Barack Obama & Tony Rezko 2008 The "Ethical" Choice for America

The Truth is Working its Way to Forefront

2008-01-23T14:23:00.000-06:00

From the Chicago Tribune January 23, 2008

Obama-Rezko ties again at issue
by Bob Sector, David Jackson and Ray Gibson

Suddenly, an old friendship forged on the streets of Chicago is threatening to make new waves in the Democratic presidential campaign.Hillary Clinton's charge this week that Barack Obama represented a Chicago "slum landlord" in the 1990s introduced to a national audience one of Obama's potential political vulnerabilities: his long ties to Antoin "Tony" Rezko, the once-highflying developer soon to go on trial in federal court.Obama angrily rejected Clinton's accusation at Monday's Democratic debate. And a Tribune review of land and court documents and law firm files as well as correspondence and other records related to Obama's eight years as an Illinois state lawmaker supports his contention that he did not directly represent Rezko's development firm. Instead, the records show, he represented non-profit community groups that partnered with Rezko's firm.

Beyond the heated sound bites is a story of a more complex relationship that long boosted Obama's political fortunes but now could prove a campaign liability.For years after Rezko befriended Obama in the early 1990s, he helped bankroll the politician's campaigns. Then, after Obama's election to the U.S. Senate, Rezko engaged him in private financial deals to improve their adjoining South Side properties. Those arrangements became a source of lingering controversy after the Tribune first reported them in November 2006.Now Rezko's federal corruption trial is scheduled to begin Feb. 25. As Obama stumps for votes, coverage of the high-profile proceedings could bring fresh, unwelcome reminders for Obama of Rezko's influence in the same Illinois political world that propelled the senator to a serious run at the presidency.Both men declined to comment on their once-close friendship. Obama has been accused of no wrongdoing involving Rezko and has insisted that he never used his office to benefit Rezko.Thus far, there is little in the public record to suggest otherwise, and the few exceptions that have come to light appear minor. On Capitol Hill, Obama once gave a summer internship to the son of a Rezko business associate on Rezko's recommendation. Earlier, as a state senator, Obama was one of several South Side political and community leaders who wrote state and city officials urging approval of public funding for a senior housing project involving Rezko.But when Rezko pushed for passage in Springfield of a major gambling measure, Obama vocally opposed it.Obama publicly apologized for his 2005 property deal with Rezko, calling it "boneheaded" because Rezko was widely reported to be under grand jury investigation at the time. And Obama has given to charities $85,000 in Rezko-linked campaign contributions, including $40,035 last weekend following a published report suggesting that Rezko funneled a $10,000 donation to Obama through a business associate. Aides to Obama say the senator had no knowledge of any such scheme.

Clinton eager to make link

Still, the Clinton campaign, fearing an Obama triumph in the South Carolina primary this weekend, is ratcheting up its rhetoric against the Illinois senator, in the process hoping to bring new attention to his relationship with Rezko.It's easy to forget today, but in the years before 2005, Rezko enjoyed a reputation in Illinois as an up-and-coming, even enlightened entrepreneur with a strong interest in the risky low-income and affordable housing markets that relied on tax credits and other government assistance.He also was a reliable source of campaign cash for an array of politicians from both parties.Obama was a community organizer in the Roseland neighborhood before leaving for Harvard Law School, and on the South Side he saw firsthand a critical need for affordable housing.In 1991, after Obama became the first black president of the Harvard Law Review, Rezko offered him a job. While Obama declined, the two began a friendship that deepened as Obama launched his political career and Rezko became a key fundraiser.The two men and their wives used to socialize, meeting for dinner, Obama has said.After earning his degree, Obama returned to Chicago, ran a voter registration drive, began work on an autobiography and in 1993 went to work in a small but influential law firm now known as Miner, Barnhill & Galland.The firm had long served non-profits engaged in affordable housing, and several initiatives involved Rezko's Rezmar Corp., according to a mid-1990s document from the firm that Obama attached to his state ethics reports.In addition, one of the law firm's founding partners, Allison Davis, developed personal financial ties to Rezko. Davis later left the firm to become a for-profit developer, sometimes in deals with Rezko. Davis did not respond to interview requests.Rezko was dramatically expanding his company by partnering with non-profits and community organizations to tap government subsidies and tax credits. By 1994, the company owned or managed more than a dozen Chicago multiunit low-income housing projects, records show.

