In an exclusive interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, FBI “mole” John Thomas, “who’s expected to be a key prosecution witness against indicted developer and political fund-raiser” Antoin “Tony” Rezko, is talking. Thomas told the Sun-Times that “his life became frantic as he amassed hundreds of hours of recorded conversations for federal investigators while trying to maintain the real estate business he built on pluck and hustle.” [snip]

“[In 2004 and 2005,] Sources said Thomas also logged frequent visits to Rezko from Gov. Blagojevich and U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.). Blagojevich and Obama were among the many politicians for whom Rezko raised campaign cash…. Sources said the government had him wear a hidden wire to record conversations with a Chicago alderman–but that he did not record Blagojevich or Obama.”

Read the rest of the article here.

For the first time, the FBI "mole" who's expected to be a key prosecution witness against indicted developer and political fund-raiser Tony Rezko is talking.

In an exclusive interview with the Sun-Times, John Thomas said his life became frantic as he amassed hundreds of hours of recorded conversations for federal investigators while trying to maintain the real estate business he built on pluck and hustle.

A fly on the wall

"Now," Thomas said, "all I want is a little bit of peace."

Thomas wouldn't discuss details of his work for the FBI.

But sources said that, for more than two years when he was giving information to agents, Thomas provided a fly-on-the-wall look inside Rezko's real estate operations and his desperate attempts to keep his projects afloat.

Sources said Thomas also logged frequent visits to Rezko from Gov. Blagojevich and U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.). Blagojevich and Obama were among the many politicians for whom Rezko raised campaign cash. Neither has been charged with any wrongdoing.

Thomas had good reason to help. He hopes to get probation for his own felony fraud conviction in a New York case. And he said he wants to redeem himself in the eyes of business associates and his family.

Sources said Thomas helped investigators build a record of repeat visits to the old offices of Rezko and former business partner Daniel Mahru's Rezmar Corp., at 853 N. Elston, by Blagojevich and Obama during 2004 and 2005.

In one case, sources said, Thomas told authorities he saw a Rezmar employee pass an envelope with a visible wad of bills to an unidentified Blagojevich aide.

Both politicians relied on Rezko for fund-raising connections. Obama was in the thick of his successful run for the U.S. Senate in 2004. Now in the glare of a presidential campaign, Obama has donated to charity $157,835 from contributions to his Senate campaign that he has linked to Rezko.

In a corruption case set for trial next month, Rezko is accused of seeking campaign contributions for Blagojevich and kickbacks from companies seeking state pension business.

At 45, Thomas is a curious figure at the heart of a scandal that has reached into presidential politics.

He is prominent in commercial real estate circles in Chicago, even after pleading guilty in 2004 to felony fraud in New York.

Sources said the government had him wear a hidden wire to record conversations with a Chicago alderman -- but that he did not record Blagojevich or Obama.

Thomas said his work on the Rezko case is "essentially done."

He spoke of having turned government informer to reduce the penalties for his crimes and help rebuild his life and career.

"I was always a very talented real estate person," Thomas said. "But, when I became part of a difficult situation, I made the wrong decisions."

According to an FBI affidavit, those "wrong decisions" included Thomas' drawing more than $350,000 from his customers' credit cards while he was running a billboard leasing business in Manhattan in the late 1990s. He also charged more than $140,000 to an American Express business account he obtained using his father's Social Security number.

Afterward, Thomas, born Bernard Barton Jr., legally changed his name.

Goal was to cut prison term

Discussing what happened in New York, Thomas said he was trying to meet his payroll at a time the company had grown too fast.

According to sources, that was where Thomas first made contact with the FBI and the Justice Department in a move to reduce the likely 15- to 21-month prison term he'd get for fraud.

At the time, in the late 1990s, organized-crime families in New York were trying to muscle into the billboard business. Sources said Thomas helped federal prosecutors.

Relocating to Chicago in 2000, he built a real estate brokerage business. He did it with aggressive cold-calling, managing to connect sellers with buyers and positioning himself as an investor in several downtown deals. Also as part of his business, he secured financing for a commission.

Thomas is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 19 on the New York charges. But his sentencing is likely to be delayed, perhaps for a year, while the Justice Department has him testify in the second of two trials Rezko faces -- that one involving allegations of business fraud. Assistant U.S. Attorney Carolyn McNiven, a prosecutor on both the Thomas and Rezko cases, declined to comment.

Thomas' real estate activities have given him many contacts in a business that runs on them. But some of his more ambitious development deals have failed amid a flurry of lawsuits. In one case, Thomas is suing a former partner, accusing him of stealing money from renovations for an office building they owned at 318 W. Adams, in the shadow of Sears Tower. A planned conversion to office condominiums at his building has been scrapped.

And Thomas is trading lawsuits with partners in a failed purchase of the 105 W. Adams building. A venture he formed with Mahru to buy a Miami building ended in bankruptcy.

'I'm always working'

Still, Thomas said his business prospects are strong now that he has a startup company -- Red Rock Capital Realty -- that specializes in real estate consulting.

People he has done business with said he doesn't hide his background. Some joke that Thomas even introduces himself as a convicted felon.

"All these brokers, they come in at 10 and leave at 5," Thomas said. "I come in at 7 and leave at 7 at night. I'm always working."

Chicago, he said, "is a wonderful place to do this kind of business. It is the most forgiving."

Thomas said he has repaid his father and hopes to make amends for the sake of his wife and their young child.

He wants, he said, to change. That includes gastric-bypass surgery he had 1½ years ago. Since then, he has lost more than 130 pounds from a frame that once tipped the scales at 365.

On the back of his business card, Thomas expresses his thoughts on his situation.

In eight languages, the card reads: "When life hands you lemons, make lemonade."

Some key dates and events in the life of FBI mole John Thomas:

Late 1990s — Ran a Manhattan company that leased billboard space. Stole several hundred thousand dollars from clients’ credit cards. Helps federal authorities in probe of mob influence in billboards.

2000 — Changes name from Bernard Barton Jr. and relocates to Chicago, where he starts a brokerage, Carnegie Realty Partners LLC, and a billboard company.

2003 — Signs on to represent developer Jeffrey Grossman in a condominium deal at 60 W. Erie. Within days, Grossman is arrested for bank fraud, and Thomas agrees to help the feds. Grossman and Donald Grauer later plead guilty.

2004 — Thomas pleads guilty in New York fraud, gets the case transferred to Chicago. Yet to be sentenced, Thomas begins cooperating with feds’ probe of developer and political fund-raiser Tony Rezko, with a focus on Rezko’s financing deals on 62 acres at Roosevelt and Clark and vacant land at the southwest corner of Chicago and Hudson.

2005 — Still cooperating with prosecutors, Thomas builds business portfolio and attempts several downtown development deals.

CHICAGO-- Here are three stories about a Chicago Democratic fund-raiser, Myron Cherry, his ties to the controversial Tony Rezko, under indictment for public corruption and his connections to White House hopefuls Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.)

BY CHRIS FUSCO, DAVE MCKINNEY AND LYNN SWEET Staff Reporters
A lawyer referenced in a public-corruption indictment of Wilmette businessman Tony Rezko is among the hosts of a Chicago fund-raising dinner tonight for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign.

Clinton (D-N.Y.) has no direct connection to Rezko. But one of 20 "chairs" for her Palmer House Hilton event is Myron Cherry, who is among a large circle of people to be enmeshed in two federal indictments Rezko is fighting. Most of those people, including Cherry, have not been charged with any crimes.

Rezko figures more centrally to Clinton's chief rival, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.). Rezko has donated money directly to Obama's state and U.S. Senate campaigns, hosted fund-raisers for Obama and once owned a parcel of land next to Obama's house.

