Free Republic

Two years after his conviction, Tony Rezko’s lawyers are asking for a new trial. And if two years was too long to wait to ask, blame the government -- and the U.S. Supreme Court, they say. Rezko’s lawyers argued in a Tuesday filing that the businessman who was once part of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s inner circle, started talks with the feds right after his June, 2008 conviction. At the time, Rezko volunteered to be taken into custody. “As this court is aware, Rezko began cooperating with the government shortly after the jury returned its verdict and, at the government’s...

  Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) admitted to the FBI that he accepted free upgrades on a town home he purchased from convicted Chicago influence-peddler Tony Rezko, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. The congressman has previously been the subject of a federal investigation for engaging in real estate deals with a developer named Calvin Boender.During a 2008 interview with the FBI, Gutierrez reportedly said that he asked Rezko for upgrades on the town house before purchasing it. The congressman claimed that the price of the home had risen by $35,000 since he had first considered buying it, and Rezko agreed...

Congressman told FBI he asked for -- and got -- free home upgrades ### Convicted political fixer Tony Rezko gave U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez free upgrades on a riverfront town house after the congressman asked for them, Gutierrez told the FBI, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned. Gutierrez's comments to federal agents in a previously undisclosed 2008 interview contradict what the congressman told the Sun-Times in 2006 about the purchase. "I walked in with my wife -- as any other consumer could have -- and purchased the unit at the listed price, with no considerations," the Northwest Side congressman said then,...

... Just tell me about this scandal.  (Leans back, folds arms across chest.  Looks outside – then back to me) Ok then – I’ll point your nose in the right direction.  Enough people are sniffing in the same garbage pile anyways, including the Times.  Though I suspect they are burying it at the moment, or trying to.  They are still heavily invested in Obama, but that may change soon… Go back to Chicago.  That is the key.  There is other crap around the White House, other things that could trip them up, but Chicago is where the real heavy deal...

Our latest interview with the White House Insider reveals a Democratic Party civil war, with growing opposition to the Obama White House. Author’s Note: This interview took place for nearly two hours over the weekend at the office of the White House Insider. We wish to extend our gratitude for their making time to meet with us despite an extremely demanding schedule. The information contained in this interview is among the most in depth and fascinating to date, and due to the extent of information, will come in two installments. Here is installment one:

It appears that President Obama has pulled strings to help his shady banker friend win a tight U.S. Senate race by delaying an overdue federal report on his mob-connected bank’s failure until after the election. Federal regulators will conveniently postpone issuing a material loss report on Illinois Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias’ Chicago bank (Broadway Bank) because releasing it before the election could create "another political headache" for Giannoulias in a “close contest” with his Republican opponent, reports the state’s largest newspaper. Currently Illinois State Treasurer, Giannoulias helped operate the family bank before it was shut down in April for...

In 2010, the citizens of Illinois should send to the Capitol a senator who will bring expertise and independence. The candidate who fits that bill is Mark Kirk. Today the Tribune endorses Kirk, a Republican, for the U.S. Senate seat that Roland Burris soon vacates. To understand our verdict, watch Giannoulias and Kirk's appearance before us this week. You'll find the video at chicagotribune.com/senate. Judge each man's depth and preparedness for the job. Judge knowledge and scope. Judge accomplishment. Judge which candidate has a proven record of thoughtful independence — of bucking his party when the good of this nation...

A onetime top fundraiser for former Gov. Rod Blagojevich who was already convicted of taking kickbacks from state contractors pleaded guilty Friday in a separate scheme involving the bogus sale of his pizza restaurants. After the plea by Antoin "Tony" Rezko, his lawyer touted his client as "ready and willing" to be a "formidable witness" at Blagojevich's retrial, though prosecutors didn't put him on the stand for the former governor's trial this summer. Rezko pleaded guilty to a single count of wire fraud in connection with $10 million in fraudulent loans he arranged for business partners to buy a chain...

TRIAL NO. 2 | Lawyer says ex-top adviser to gov 'willing and able' to talk -- but 'it's government's call to decide' ### Antoin "Tony" Rezko, a convicted former top adviser of Rod Blagojevich, is ready to testify at the former governor's upcoming federal corruption trial, Rezko's lawyer said Friday. Rezko is "ready, willing and able to testify" against Blagojevich and his wife, Patti, defense attorney Joe Duffy said after a federal hearing where Rezko pleaded guilty to a new fraud charge. "It's the government's call to decide" who to use as a witness, Duffy said. But Rezko would be...