Some projects soured

Some of Rezko's ventures eventually went bad and left residents living in poor conditions. After a published report last year raised questions about the law firm's involvement in representing the Rezko-linked ventures, Obama's campaign said he was unaware of the plight of the properties and was only a bit player in the legal work required to get them off the ground, a contention Obama repeated Monday as he responded to Clinton's charge.Law firm partner Judson Miner said that, over several years, Obama did a total of five to seven hours of billable work on Rezmar-linked projects. He mainly filed incorporation papers for the non-profit groups under the supervision of more senior attorneys, Miner said.At the Tribune's request, Cook County Circuit Court Chief Judge Timothy Evans produced a list of all 260 civil and criminal cases in which the firm filed appearances, and the Tribune separately examined 1990s lawsuits that Rezmar Corp. listed in applications for government grants. The paper also examined files from the Illinois Housing Development Authority and the city housing department, as well as the hundreds of clients Obama listed in the unusually frank ethics disclosure reports he filed as a state senator from December 1995 through April 2004.
Those and other records disclosed five instances in which Obama did legal work for ventures that included Rezmar Corp. The case of City of Chicago vs. Central Woodlawn Limited Partnership is one example.In 1992, that community group partnered with Rezmar Corp. to rehab the former slum apartment building at 6107-6115 S. Ellis Ave. As work was ongoing, city officials sued the developers, alleging 16 serious code violations at the property, including a dangerously dilapidated porch.Obama and a co-counsel filed appearances in February 1994, but the court records show they appeared on behalf of Central Woodlawn, Rezko's non-profit partner, not Rezko or his company.A separate attorney, Wayne Muldrow, represented Rezmar in the case. Muldrow, who had no connection to Obama's firm, could not be immediately reached for comment Tuesday.In September 1994, Central Woodlawn was ordered to arrange for an inspection. Two months later a city inspection found "full compliance" with the building code and the case was dismissed.

A letter of support

As a state senator in 1998, Obama wrote two letters to city and state officials to support a Rezko/Davis senior housing project in his district that received more than $14 million in taxpayer money and netted $885,000 in fees for the two developers.He was one of several political and community leaders who pushed for funding for the project. Among those sending similar letters of support were Ald. Toni Preckwinkle (4th), then-state Rep. Lou Jones (D-Chicago) and Robert Grossman, head of the Hyde Park-Kenwood Conservation Community Council.Obama press secretary Bill Burton said Rezko never asked Obama to send a letter having anything to do with that project. And Rezko's attorney, Joseph Duffy, said Rezko "never spoke with, nor sought a letter from, Sen. Obama in connection with that project."Whatever the extent of Obama's help for Rezko, the relationship proved a boon to the lawyer's political ambitions.Since 1995, at least $74,500 was donated to Obama campaigns by Rezko, Rezko companies and people who listed themselves as Rezko company employees when they made the donations, the Tribune found. Public records do not quantify how much money Rezko raised from others on Obama's behalf.In 1995, about the time Rezko was partnering with Obama's boss Davis, Obama launched a campaign for the state Senate seat from Hyde Park. His first substantial donations, $2,000, came from companies linked to Rezko.

Rezko is STILL funding Obama? Why Won't Obama Just Give ALL of the $$ Back?