In a rare confluence, the Obama campaign tonight will be raising money just blocks away from Clinton's during an event at Fulton's on the River restaurant.

Philip Singer, a Clinton spokesman, declined to comment about the ethics of Cherry helping host an event for the New York senator. Cherry himself said he has done nothing wrong and that his role "if any" in Rezko's prosecution "might be as a potential witness."

Cherry is a longtime Democratic contributor and "bundler" who has been valuable to campaigns because he can land donations from a large network of acquaintances. In March 2000, Cherry hosted President Bill Clinton at his Lincolnwood home for a fund-raiser that raised more than $700,000 for the Democratic National Committee.

In October, Cherry surfaced as "Individual H" in a Rezko fraud indictment that involves pension investments made by the Teachers' Retirement System of Illinois. He allegedly was slated to be the recipient of a fee on one proposed investment deal even though he did no work.

Unlike other people identified as "individuals" in the Rezko cases, Cherry has spoken publicly about the matter. He has said his name was inserted in the deal without his knowledge, and that he is cooperating with authorities.

"My efforts in support of numerous Democratic candidates are quite more than a few over the years," Cherry wrote in response to a Chicago Sun-Times inquiry. "I support Senator Clinton and will support her if she is the nominee for the Democratic Party, and if the nominee is a Democratic candidate other than Senator Clinton, I will support that candidate as well."

The Blagojevich-Obama link and the Black Muslims  by Steve Sailer

"Mr. Conner is asking Mr. Obama to make his lower appraisal review of his house public, saying it is relevant to his pending complaint. "

Also:Ill. Gov. Blagojevich arrested on federal charges

Was Obama Senate Seat For Sale?(Links Flesh Out The Story)

Posted by Gabrielle Cusumano on Tuesday, December 09, 2008 1:12:19 PM

Feds: Blagojevich saw Obama's vacated job as a "valuable thing"

 
PHOTO and more links to major story at: 

 

hhat tip to Red Badger at Free Republic.com discussion

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2145544/posts

 

 

"The United States is the most phantasmagoric propaganda machine in history." Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said Professor of Arab Studies and Director of the Middle East Institute at Columbia University, speaking at a conference on "U.S. imperialism in the 21st century" at Columbia University, December 5, 2003

Merely holding an election is "a pretty low bar... But then, this election is being run with Main Street, U.S.A., more in mind than Main Street, Baghdad, and for them to get away with saying such things depends on our collective gullibility." Rashid Khalidi, professor of Arab Studies and director of the Middle East Institute at Columbia University, commenting on the Iraqi elections, January 27, 2005 (link to source)

Hauser Helped Fund Professor of Hate
SAID CHAIR AT COLUMBIA ALSO BACKED BY SAUDIS

by Adam Daifallah
New York Sun
July 23, 2003
http://daily.nysun.com/Repository/getFiles.asp?Style=OliveXLib:ArticleToMail&Type=text/html&Path=NYS/2003/07/23&ID=Ar00103

A professor coming to Columbia University this fall to head up a Middle East studies institute has said that killing armed Israelis is legitimate Palestinian "resistance" to occupation.

The money Columbia is using to pay the professor comes in part from Rita Hauser, a high-profile New York philanthropist whose former law firm was a registered agent of the Palestinian Authority. Also contributing was a foundation with close ties to Saudi Arabia.

Rashid Khalidi, a professor of history and Near Eastern languages and civilizations and director of the Center for International Studies at the University of Chicago, is set to move to Columbia University this fall, where he will teach as the Edward Said professor of Middle Eastern studies, a new - and supposedly anonymously funded - position at the school. He will also direct the school's Middle East Institute.

The New York Sun has obtained an audio recording of a speech Mr. Khalidi gave on June 7, 2002, at a conference of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.

While condemning violence against innocent civilians, which Mr. Khalidi said "means condemning Israel,"he appeared to condone the killing of armed Israelis in the next breath.

"...Killing civilians is a war crime. It's a violation of international law.They are not soldiers. They're civilians, they're unarmed. The ones who are armed, the ones who are soldiers, the ones who are in occupation, that's different.That's resistance," Mr. Khalidi said.

The text of Mr. Khalidi's speech is posted on the Web site of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee with the above remarks omitted. Reached for comment in Chicago, Mr. Khalidi first said that he did not recall making the remark. Then he defended the position and acknowledged that he may have said it.

"Killing civilians is a war crime, whoever does it. But resistance to occupation is legitimate in international law." Mr. Khalidi said.

Asked if it is okay to kill soldiers, Mr. Khalidi replied,"Resistance to occupation is legitimate," but said that he would not say the same thing today, one year later.

"Things change and there are differences.. There's no such thing as a blanket statement. I was describing a specific occupation at a specific time. At the time I said it, I think that, saying resistance to occupation, is legitimate."
As for the current situation in Israel, "I would say it would be wise to show restraint because there is a political process under way," he said.

A terrorism expert who heads The Investigative Project, which tracks militant Islamic activities, Steven Emerson, said Mr. Khalidi's comment "raises serious questions about his attitudes on violence."

"It's constitutionally protected speech, but the question is whether he should be teaching this stuff to young students," Mr. Emerson said.

Columbia University is refusing to disclose publicly the list of donors to the Edward Said chair, but The New York Sun has been able to independently confirm three of them after they were provided by the Investigative Project.
The funding of Middle East-related activities on campus has come under increasing scrutiny since the attacks of September 11, 2001.

Harvard University's divinity school, for example, has recently come under fire for a $2.5 million donation it accepted from the president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan.
"Donors' names are confidential, we don't disclose them without their permission," said a spokeswoman for Columbia,

Katie Moore, adding that Columbia has "the same policy that every school would have."

The Hauser Foundation, headed by New York philanthropist Rita Hauser, is one of the donors to the fund.
"I made a contribution," Ms. Hauser said, describing the chair's namesake, Professor Edward Said, as "a friend of mine. I admire him."

As for the appointment of Mr. Khalidi to the position, Ms. Hauser said she was happy with his selection.
"I like him very much. He's a splendid guy, a Palestinian intellectual, a first-class choice, and I think everybody's pleased," she said.

Ms. Hauser declined to disclose how much her foundation donated to the Said chair. According to disclosure forms filed with the Internal Revenue Service, her foundation gave a total of more than $1.8 million in gifts in 2001 to a wide variety of causes including the American University in Cairo, Refugees International, the Nixon Center, and the Manhattan Institute.
Ms. Hauser's former law firm, Stroock & Stroock & Lavan, was registered with the Department of Justice as recently as 2001 as an agent for the Palestinian Authority.

Another donor is the Olayan Charitable Trust, a New York-based charity affiliated with the Olayan America Corporation, an arm of Saudi-based The Olayan Group. The vice president of corporate communications at Olayan's New York offices, Richard Hobson, said the trust doesn't publicize its donations but that it is "very proud of that donation and every other donation we make."

Mr. Hobson declined to say how much the trust had given to the Said chair, other than to say he believed they are "one of the lead donors but not the lead donor."

IRS disclosure forms for 2001 show that the Olayan Charitable Trust listed a $50,000 gift to Columbia University.
Other donations listed for 2001 include $20,000 to an anti-Israel group called Americans for Middle East Understanding and $5,000 to the Arab American Institute Fund.

A third donor is Gordon Gray Jr., a graduate of Harvard and Columbia. Mr. Gray, a New York investor, gave $1.5 million to each university after September 11 for the study of Arabic, the Harvard Crimson reported. Mr. Gray said he couldn't remember how much he gave to the Said chair, but it was "in excess of $500,000."

