bashir Assad or Putin, and you watch the Blago Blowup, a month before the next president even takes office. What are you thinking right now? First, Obama looks vulnerable to blackmail. His homey network is full of people who can't stand the light of day. They know all kinds of things the leftist media suppress -- people like Auchi (the Iraqi billionaire), Rezko (the corrupt Syrian multimillionaire), Emil Jones (the Godfather of Southside), and the whole Daley Machine. That's not even counting the freaky radicals or the pols Obama has surrounded himself with. Mayor Daley's brother is one...