2007-10-12T11:41:00.000-05:00

From the Chicago Sun Times September 13, 2007:

Hsu refund pressures Clinton rivals
By Alexander Bolton
September 13, 2007
Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) will keep contributions they received from the business associates of two indicted Democratic donors. Watchdog groups say the two candidates are under increased pressure since rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) announced this week that she would refund $850,000 raised for her by Norman Hsu, who pleaded no contest to a grand larceny charge 15 years ago and has been a fugitive from justice ever since. Clinton initially decided to return only the $23,000 that Hsu personally donated to her campaigns, but as word leaked that the FBI had expanded its investigation of Hsu to include possible illegal fundraising, Clinton decided to refund all contributions linked to him. The magnitude of the refund is unprecedented, experts say. Fundraising watchdogs have pushed for tighter laws controlling donors who ingratiate themselves to candidates by raising tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. During his 2004 Senate campaign, Obama received tens of thousands of dollars from Antoin Rezko, a Chicago businessman who has since been indicted on charges of extorting millions of dollars from investment firms seeking business with a state-controlled teachers’ retirement fund. Rezko has also been indicted for a scheme to defraud a company based in Bellevue, Wash., of several million dollars. Obama’s Senate campaign also received thousands of dollars from Rezko’s business partners. This year, his presidential campaign has accepted nearly $10,000 from Rezko’s associates. There are marked differences, however, between the scandals surrounding Hsu and Rezko. Hsu was convicted of a crime almost 15 years ago and fled from authorities before he could be sentenced. He also fled from a California court appearance scheduled last week before authorities caught him on a train to Denver. Rezko, by comparison, has not been convicted. Furthermore, the Obama campaign said he has not bundled contributions for them this election cycle. Obama has acknowledged, however, that Rezko raised tens of thousands of dollars for his 2004 Senate campaign. Campaign watchdog activists say that Clinton’s decision has placed more scrutiny on questionable contributions and that presidential candidates should do more than determine whether they are accepting legal contributions. They should also be wary of the appearance of corruption that some donors create. “If a donor is indicted or under any other kind of a cloud, I, for sake of my campaign, would divest myself of any money associated with that cloud,” said Craig Holman, an advocate for Public Citizen, a nonpartisan watchdog group that helped pass lobbying reform through Congress earlier this year. “The candidate or officeholder could legitimately claim that a person is innocent until proven guilty and therefore, by use of that rationale, money [raised from him] is not tainted. “From a practical perspective of campaigns, I would not play in that pool,” said Holman. Obama has returned some money given to him by Rezko business associates, but not all such gifts. After Rezko’s indictment, Obama gave to charity nearly $12,000 that Rezko had contributed to his campaign fund. But Obama told The Chicago Sun-Times that Rezko had raised between $50,000 and $60,000 for his campaign. Obama has given away in total about $33,000 in contributions from Rezko and his business associates, according to a tally by The Chicago Tribune. He has also kept tens of thousands of dollars in contributions raised by Rezko or given by Rezko’s associates. The Hill could not find any record of Obama returning a $5,000 contribution to his Senate campaign from Abdelhamid Chaib, who was sued for allegedly operating fake businesses with Rezko. Nor does it appear that Obama returned $3,000 given in the 2004 cycle by Imad Almanaseer, a Rezko business associate named in a corruption lawsuit involving a state health board that led to federal kickback charges. Campaign records also show that Obama accepted nearly $35,000 in contributions from donors identified in various news reports as major investors in Rezko’s business dealings. Obama gave at least $6,500 of that total to charity. An Obama campaign aide said that these contributions are not relevant to a discussion about presidential fundraising in 2007 because they were made in a prior campaign. “Tony Rezko didn’t raise money for our presidential campaign, so this isn’t relevant,” said an Obama aide. A spokeswoman for Obama’s campaign said that it carefully vets its donors and fundraisers.“We’re constantly reviewing and updating procedures to ensure we catch any potential for problems with any of our hundreds of thousands of donors,” said Jen Psaki.Nevertheless, business associates linked by media reports to Rezko gave $8,000 to Obama’s presidential campaign in the second quarter of this year, according to campaign finance records. Steve Weissman, the associate director of policy at the Campaign Finance Institute, a nonprofit institute affiliated with George Washington University that studies campaign finance, questioned how broad an impact Clinton’s decision to refund Hsu-linked donations would have on the Democratic field. He said candidates would face strong pressure to refund bundled contributions from donors convicted of criminal misconduct. He said refunding contributions from the associates of persons under indictment could amount to impugning donors unfairly.“You don’t want to have guilt by association,” said Weissman. Meredith McGehee, of the Campaign Legal Center, a campaign finance watchdog group, said Clinton’s refund of money raised by a tainted donor should have reverberations.“When you’re one of the top-tier candidates, it raises the pressure on all the other candidates to make sure they don’t have any of these questionable contributions,” she said. Clinton’s decision to refund money raised by Hsu could put pressure on her rival Edwards to refund nearly $130,0000 raised for his 2004 presidential campaign by Geoffrey Fieger. A federal grand jury indicted Fieger last month on charges of conspiring to make $127,000 in illegal contributions to Edwards’s 2004 presidential campaign, obstructing justice and causing false statements. He has pleaded not guilty.A spokesman for the Edwards campaign acknowledged that the events surrounding Hsu have set new standards for presidential fundraising. He said, however, that the campaign would give away donations only if Fieger is found guilty. “We have always had an extensive vetting process for our raisers, but due to the recent events involving Norman Hsu and the Clinton campaign, and to err on the side of caution, we have begun doing criminal background checks as well,” said Edwards spokesman Eric Schultz.“From day one, the campaign has taken their lead from and cooperated fully with the Department of Justice. Once this prosecution concludes, if Geoffrey Fieger is found guilty, the campaign will donate all the money in question to charity,” he said.