The vice president of development at Columbia University, Susan Feagin, said that the school often releases names of donors who have given permission to do so. She confirmed the three donors the Sun had independently confirmed because they gave her permission to do so. She declined to release the full list. Ms. Feagin said that as of July 1, 2003, the minimum amount to endow a chair at Columbia is $2 million. The minimum amount was $1.5 million before then, she said.

The author of the book "Ivory Towers on Sand," a critique of Middle East studies in America, Martin Kramer, said the list should be made public.

"There are donors who wish to remain anonymous, and you can't always turn away donors who want to remain anonymous," Mr. Kramer said. "But there's a significant difference between a donor who wants to give to medical research and one who wants to give to the study of the contemporary Middle East. They may have an agenda."

Mr. Kramer said that the Middle East Studies Association, an organization of Middle East academics that Mr. Khalidi has served as president, has passed a resolution calling for program funding disclosure. The head of the Philadelphia based Middle East Forum and a critic of bias in Middle East studies programs, Daniel Pipes, criticized the school's reluctance to make the donor list public.

"What is surprising is that the administration of Columbia is unwilling to be public about the sources of its funds. It's highly unusual for a university. It points to the sense of guilt that they have that they are doing something this shady," Mr. Pipes said.

Obama - The Manchurian Candidate    All Credit for research and writing of the Following two articles goes to: dhudlud Member at: page: perspectives.com/forums/view_topic.php?id=175...

A Composite of Marxism, pan-Islamic Terrorism, and Black Nationalism

Obama was born (?) in Honolulu in 1961,  ( link ) 




His birth father, Barack Hussein Obama, Sr. was a Muslim bureaucrat from Kenya.  ( link - 41k -)  Before marrying his son's mother Ann Dunham, Hussein Obama, Sr. was married to a woman from Kenya who had seven children.  All the relatives of Barry's father were very devout Muslims"   ( link quoting "Dreams of My Father.")   

Obama's mother Stanley Ann Dunham Soetoro was a Marxist who raised Obama to have an anti-capitalist, anti-American view of the world.  (link )  She has been described by her friends as "a fellow traveler..." meaning a communist sympathizer. [10]
In an interview, Barack Obama referred to his mother as "the dominant figure in my formative years... The values she taught me continue to be my touchstone when it comes to how I go about the world of politics."  (en.metapedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Ann_Dunham)  

In terms of race and international relations, contemporary Marxism teaches that whites (i.e., the greedy capitalists) "exploit" blacks (the working class).
( link ; link ; link ;  uncpress.unc.edu/chapters/robinson_black.html; link )

Being born in Hawaii to a black father and white mother, when Obama was 2 years old, he saw his black father Barack Obama Sr.leave the family and move back to his African first wife in Kenya, leaving Obama to be raised without a father figure. ( link ) Thereafter, Obama always felt a void, the need for a father figure with whom he could identify.  (VDARE.COM- link )



Four years later, his mother married an Indonesian man, Lolo Soetoro, who moved his new wife and stepson to Jakarta. ( link ) When his mother remarried, Obama's Indonesian step-father Lolo Soetoro, a Muslim, would (in 1971) occasionally take his stepson "Barry" to Friday prayers at the mosque. ( link ) By his own admission, "In Indonesia, I had spent two years at a Muslim school,” ( http://www.examiner.com/a-534540, quoting "Dreams of My Father.")   Amiris now the manager of the Bank Mandiri, Jakarta, recently said, "Barry was previously quite religious in Islam."   ( link quoting "Dreams of My Father.")

Upon Dunham's divorce from Lolo she  sent 10-year-old Barack to live with her parents in Honolulu, while she and his half-sister stayed in Indonesia.  ( link ) In 1972 Barry Soetoro is enrolled in the fifth grade at [Hawaii's] prestigious Punahou School  and begins his transformation to Barack Hussein Obama.   According to classmate Rony Amiris young Barry was a very devout Muslim.  Amir said, "Barry was . . . quite religious in Islam."  ( link quoting "Dreams of My Father.")

While at Punahou School, Obama turns into a disenchanted teenage rebel,  experimenting with cocaine and marijuana.  Obama admits in "Dreams" that during high school he  frequently smoked marijuana, drank alcohol, even used cocaine occasionally.  ( link quoting "Dreams of My Father.")



Obama was in Hawaii from 1971-1979, where, at some point in time, he developed a close relationship with Frank Marshall Davis, a member of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA).   Davis treated Obama almost like a son, with Davis, reading him his "poetry" and giving Obama advice on his career path.
( link )

In 1979 Obama entered Occidental College in California.  "To avoid being mistaken for a sellout, I chose my friends carefully.  The more politically active black students.  The foreign students.  The Chicanos.  The Marxist professors and structural feminists."  "To admit our doubt and confusion to whites, to open up our psyches to general examination by those who had caused so much of the damage in the first place, seemed ludicrous, itself an expression of self-hatred," he wrote.  ( link quoting "Dreams of My Father.")

In 1982 Obama transferred to Columbia University in New York.  "I stopped getting high. . . ,"  he wrote in "Dreams."  He went to the Marxist-Socialist conferences at Cooper Union and African cultural fairs in Brooklyn and started lecturing his relatives until they worried he'd become "one of those freaks you see on the streets around here."   During college, Obama disapproved of what he called other "half-breeds" who gravitated toward whites instead of blacks.  ( link quoting "Dreams of My Father.")

"Barack Obama had just graduated from Columbia and was looking for a job.  Some white leftists were looking for someone who could recruit in a black neighborhood in the south side of Chicago.  [P] Obama answered a help-wanted ad for a position as a community organizer for the Developing Communities Project (DCP) of the Calumet Community Religious Conference (CCRC) in Chicago.  Obama was 24 years old, unmarried, very accustomed to a vagabond existence, and according to his memoir, searching for a genuine African-American community.  Both the CCRC and the DCP were built on the [Saul] Alinsky model of community agitation, wherein paid organizers learned how to "rub raw the sores of discontent," in Alinsky's words.  The agitator's job, according to Alinsky, is first to bring folks to the "realization" that they are indeed miserable, that their misery is the fault of unresponsive governments or greedy corporations, then help them to bond together to demand what they deserve, and to make such an almighty stink that the dastardly governments and corporations will see imminent "self-interest" in granting whatever it is that will cause the harassment to cease. [P]  In these methods, euphemistically labeled "community organizing," Obama had a four-year education, which he often says was the best education he ever got anywhere."  ( link ; cf. Alinsky, Rules for Radicals.)