The abject failure of the Obama administration is painfully obvious. Herman Cain described the situation: Millions of voters have come to realize that this presidency lacks leadership, direction, decisiveness, economic urgency and, most of all, solutions. This combination of deficiencies has produced a more than uninspired citizenry, except for the most loyal and misled supporters of the president. While many recognize the failure, few are aware of the potential dangers ahead

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama has reopened a long-running feud with Fox News Channel, branding the conservative U.S. cable network as "ultimately destructive for the long-term growth" of the United States. In an interview published Tuesday by Rolling Stone magazine, Obama took specific aim at Fox's Australian-born chairman and chief executive, accusing Rupert Murdoch of being more concerned about generating profits than promoting an agenda to improve America's well-being. The U.S. president likened Murdoch to William Randolph Hearst, the newspaper baron whose sensational publications produced the term 'yellow' journalism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Those who read this space know I am not a fan of the Republicans’ vaunted “Pledge to America.” I’m for simple pledges, the kind that get back to basics. If the Republican party is interested in making a pledge like that — a pledge that will resonate with the vast majority of the American people — here’s a suggestion: Promise an unwavering commitment to the principle of equal protection of the law for every American citizen. Promise, therefore, that Congress will investigate weighty allegations that the Obama Justice Department is engaged in racist law-enforcement practices. Promise, moreover, that any executive-branch...

Hung on all but one count. After a trial that lasted more than six weeks followed by 14 days of jury deliberations, ex-Governor Rod Blagojevich is found guilty of just one of the 24 counts against him. The jury unanimously agreed that Blagojevich was guilty of the final count in the indictment, count 24, giving false statements to the F.B.I. After the jury’s verdict was read, the government quickly said they would retry the case. A hearing is scheduled for August 26th.

It appears the jury may be on the verge of announcing a verdict. The six men and six women sent out a note this morning asking for two things -- first, a copy of the oath they took when they were seated, and second, instructions on how to fill out their verdict form if they can't reach a unanimous decision on a certain count. Judge James Zagel is sending them a note in response. He also ordered -- since "the tenor of the note" indicated that a verdict is imminent -- that the defendants, Rod and Robert Blagojevich, stay within...

When he announced the charges in late 2008, Chicago's U.S. attorney, Patrick Fitzgerald, came at Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich with all the bravado of Eliot Ness going after Al Capone in the movie "The Untouchables." He told a throng of reporters that Blagojevich had embarked on a "corruption crime spree" and added, with a touch of the melodramatic, that the Democratic governor's crimes "would make Lincoln turn over in his grave." Blagojevich responded by hitting the talk show circuit, calling the charges unfounded and criticizing Fitzgerald. U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, shown here in June, is seen as a "prosecutor's prosecutor"...

The jury in the Rod Blagojevich corruption trial told the judge Wednesday afternoon that they couldn't reach a decision on a number of counts. "We've gone beyond reasonable attempts [to reach a verdict]," meaning they can't reach a decision on certain counts. Judge James Zagel has asked for clarification to see if they have reached a unanimous decision on any of the counts, then proceed from there. If the jury is deadlocked, Zagel could enforce the Allen charge, which encourages the jury to re-examine their positions and work diligently towards a verdict. Source: http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/rod-blagojevich-jury-allen-charge-corruption-trial-100457239.html#ixzz0wKtPTsRI

In Illinois, the Republican Senate nominee, Rep. Mark Kirk, is making a two-step connection between Saddam Hussein and Democratic candidate Alexi Giannoulias. Kirk accuses Broadway Bank (the shuttered institution run by Giannoulias' family) of giving a loan to an Iraqi businessman connected to Saddam Hussein, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Kirk said that in 2006, Broadway Bank loaned $22.75 million to Nadhmi Auchi and Tony Rezko, the Chicago real estate developer convicted of fraud and money laundering in 2008. Giannoulias' campaign responded that he left the bank a few months before the loan was approved. "Come on, again, that's political smokescreens,...

On a day that Democrat Alexi Giannoulias released a new commercial slamming him as a liar, Republican Mark Kirk tried to shift the focus back onto Giannoulias’ family bank, saying the bank gave a loan to Nadhmi Auchi, who Kirk said sold arms to Saddam Hussein. “According to the New York Times, he was a banker to Saddam Hussein,” Kirk said of Auchi. “And According to the Observer of London, he was a middleman in the billion-dollar naval arms deal between Hussein and the Italian Navy.” Voters should care, Kirk said: “This is not political Kryptonite -- this is Hemlock,”...

Among the more appealing messages that Barack Obama campaigned on in 2008 was his promise to change the culture in Washington and usher in a new era of openness and honesty in government. It was the sort of message that still resonates with an increasingly cynical electorate that is, as Obama’s handlers recognized, fed up with the corruption, hidden agendas and back-room deals that characterize life within the beltway. Voters hoped that this fresh face, so full of earnest enthusiasm and idealistic vision, could be the one to usher in a new era.Almost two years after that historic election, more...

EXCERPT That feeling is heightened by speculation that Fitzgerald, the longest-serving U.S. attorney in Chicago history, may have stayed in his post largely to shepherd the Blagojevich case. And no matter what the jury decides, the trial's end is almost certain to rekindle interest in the top prosecutor's possible next move, a popular parlor game in local legal and political circles. Many have wondered in recent years whether Fitzgerald's Chicago tenure was winding down and if he would seek a higher post within the Justice Department or forge a career in private practice. Shortly after President Obama took office, there...