Barack does Political favor for Tony Rezko

2007-06-14T15:34:00.000-05:00

So according to Barack he never did anything for his pal Tony. Uh-huh, sure.

From the Chicago Sun Times June 13, 2007:

Obama's letters for Rezko
NOT A FAVOR? As a state senator, he went to bat for now-indicted developer's deal

BY TIM NOVAK Staff Reporter/tnovak@suntimes.com
As a state senator, Barack Obama wrote letters to city and state officials supporting his political patron Tony Rezko's successful bid to get more than $14 million from taxpayers to build apartments for senior citizens.
The deal included $855,000 in development fees for Rezko and his partner, Allison S. Davis, Obama's former boss, according to records from the project, which was four blocks outside Obama's state Senate district.

Obama's letters, written nearly nine years ago, for the first time show the Democratic presidential hopeful did a political favor for Rezko -- a longtime friend, campaign fund-raiser and client of the law firm where Obama worked -- who was indicted last fall on federal charges that accuse him of demanding kickbacks from companies seeking state business under Gov. Blagojevich.
The letters appear to contradict a statement last December from Obama, who told the Chicago Tribune that, in all the years he's known Rezko, "I've never done any favors for him.''
On Tuesday, Bill Burton, press secretary for Obama's presidential campaign, said the letters Obama wrote in support of the development weren't intended as a favor to Rezko or Davis.
"This wasn't done as a favor for anyone," Burton said in a written statement. "It was done in the interests of the people in the community who have benefited from the project.
"I don't know that anyone specifically asked him to write this letter nine years ago," the statement said. "There was a consensus in the community about the positive impact the project would make and Obama supported it because it was going to help people in his district. . . . They had a wellness clinic and adult day-care services, as well as a series of social services for residents. It's a successful project. It's meant a lot to the community, and he's proud to have supported it.''
The development, called the Cottage View Terrace apartments, opened five years ago at 4801 S. Cottage Grove, providing 97 apartments for low-income senior citizens.
Asked about the Obama letters, Rezko's attorney, Joseph Duffy, said Tuesday, "Mr. Rezko never spoke with, nor sought a letter from, Senator Obama in connection with that project."
Davis couldn't be reached for comment Tuesday.
'Boneheaded' deal in 2005Since announcing his presidential bid, Obama has faced repeated questions about his 17-year relationship with Rezko, one of his earliest political contributors, who has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for Obama.
Rezko backed Obama's election to the Illinois Senate in 1996, his successful re-election bids and his 2004 election to the U.S. Senate.
Two years ago, the two men were involved in a real estate deal that Obama later apologized for, calling it "boneheaded'' and a "mistake'' because the transaction occurred while Rezko was widely known to be under federal investigation. Rezko's wife paid full price for a vacant lot in Chicago's historic Kenwood district on the same day Obama bought the mansion next door from the same property owner for $300,000 below the asking price. Rezko's wife subsequently sold a sliver of the land to Obama.
Obama's relationship with Rezko dates to the senator's days as a student at Harvard Law School, when Rezko offered him a job, which Obama turned down.