"Saul Alinsky died in 1972. He was a Marxist grassroots organizer who spent much of his life organizing rent strikes and protesting conditions of the poor in Chicago in the 1930s."  ( link "Alinsky saw the already formed church communities as being the perfect springboards for agitation and creating bonds for demanding goods and services. " ( link)

"When Obama first undertook his agitating work in Chicago's South Side poor neighborhoods, he was un-churched.  Yet his office was in a Church and most of the folks he needed to agitate and organize were Church people -- pastors and congregants -- who took their churches and their church-going very seriously."  Although Obama was then an agnostic, he finally relented and joined a church.  ( link )

In 1988, Obama joined the congregation of Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ.  In the spirit of Saul Alinsky, Obama avoided the mainstream churches.  Instead, "Obama chose Trinity United. He picked Jeremiah Wright. Obama writes in his autobiography that on the day he chose this church, he felt the spirit of black memory and history moving through Wright, and "felt for the first time how that spirit carried within it, nascent, incomplete, the possibility of moving beyond our narrow dreams.'"  ( link )



Thus, Obama finally found the father figure he had been seeking in the church's black Pastor Reverend Wright. .  ( link ) Wright was a black nationalist who "sought to build his church on the black theology of liberation, the Marxist ideology introduced in 1968 by Rev. James Cone of New York."  ( link )

Like Obama, Wright was not only a Marxist, but  a former Muslim. ( link ). In fact Wright boasted that his "Master’s Degree from the University of Chicago’s Divinity School was in the area of Islam in West Africa during the 19th Century -- when the trans-Atlantic Slave Trade was at its zenith."  ( link ) 



As later seen, Wright was also allied with Louis Farrakhan leader of the Nation of Islam.  Wright once traveled to Libya with black supremacist Louis Farrakhan to meet with terrorist leader Muammar Qaddafi.  (link )   In 2007, Wright honored Farrakhan as Trinity Church's "man of the year."   (link ) In his April 29, 2008 speech to the Wright's security was provided by bodyguards from Farrakhan's Nation of Islam.  ( link )

In 1991 Obama formally joined Wright's church, being required to pledge allegiance to the "Black Value System" (an allegiance greater than any owed to "white" America).  ( link ) Wright became Obama's "spiritual mentor".  Wright's phrase "the Audacity of Hope" meant so much to Obama that it gave Obama the title for his next book.  Obama's book-on-tape specifically mentions the "Black Value System" which he admittedly perused at the outset of his involvement.  

Consistent with the foregoing is Wright's theory of a separate Black Learning System.  As he recently expressed, blacks tend to be "right brained, subject oriented in their learning style.Right brain that means creative and intuitive. Subject oriented means they learn from a subject, not an object. They learn from a person."  In contrast, white "children have a left brained cognitive object oriented learning style and the entire educational learning system in the United States of America.  . . .  Left brain is logical and analytical.  Object oriented means the student learns from an object." ( link )



Wright's church also taught Obama Marxist "Black Liberation Theology."  The originator of that theology was James H. Cone,  the mentor of Obama's mentor Wright.  Cone's groundbreaking 1969 book Black Theology and Black Power announced: "The time has come for white America to be silent and listen to black people. . . . All white men are responsible for white oppression. . . . Theologically, Malcolm X was not far wrong when he called the white man 'the devil.'. . . Any advice from whites to blacks on how to deal with white oppression is automatically under suspicion as a clever device to further enslavement." ( link ) Hence, Obama's focus on Wright's phrase, "white folks greed runs a world in need."  ( link )

Therefore, according to Cone, "What we need is the divine love as expressed in black power, which is the power of blacks to destroy their oppressors, here and now, by any means at their disposal. Unless God is participating in this holy activity, we must reject God’s love.” [A Black Theology of Liberation, p.70; quoted at link ]. In other words, "black power" requires destruction of whites by any means, including genocide.  This pseudo-Christian theology seems to have parallels with homicidal pan-Islamic jihadism, such as expressed in the attack of September 11, 2001.

In 1988 Obama entered Harvard Law School.  While at Harvard, he contributed a footnote to a law review article by left-wing legal scholar Laurence Tribe, the latter contending that constitutional jurisprudence should be updated in a similar way that Einstein's theory of relativity replaced Newtonian mechanics, a view that would release judges from the original intent of the Founders of America.  ( link quoting "Dreams of My Father.")

"In the 13 years between Obama's return to Chicago from law school and his Senate campaign, he was deeply involved with the city's constellation of community-organizing groups. He wrote about the subject. He attended organizing seminars. He served on the boards of foundations that support community organizing. He taught Alinsky's concepts and methods in workshops. When he first ran for office in 1996, he pledged to bring the spirit of community organizing to his job in the state Senate. And, after he was elected to the U.S. Senate, his wife, Michelle, told a reporter, "Barack is not a politician first and foremost. He's a community activist exploring the viability of politics to make change.'"  ( link ).



No wonder that Obama was a director of the Woods Fund board from 1999 to Dec. 11, 2002, according to the Fund's website.  According to tax filings, Obama received compensation of $6,000 per year for his service in 1999 and 2000.  [P]  Obama served on the Wood's Fund board alongside [Marxist] William C. Ayers, a member of the Weathermen terrorist group which sought to overthrow of the U.S. government and took responsibility for bombing the U.S. Capitol in 1971.  Among those funded was the PLO terrorist Khalidi.  ( link ).



No wonder that in April 2004 after the American-led coalition deposed the terrorist regime of Saddam Hussein, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and his wife, Michelle Obama, attended an party held at Syrian lobbyist Tony Rezko's home in honor of  Saddam's henchman, Iraqi-British billionaire businessman Nadhmi Auchi, "who was visiting the United States at the time."  ( link ) Auchi later via an intermediary poured thousands of dollars into the campaigns of Barack Obama and other politicians.  ( link ).
 


No wonder that in August, 2006 Obama traveled to Kenya to campaign for his Luo terrorist cousin Raili Odinga.  Odingo is a communist financed by al-Qaeda sources who seeks to impose Islamic Sharia Law on a predominately Christian nation. ( link )





In this Obama Family photo are: (bottom row, from left) half-sister Auma, her mother Kezia Obama, Obama's step-grandmother Sarah Hussein Onyango Obama and unknown; (top row, from left) unknown, Barack Obama, half-brother Abongo (Roy) Obama, and three unknowns. (Sun Times)

Barack's half-brother Abongo "Roy" Obama is a Luo activist and a militant Islamist whose ideology is Afrocentric and seeks to liberate the continent from white influences ("the poisoning influences of European culture.").  ( link ) He urges his younger brother to embrace his African heritage   ( link ) Both oppose Kenya's pro-American government and seek to ally Kenya with America's pan-Islamic enemies. 

"With al-Qaida strengthening its beachheads in Africa — from Algeria to Sudan to Somalia — the last thing the West needs is for pro-Western Kenya to fall into the hands of Islamic extremists."  ( link )

"I believe in the power of the African-American religious tradition to spur social change," Obama has asserted. He also says his faith has led him to question "the idolatry of the free market."  ( link )

(courtesy edit by Schmitt., fixing and shortening links.)

Obama takes money from America's enemies.   All credit goes to: dhudlud  page: perspectives.com/forums/view_topic.php?id=175...


"An indicted businessman who poured thousands of dollars into the campaigns of Barack Obama and other politicians was jailed Monday after prosecutors disclosed he received $3.5 million from an Iraqi billionaire while claiming to be broke.   [P]  Obama actually represented partners of Rezko's company in government-subsidized apartment rehabilitation projects, not Rezko himself. Obama says he did no more than five or six hours of work for the partners. [P]  An FBI affidavit said Rezko actually received $3.5 million from a Lebanon-based bank account of General Mediterranean Holdings, a Luxembourg company owned by London-based Iraqi billionaire Adhmi Auchi. Rezko's attorney said Rezko has had business dealings with Auchi."

