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Reason #44
Obama and Rezko – A “Distraction?”
Tony Rezko, now serving time on fraud, money laundering and Attempted Bribery charges,[i] was considered a friend of Obama for 17 years. Rezko, his partner Daniel Mahru, their wives and businesses contributed more than $50,000 to Obama’s campaigns over the years and Rezko was responsible for bundling millions more, including $14 million in contributions raised by Obama’s U.S. Senate Campaign Finance Committee – a Committee to which Rezko had been appointed by Obama.[ii]
Rezko was also considered a good friend of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich and was, according to author Elizabeth Brackett, “the key figure in the wide-ranging corruption that shattered the governor’s office.”[iii]
Although Obama knew Rezko was under criminal investigation at the time, he made sure Rezko was present when he toured his South side Chicago home for the first time, as a prospective buyer. A few weeks earlier, Rezko had allegedly received a $3.5 million dollar loan from Nadhmi Auchi, a British-Iraqi billionaire convicted in a 2003 corruption case in France. [iv]
The property included a Georgian style home and an adjacent fenced lot that could not be accessed individually from the street. Although the owner was apparently selling both the home and lot, Mr. Obama successfully negotiated a $300,000 reduction in the price of the home – from $1.95 million to $1.65 million – without purchasing the lot.
On that same day, Mrs. Rita Rezko – Tony Rezko’s wife – made a coincidental full price offer on the adjacent lot, paying $625,000. Repeating – this lot could not be accessed individually from the street. In January, 2006, the Obama’s purchased a ten foot section of the lot from Mrs. Rezko, for $104,500,[v]although an appraisal reflected the real value to be only $40,500.[vi]
Obama had first been offered a job by Rezmar – Tony Rezko’s corporation – after his selection as President of the Harvard Law Review. He refused the offer, but later went to work for the Chicago law firm Davis, Miner Barnhill & Galland – the firm representing Rezmar – the firm that helped Rezmar obtain $43 million in government funding to rehab 15 of its 30 low income apartment buildings.[vii] The first time Obama was asked about Rezko, he claimed they had just met. Actually, they had known each other for 17 years.[viii] This, as Obama likes to say, could represent a “Teachable Moment” – for American voters.
While working for Davis Miner Barnhill & Galland, Obama performed an unknown amount of legal work on Rezmar deals. When questioned about the amount of Obama’s Rezmar work by the Sun-Times, Mr. Miner – a partner in the law firm said “We’ll put together a list of the cases he worked on involving Rezko/Rezmar in the next day or two.”[ix] That statement was reportedly made on March 13, 2007. According to the Sun-Time’s Tim Novak, the information had not been received as of April 23, 2007. Obama’s state senate campaign staff, on the other hand, says he worked only about five hours on such cases over a six year period. But, rehab deals on half of Rezmar’s low income apartment buildings were made while Obama was with the firm. [x] Recall Hillary Clinton’s accusation during one of the debates of the 2008 Democratic Primary, that Obama had handled the legal work for a “Slumlord.”
In February, 1997 Rezmar got away with a $100 fine, after tenants in one building suffered without heat for five weeks beginning in December, 1996. On January 14, 1997, During a time when Rezko and his partner reportedly couldn’t come up with the money to turn on the building’s heat, Obama received a campaign contribution of $1,000 from Rezmar. [xi]
Eleven of Rezmar’s 30 buildings turned out to be in Obama’s State Senate District.[xii]
(Excerpt from 203 Reasons Not to Vote for Barack Obama)
[iii] Elizabeth Brackett, Pay to Play: How Rod Blagojevich Turned Political Corruption into a National Sideshow, (Chicago, 2009, Ivan R. Dee), 91
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