After graduation, Obama returned to Chicago and joined Davis' small law firm -- then known as Davis Miner Barnhill & Galland -- which specialized in helping developers build housing for the poor. Five of those deals included Rezko's company, Rezmar Corp. Those Rezmar projects ran into trouble. Some buildings ended up being boarded up. Some went into foreclosure.
While Obama served in the Illinois Senate, he continued to work for the law firm, which Davis left in 1997 to become a developer.
Davis soon went into business with Rezko, creating a company called New Kenwood LLC to build the seven-story apartment building for senior citizens on a vacant stretch of land once occupied by a gas station at 48th and Cottage Grove. The city of Chicago owned the land -- nearly two acres tainted by lead, benzene and other toxic chemicals.
Davis is a member of the Chicago Plan Commission. He was originally appointed to the commission in 1991 by his friend, Mayor Daley. Davis, like Rezko, has been a prolific campaign fund-raiser for politicians including Daley and Obama.
Soon after they incorporated New Kenwood in 1998, Davis and Rezko got letters of support from elected officials -- Ald. Toni Preckwinkle (4th) and state Rep. Lou Jones (D-Chicago), whose districts included the proposed project.
Firm paid city $1 for landNew Kenwood LLC also got letters of support from Obama, who represented a nearby Senate district.
"I am writing in support of the New Kenwood LLC's proposal to build a ninety-seven unit apartment building at 48th and Cottage Grove for senior citizens,'' Obama wrote in separate letters, each dated Oct. 28, 1998, to city and state housing officials. "This project will provide much needed housing for Fourth Ward citizens.''
At the time he wrote the letters, Obama was also a lawyer with Miner Barnhill & Galland, the law firm Davis formerly headed. Among the firm's clients were several companies owned by Davis and Rezko. The firm did not represent New Kenwood.
Davis and Rezko hired Daley & George, the law firm of the mayor's brother Michael, to help them get $3.1 million from bonds issued by the city of Chicago.
Rezko and Davis paid the city $1 for the land and spent more than $100,000 to clean it up, including the removal of an underground storage tank. Some tainted land was left behind, but state environmental officials approved construction after Rezko and Davis agreed to cover the polluted areas with parking lots, sidewalks or three feet of dirt, records show.
The $14.6 million Cottage View Terrace was funded entirely by city, state and federal taxpayers.
The project included $855,000 in development fees for New Kenwood. Records don't show how Davis and Rezko split the money. Davis owned 51 percent of New Kenwood, Rezko 49 percent, according to the records.
In addition to the development fees, a separate Davis-owned company stood to make another $900,000 through federal tax credits.
Cottage View Terrace was supposed to be managed by Davis' longtime business partner, William Moorehead. But Moorehead said last week that his company was dumped before the apartments opened in 2002. The apartments are now managed by Urban Property Advisors, a company owned by Davis' son, Cullen Davis.
Moorehead is due to report to prison next month to begin serving a four-year sentence for stealing more than $1 million from the Robert Taylor Homes and other public housing projects he managed for the Chicago Housing Authority and the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department, as well as from two developments he co-owned with Davis near Cabrini-Green on the North Side.

Barack Obama & Tony Rezko 2008 *The "Ethical" Choice for America*

The Truth is Working its Way to Forefront

Rezko is STILL funding Obama? Why Won't Obama Just Give ALL of the $$ Back?

Barack does Political favor for Tony Rezko

Barack Obama & Tony Rezko 2008 The "Ethical" Choice for America