(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/01/28 /indicted-obama-fundraiser_n_83674.html? load=1&page=2)

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      Obama                                                         Rezko





               Saddam's henchman Auchi


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As does his terrorist cousin Raila Odinga


"A. K. Al Bakri & Sons Holding is the Saudi group headed by President & CEO Abdulkader Al Bakri, which has more outlets, subsidiaries and other companies than one can easily count. One of the prime contracts they would get is for the supply of jet fuel to Nairobi Airport, which allowed for undercutting of the competition there. This is the very same Abdulkader Al Bakri listed as a defendant in the First Amendment Complaint suit brought by various insurance companies against al Qaeda and associated organizations and individuals. Within that suit is mentioned documents (known as the Golden Chain document) picked up by Bosnian police on a raid on a charitable front organization for al Qaeda in Sarajevo. One of the listed documents is the "Tareekh Osama" ("Osama's History") in which Abdulkader al Bakri aka Abdel Qader Bakri gets a prominent listing:

    ABDEL QADER BAKRI (ABDULKADER [AL] BAKRI)
    CEO, Bakri Group of Cos
    CEO, Al Bakri International Power Co. Ltd (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia)
    CEO, Al-Bakri Shipping Group (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia)
    CEO, Alkhomasia Shipping and Maintenance Company Ltd (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia)
    CEO, Red Sea Marine Services (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia)
    CEO, Diners Club International (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia)
    Bakri Group formed in April 2002 a JV with the Malaysian International Shipping
    Corporation (MISC) to operate in Middle-East countries, including Yemen. MISC leased
    super tanker MT Limburg when it was attacked on October 6, 2002, coming from Ra's
    Tannura (Saudi Arabia).

"And then particular to one of the bin Laden brothers:

    WAIL (WAEL HAMZA JULAIDAN)
    Former Secretary General of the Muslim World League and Rabita Trust in Pakistan,
    designated by the United States Treasury as SGDT
    Receives donations from Suleiman Al Rashid, Abdulkader Bakri, Salahuddin Abduljawad,
    Abdul Tahi Taher

"So, when a man like Raila Odinga is linked with Abdulkader al Bakri, you are not making a minor connection, but one directly into al Qaeda. Such are the vagaries of making political bedfellows in other Nations."

(http://ajacksonian.blogspot.com/2008/01/odinga-obama-and-lack-of-courage.html)          page: perspectives.com/forums/view_topic.php?id=175...

(2) We just spoke with someone well-connected in Chicago politics who told us that the bank Sneed is talking about has to be Broadway Bank, which is owned by the politically-connected Giannoulias family. We were told that Sneed’s column confirms rumblings people we know heard independently that Tony Rezko is giving up the Giannoulias family to Patrick Fitzgerald — Rezko and the Giannoulias family are as close and tied together as anyone in Chicago could be. If Rezko is turning on them, then Rezko is going to give up Governor Rod Blagojevich and Obama too. We don’t want to end up in cement shoes for implying anything here, but if you live in Chicago for any length of time, you hear rumors about Broadway Bank, the Giannoulias family, and insert Tony Soprano references here. Kapeech?

(3) So, Rezko is singing about the Giannoulias family and its longtime “business dealings” in Chicago, which would interest someone like Fitzgerald and the Justice Department, who have had a long ambition to crack Soprano-style business dealings in Chicago (the city known for Al Capone hasn’t changed much, really). The next plate to drop in this will be Fitzgerald then leaning on the Giannoulias family to give up someone bigger than them, who Fitzgerald once discussed in terms of hoping “he has the morals to do the right thing”, to paraphrase. We now believe that person Fitz was talking about is Barack Obama.

(4) The Giannoulias family was involved with Obama as far back as his first state senate campaign in 1996. It has been long rumored here in Chicago that Obama obtained a sweetheart deal on his first town home here in Chicago — which he could not have afforded otherwise — and guess who the financing came from for that house? We’ve been told it was Broadway Bank, the Giannoulias bank. Now, this sets up a scenario where the Giannoulias family helps Obama with his campaign finances and gets him deeper in their pocket with his sweetheart mortgage deal (for the first home he owned that he could not afford) – all in exchange for quid pro quo to be determined later.

(5) One favor political Chicago claims Obama did for the Giannoulias family was in 2006 when, out of the blue, 29 year old Alexi Giannoulias, with no experience, and without ever having voted before, decides to run for State Treasurer of Illinois. Also out of the blue, Barack Obama endorses Alexi Giannoulias for State Treasurer. This was a SHOCK to everyone in Chicago — and Giannoulias would have never become State Treasurer without Obama’s help. In political circles here, it has always been believed that this endorsement was bought years ago with that sweetheart mortgage deal Broadway Bank arranged for Obama to buy his town house.

(6) So, the Tony Rezko sweetheart deal was not the first magic home loan Obama ever received to buy a house he could not afford. There’s more to this that looks like it will break soon. We were STUNNED when we read Sneed’s column because we never in a million years believed Fitz would actually be able to take down Obama. We do not believe this will come out before the election, however, but we do believe Fitzgerald will continue his prosecution to the highest level, because that is what he does. Jean Valjean got off easy, compared to what it’s like to be in the crosshairs of perhaps the greatest prosecutor this nation has had in a generation. Patrick Fitzgerald is a force of nature.

Sneed’s clue can only mean Broadway Bank…we’ve now heard this from several people in Chicago. And Broadway Bank can only mean Giannoulias. And Giannoulias leads to Obama through that town house home loan and the quid pro quo political endorsement several years later. And that home loan ties back to Rezko, in that it was the first of two shady home buys Obama made with quid pro quos attached to them. Just thinking that last paragraph out, Obama’s defense in the Rezko business was that he never did anything for Rezko so there was no quid pro quo. What the Giannoulias and Broadway Bank stuff proves is that Obama sits in people’s pockets for a while before the favor is given. He bought that town house sometime between 1997-2000 or so, since he lived there for a few years before trading up to the Obama Mansion with Rezko’s help in 2005, after he was in the United States Senate. And it looks like the payback was not given to the Giannoulias family until 2006, with Obama’s endorsement of Alexi Giannoulias for State Treasurer. This all stems from Sneed’s clue in today’s Sun Times. She says to stay tuned for more, so please do that.    Excerpt from: http://www.stoptheaclu.com/archives/2008/10/12/breaking-story-prosecutor-fitzgerald-could-send-obama-to-jail/

 
Big story about to break, we are one step closer to Rezko giving Obama up to federal prosecutors

Jailed Obama Fundraiser Spills the Beans [REZKO]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2103284/posts?page=1

Clinton supporters sharing evidence for RICO case against Obama campaign
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2103325/posts
“If you haven’t been a regular here at HillBuzz, you might not know about Gigi Gaston’s documentary “We Will Not Be Silenced” on the caucus fraud deliberately orchestrated by the Obama campaign during the primaries. Voter intimidation, registration fraud, vandalism, threats of violence, you name it, Obama’s supporters did it.” [snip]

http://news.pseka.net/uploads/img/gianoullias.gif

Alexi Giannoulias—a “man who has long been dogged by charges that the bank his family owns helped finance a Chicago crime figure” and “who became Illinois state treasurer” in 2006 after Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) “vouched for him”—”pledged to raise $100,000 for the senator’s Oval Office bid,” Charles Hurt reported September 5, 2007, in the New York Post.

The September 5, 2007, Chicago fundraiser was omitted from Obama’s public schedule and the event was closed to the press,” Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

“Before he promised to raise funds for Obama, Giannoulias bankrolled Michael ‘Jaws’ Giorango, a Chicagoan twice convicted of bookmaking and promoting prostitution.

“Giannoulias is so tainted by reputed mob links that several top Illinois Dems, including the state’s speaker of the House and party chairman, refused to endorse him even after he won the Democratic nomination with Obama’s help.

“Giannoulias was the bank’s vice president and chief loan officer for most of the more than $15 million in loans,” Hurt wrote. although “he was not charged with breaking any laws. The Obama campaign disputed any suggestion that Obama is tarnished by the association.”

Obama and Giannoulias reportedly met on the basketball court “in the late 1990s ... at the East Bank Club, a luxurious spot in downtown Chicago,” Jodi Kantor wrote June 1, 2007, in the New York Times. Now, “thanks in part to [Obama’s] backing, [Giannoulias] is now the Illinois state treasurer. Other regular gymmates include the president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, the director of the Illinois Department of Public Health and several investment bankers who were early and energetic fund-raisers,” Kantor wrote.

Additionally, it would appear that any concerns about the crime-related bank loans expressed by Obama in April 2006 had long blown over prior to the September 5, 2007, fundraiser.

Alexi Giannoulias, a 29-year-old Chicago investment banker who was an early supporter of Obama in his 2004 Senate race, whose father owns Broadway Bank, and whose family helped bankroll the Obama campaign. Giannoulias has said that he will campaign as a ‘progressive,’

In March 2006, Giannoulias said that “his ‘good friend and mentor, Barack Obama,’ inspired him to run.”

How to Buy a Mansion You Can’t Afford 

The Obamas’ new home has received a lot of attention in the corporate media and on the blogs. This post will discuss other perspectives.

Hyde Park, where the Obamas have lived since 1994, is home to the University of Chicago (UC) Law School and at least one of UC’s hospitals. Leo Struass taught in the university’s Committee on Social Thought. The Federalist Society was born at UC, and it is the alma mater of many Neo Cons, including Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

Kenwood, where the Obamas’ new home sits, is a small neighborhood, only 1.09 miles in area. It is bound on the south by Hyde Park, on the north by North Kenwood, and on the west by the neighborhood of Highland. Kenwood was once one of the most elite neighborhoods in all of Chicago.

This map shows the juxtaposition of the Hyde Park and Kenwood neighborhoods:

According to 2000 census figures, both neighborhoods boast racial diversity.

A census commissioned by Century 21 Real Estate in 2005 reveals how Hyde Park and Kenwood are comparable in almost every category, with Kenwood having the smaller population.

The Obamas had decided that politics was Barack’s ultimate future while still dating. In 1991, then Michelle Robinson, who was then Obama’s fiancée, left her job at the law firm of Sidley Austin Brown & Wood. She went to work for the city of Chicago, first as an assistant to Mayor Daley, then as the Executive Director of Public Allies Chicago, a nonprofit that provides leadership training to young adults interested in public service careers.

In 1996, she left the Public Allies to help create a student volunteer program at The University of Chicago. By the time of this interview, she was the Executive Director of Community Affairs for The University of Chicago Hospitals. This is how Michelle portrays her change of career:

She was devastated when her father died from MS complications. “That’s when I started analyzing my life, sitting in a firm,” she recalls, adding that in that same year she also lost one of her best friends from college to cancer. She soon left the firm to pursue a much lower-paying path in the public sector.

The fact is Michelle was actively recruited for City Hall by a close friend, Valerie Jarrett, who was Mayor Daley’s Deputy Chief of Staff at that time. Valerie later became the Finance Chair of Obama’s 2004 US Senate campaign and then First Treasurer of Barack’s political action committee, Hopefund.

It helps to have friends at City Hall. Among other positions, Michelle was appointed twice to sit on the board of the Commission of Chicago Landmarks for two consecutive terms. Michelle maintained this board seat from 1998 to March 2005, although normally a member only serves one 4 year term.

Flush from the success of Barack’s speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, the Obamas decided it was time to find a residence more fitting for their anticipated new status. Barack’s 1995 autobiography Dreams of My Father soared, and they knew Alan Keyes was no threat to their future success in the US Senate elections.

Sitting on the Commission of Chicago Landmarks board, Michelle knew of a permit, waiting for review and approval to sell, for a designated Historical Georgian revival home built in 1910 with four fireplaces, glass-door bookcases fashioned from Honduran mahogany, and a 1,000-bottle wine cellar owned by a doctor in Kenwood. The Commission is supported not only by donations and taxes but also by charges for permits. It’s a pretty extensive process, and they want a complete history of the house and property when a permit is requested. Once the Board approves a permit, the application goes to the city planning or zoning commission if more than a simple sale is involved.

The doctor who owned the Kenwood home wanted more than the Obamas could afford. As Barack has stated in numerous press interviews, buying the home would be a stretch. Barack contacted his patron Tony Rezko, despite knowing he was under investigation at the time, in order to see what could be done so the Obamas could afford their dream house. Sub-division was likely the agreed-on solution. In order to divide the lot, which the doctor purchased as one entity, he would have to:

– Hire an approved architect and general contractor, who had been involved in renovations and sub-divisions in Kenwood previously

– Have the lots surveyed and new plot plans drawn

– Re-start the Landmark Commission permit approval process

– Hold a public hearing (required).

On page 51 of the Commission on Landmarks Ordinances, one finds a justification for the doctor agreeing to subdividing the land.

The applicant bears the burden of proof that the existing use of the property is economically infeasible and that the sale, rental or rehabilitation of the property is not possible, resulting the property not being capable of earning any reasonable economic return.

Pages 51 and 52 of the Landmark ordinances show how many proofs and other forms of extensive documentation are required in order to subdivide the land. Can any rational person believe the doctor would have been willing to go along with having his property sub-divided, and all the work and time involved, without compensation and assistance? Who paid for this?

With Michelle sitting on the Landmarks board, Commission approval wasn’t expected to be an issue, even though I have not located notice of the Public Hearing from any of the involved boards. From there it would go to the City Planning Board and the Zoning Boards, which also require public hearings. Each of these steps average between 6 weeks and 3 months to complete.

The doctor’s property was located in what Chicago Zoning Terms refer to as Residential Single zone 1, or RS1. This means the house the Obamas bought required 6,250 sq. ft of area. Even if it had the designation lowered to RS2, it still would have required 5,000 square feet, as seen on page 5 of Chicago’s zoning ordinances. Starting on page 8, the ordinances specify setbacks and how much space must be available on each side of a building. The open space on the building’s sides normally conform to Fire Regulations, so that equipment can access all portions of a building during crises.

Public Records at the Chicago Commission on Landmarks, the Chicago Planning Department and Chicago Zoning Boards would show the exact dates of permits, hearings and approvals. Michelle was so confident she listed the Obamas’ condo, which was located on the first floor of a Hyde Park Brownstone. In October 2004, Michelle expressed surprise to a Chicago interviewer that the Condo had sold so quickly, which meant they either had to put off a closing date or write in a lease agreement for a specified amount of time in their Condo purchase contract.

2004 was a year flush with success for the Obamas: the autobiographical book sales increased; the DNC speech had been well received; Obama won his US Senate seat; and Michelle received a recent promotion to a $316,962-a-year position as Vice President at The University of Chicago Hospitals. Their income was over 1.67 million dollars, with anticipation of even greater gains ahead.

All that needed to be done, in the name of the doctor, on the Kenwood property was completed by March 2005, and the house was finally listed. Michelle Obama resigned her seat on the Chicago Commission on Landmarks at the same time. Barack and Michelle closed on their new home in June of 2005, for $1.65 million dollars, $300,000 less than the asking price, and most likely using the proceeds of their Condo for a down payment, while taking out a mortgage for $1.32 million from Northern Trust. Tony Rezko’s wife purchased the newly divided sub-plot for the full price of $625,000 and closed on the same day.

The City of Chicago requires parking permits, or people must rent space at parking garages for around $30 per diem. There is no overnight on-street parking. The Obamas had no yard to park on, and most likely parked on Rezko’s property.

Within in a month of purchasing their new home, the Obamas began the same process the doctor previously went through. Because Tony Rezko was being indicted, they needed to be distanced from him. So the Obamas hired a lawyer and an architect. Additionally, the Obama’s wanted to put up a fence separating the two properties. On page 21 of the Landmark Ordinances above, it states fences for Historic homes can be no more than 5’ high and must not be visible from the street. If the Obamas had purchased a prefab chain, picket or wooden fence, they would have lost the Historic designation and also the eight-year property tax freeze benefit accrued by agreeing to keep the house in conformance with Landmark regulations.

A picture of the front view of Obamas’ house reveals landmark and zoning requirements.

The concrete wall and evergreens were most likely done after the city appropriated land for sidewalks, and the paving of what has been noted as a wide and busy thoroughfare. If you notice, the trees were planted one to two feet behind the concrete wall, most probably a result of zoning constraints.

The new fence was specially fabricated to conform to historic standards, and the $14,000 cost was billed to Rezko per agreement by Obama and Rezko. Obama states he paid for the architect and Lawyer. Strangely enough the fence actually sits ON the property line between the two lots. Obama agreed to yard maintenance for both properties. And given Obama’s history with the Harvard Law Review and his limited known court experience from public records, Obama most likely either edited or personally wrote the legal documents for his sub-division and the fence. On January 12, 2006, the Obamas closed on the 1/6th of Rita Rezko’s property they purchased for $104,500.

Facts not specifically cited above, and much more, can be found in this Chicago Tribune article.

This MyDD diary features a special video from NBC news that provides broader views of Obama’s property. The diarist makes note of an SUV sitting on the 1/6 new parcel of Obama’s land.

In all likelihood the driveway was previously on Rezko land. Behind the house is most likely an old carriage house converted into a garage. Parking on the street in that type of neighborhood is prohibited by zoning and fire safety laws, unless someone in authority had been previously notified of a large gathering.

One other event of note occurred in 2005. Daniel Mahru, Rezko’s partner in Rezmar for 16 years until the two men had, according to Mahru, “a difference of opinion,” resigned from Rezmar, Rezko’s slum landlord operation. Did Mahru leave because he knew any shady deals while Rezko was being investigated would lead to disaster?

There were lots of people involved in the purchase of the Obamas’ house, and they would all be owed some kind of consideration for their help and support. Obama’s favors from Rezko amount to $925,000, plus an additional $14,000 for the fence, bringing the total cash value to just one person to $939,000.

Will Rezko sit quietly in jail or will he bring Mayor Daley, Governor Blagojevich and Senator Obama down with him?

How will Obama repay the “favors” he owes all these people?

Curtain Time For Barack Obama - Part I

Republicans have enough damaging information against Barack Obama to knock him off the ballot before the November election. Those at the top of the Democratic Party know this by now and voters need to recognize that if they nominate him they are throwing the election. Nothing else can explain why they would allow this disaster to happen.
[...]
“General Mediterranean is owned by Nadhmi Auchi, who public source documents describe as a British-based Iraqi billionaire who was convicted several years ago in France on fraud charges. Auchi was sentenced to 15 months in prison and fined $2 million euros, but the sentence was suspended as long as Auchi committed no new crimes.

“Thereafter, in November 2005, after Auchi was unable to enter the United States, Rezko directly appealed to the State Department to permit Auchi to enter the United States and, it appears, asked certain Illinois government officials to do the same.”
[...]
Most important for connecting the dots in the Board Games investigation, is the clarification that it is not the Rezko case. The only reason it’s always referred to as the “Rezko” case is because he happens to be the first defendant to be brought to trial.

Also, the first trial is focused on the corruption of two Illinois boards, the panel that approves investments from the $40 billion pension fund of the Teachers Retirement System, and the Health Facilities Planning Board, which approves all medical facility construction projects in Illinois.

But the Operation Board Games cases involve corruption with officials and employees in many other state agencies and real estate deals are at the heart of most with Riverside Park front and center.
[...]
Operation Board Games must be viewed with a full understanding that Governor Rod Blagojevich was supposed to be the candidate running for president during this election cycle in order for the subplots involving Obama to become clear.

The Illinois political mob already had a major fundraising operation in place for Blagojevich by 2004, and its safe to assume that when Obama and Rezko first started setting up the real estate deal for the mansion and lot in December 2004, Obama never thought about any repercussions on his run for president.

This report will show that the same political mob raising money to make Blagojevich president in 2008, also funded Obama’s election to the US senate in 2004, …
[...]
When announcing Rezko’s indictment, the government made clear that Rezko “was added as a new defendant in a pending federal corruption case” that was brought against other co-schemers in 2005. The government’s star witness in the trial, Chicago businessman, Stuart Levine, pleaded guilty and testified to avoid a life sentence.

After jury selection began, the questionnaire for screening potential jurors included a list of more than 230 “possible witnesses or persons whose names might be mentioned,” and included Barack Obama.

Reporters, Bob Sector and Jeff Coen, provided outstanding coverage of the trial on a bog called, “Gavel-to-Gavel,” on the Tribune website. After nearly two months, on April 24, 2008, they wrote: “Maybe it would be simpler to ask for a show of hands from political heavyweights who haven’t been mentioned in the Antoin “Tony” Rezko corruption trial.”

Understanding what Tribune columnist, John Kass, has been referring to for years as the “Illinois Combine,” are also crucial to understanding the Board Game cases. In his March 28, 2008, column, Kass invited basically anyone to start using the term Combine, particularly “if they’re having difficulty explaining how two parties can be as one when there’s money on the table,” he said.
[...]
“In the final analysis,” the Senator said, “The Combine’s allegiance is not to a party, but to their pocketbooks.”

“They’re about making money off the taxpayers,” he added.

According to Kass, “the Rezko trial is part of the U.S. Justice Department’s attack on The Combine.”

“The “Operation Board Games” investigation is about how appointments to state boards and commissions overseeing state pension fund investments and hospital construction were leveraged into paydays for the insiders,” he explains.

“And what is playing out in the federal building is The Combine on trial,” he says.
[...]
“I am telling you that I have never been in a better position than I am right now,” Levine said. “Part of the reason is there’s never been such a tight control of the central apparatus.”

“This guy is making decisions and can get anything done that he wants done . . . and I have a superb relationship” with him.

During the trial, Assistant US Attorney, Chris Niewoehner, asked Levine what he meant by that. The “central apparatus,” Levine said, was Blagojevich’s office and the guy “making decisions” was Rezko. He told the jury he’d never seen anything like this.
[...]
When the indictment against the Syrian-born immigrant, Rezko, was unsealed in October 2006, Fitzgerald said, “The amounts of money that were being shaken down in one . . . eight-week span was in the millions.”
[...]
The “Illinois Combine,” now includes many members living in the Chicago area of Middle Eastern descent and the trail of corruption leads straight to the killing fields in Iraq.
[...]
Auchi was reportedly involved in the power plant contract. Batchelor says Iraqi officials in Baghdad speak bluntly of Auchi as a “Saddam guy,” and a member of the Baathist gang who has “beggared Iraq for 50 years.”
[...]
On February 25, 2005, a report by Charles Smith for NewsMax said, “Newly released documents from the Bush administration show that a former member of Saddam Hussein’s inner circle has resurfaced inside the new Iraqi government, bringing charges of corruption, bribery and bid-rigging.”… “Auchi,” the report stated, “is widely regarded as a corrupt supporter of Saddam Hussein’s regime who got his money from doing deals, especially illegal arms transfers for Saddam.”
[...]
The names of Obama and Blagojevich became tied to the bid rigging scandal when reports surfaced that Companion had sought their help in carrying out the contract a year after Alsammarae left office, and around the same time he was thrown in jail in Iraq.
[...]
Maloof is one of the donors used to funnel two $10,000 contributions to Obama through bank accounts from Rezko‘s pizza businesses from the pension fund kickback. An exhibit produced for the jury shows Maloof also made a $10,000 contribution to Blagojevich.
[...]
Almost without fail, the people identified in the Board Games cases as investors in Riverside Park contributed to Obama’s US senate campaign.
[...]
More from Scoops.co

Curtain Time for Barack Obama - Part II
[...]
In the media, Obama always made it sound like he rarely saw Rezko, saying they met for breakfast or lunch once or twice a year. However, the FBI mole John Thomas helped investigators “build a record of repeat visits to the old offices of Rezko and former business partner Daniel Mahru’s Rezmar Corp., at 853 N. Elston, by Blagojevich and Obama during 2004 and 2005,“ according to the February 10, 2008 Sun-Times.

During his March 14, 2008 interview, the Times told Obama, Thomas is an FBI mole and he “recently told us that he saw you coming and going from Rezko’s office a lot.”

“And three other sources told us that you and Rezko spoke on the phone daily.”

“Is that true?” the reporter asked.

“No,” Obama said, “That’s not accurate.”
[...]
This issue may be sorted out soon enough because Fitzgerald’s charts matching up Obama’s contributions, visits and calls are bound to be every bit as thorough as the ones produced to prove Rezko is guilty as charged in the first trial. They simply were not produced because they were not needed to prove the defendant guilty in the first case.

As an example of what records might be squirreled away, consider that an FBI agent presented a chart to the jury on April 28, 2008, showing 257 calls from Rezko’s phones to Blagojevich’s chief of staff, Lon Monk, between March 2004 and May 2004 alone.

He also had a list of all calls between Levine and Rezko from November 2002 to May 2004. Rezko’s attorney brought out a point that backs the assertion that just because records on Obama were not shown, does not mean they do not exist.
[...]
In addition, the contributions extorted through the Planning Board scheme were for the intended presidential candidate, Blagojevich. Obama’s US senate war chest was already funded and by the time these kickbacks were paid that campaign would be over.

But Obama did end up with $20,000 from the very first kickback paid in the pension fund scheme set up through the Board of the Teacher’s Retirement System.

Elie Maloof and Joseph Aramanda, the straw donors used to funnel the contributions to Obama, also made $1,000 contributions of their own for his failed run for Congress in 2000, on the same day March 17, 2000.

In addition, Aramanda gave $500 to Obama’s senate campaign on June 30, 2003. In the summer of 2005, Aramanda’s teenage son landed a coveted intern position in Obama’s senate office in Washington.

Obama also received contributions directly from the persons appointed to the pension board for the express purpose of rigging the votes. On June 30, 2003, appointee, Jack Carriglio contributed $1,000.

The other appointee, Anthony Abboud, donated $500 to Obama on June 30, 2003, $250 on March 5, 2004, and $1,000 on June 25, 2004.

Michael Winter, who prosecutors say agreed to serve as a funnel for kickbacks paid through an investment firm in one scheme donated $3,000 to Obama on June 30, 2003.
[...]
Obama’s senate finance committee during Planning Board scheme

In his interview with the Tribune on March 14, Obama said Rezko “was a part of our finance committee and was listed as part of our finance committee.”

In 2003 and 2004, his finance committee raised the money as the Planning Board scheme was set up and the scandal unraveled. Yet Obama told the Tribune in regard to Rezko, “at that time, there were no indications that he was involved in anything inappropriate.”

Apparently, Obama expects the public to believe that nobody on this committee bothered to tell him he received a single contribution of $10,000, and the money came from a person he just recommended for the Board.

Other members of the committee included Rezko’s wife Rita, and Valerie Jarrett, who got her jump start into a lucrative real estate career in the Combine’s Daley administration. She now serves as chairman of Obama’s presidential finance committee.
[...]
Wilhelm’s firm has received a subpoena for records related to pension fund investments.

If the Combine’s plot with the Bush administration to shut down Operation Board Games had worked, Obama would be home free. But it failed and the Republicans are just waiting to air the roadmap of dirt pieced together from Fitzgerald’s investigation if Obama is nominated. McCain is in the clear because there is no sign of his involvement anywhere.

More from Scoops.co

Curtain Time for Barack Obama - Part III

Three days after the Chicago Sun-Times reported that Aiham Alsammarae, the former electricity minister convicted of corruption in Iraq, put up $2.7 million in property to help raise $8.5 million to free Tony Rezko from jail in Chicago, the Times reported that Alsammarae had contributed six times to Obama’s presidential campaign.
[...]
As usual, when busted on the contributions given in January, February and March, the Obama camp said it would donate Alsammarae’s money to charity and his spokesman, Ben LaBolt, put out the standard line that Obama does not ever “recall” meeting Alsammarae.

The money missing due to Alsammarae’s corruption in Iraq during the two years he served as electricity minister between August 2003 and May 2005 is estimated to be $2 billion.
[...]
As noted previously in this series, understanding the connections between Auchi and Riverside Park and all the players is the key to understanding Operation Board Games. Financing deals in the Chicago real estate industry were the focus of the investigation from the start and the financing deals involving Riverside Park specifically.
[...]
Levine’s testimony and reports in the media always sounded like they were referring to one event at the Four Season‘s. But on April 14, 2008, Levine dropped a bombshell, when in response to questions for Rezko’s attorney, he testified that the dinner he attended in Auchi’s honor was held at Rezko’s home and Obama and his wife Michelle were there.
[...]
The line from Obama spokesman, Ben LaBolt, was again: “As he has said previously, Senator 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.”

“Senator and Mrs. Obama have no recollection of attending any such event,” he stated.

But on April 16, 2008, Sun-Times columnist, Michael Sneed, reported that Obama had even made toasts at Rezko’s party, and wrote:

“Dem presidential contender Barack Obama’s handlers may be telling the press Obama has NO “recollection” of a 2004 party at influence peddler Tony Rezko’s Wilmette house, but a top Sneed source claims Obama not only gave Rezko’s guest of honor, Iraqi billionaire Nadhmi Auchi, a big welcome . . . but he made a few toasts!”
[...]
“As I said, I have no recollection of the event. Alright?” Obama replied. When asked whether he would remember making a toast to Auchi, Obama stated:

“I’m fairly certain I would remember giving a specific toast to somebody. Keep in mind, though, that this was right in the midst of my U.S. Senate campaign, so I was doing three or four events a day.

 

“So, I mean, there were very few events where I wasn’t speaking on anything. But I have no recollection of this particular event.”

However, the Tribune has obtained a copy of an Obama “upcoming events” schedule on his old Senate campaign web site which shows Obama had no personal campaign activities on April 3, 2004, the day of the party.
[...]
Rezko also told the judge Rita Rezko had sold the lot next door to Obama but had not received a dime. … “So, she didn’t walk away with any cash?” the judge asked. “Not one dollar,” he stated.
[...]
“Through records from Northern Trust Bank,” prosecutors wrote, “the government has learned there was an approximately $3.5 million wire transfer in April 2007 of which a substantial portion immediately was directed to Rezko’s relatives.”

Northern Trust being the same entity holding the confidential Land Trust for Obama‘s mansion and 10-foot lot.
[...]
A few days later, prosecutors were no doubt outraged to learn that Auchi had apparently become legal defense fund for Board Game defendants who keep the secrets. On February 7, 2008, Mike Robinson reported another: “Indicted Blagojevich fundraiser got loan from Iraqi billionaire,” in the Associated Press.

Christopher Kelly “has arranged to get a loan from the same Iraqi billionaire whose $3.5 million payment got another member of the governor’s inner circle thrown in jail,” he wrote. Kelly received the loan five days before Rezko‘s bail was revoked, and he pledged all of his shares in a Nevada land partnership as collateral, Robinson found.
[...]
Carriatore says he met Auchi at an “Obama fundraising party” Rezko gave at his home several years ago. “He was well dressed,” he told the Press. “He seemed distinguished.”