Sun-Times Exclusive: Obama surfaces in Rekzo's federal corruption case

[babsbunny]

http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/obama/749138,obama20web.article

Source confirmed Obama is the unnamed "political candidate" referred to in document which outlines case against Rezko

January 20, 2008
BY DAVE MCKINNEY, NATASHA KORECKI, CHRIS FUSCO AND TIM NOVAK Staff Reporters
For the first time, Democratic White House hopeful Barack Obama has surfaced in the federal corrupton case against his longtime campaign fund-raiser, Tony Rezko, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.

The Illinois senator isn’t accused of any wrongdoing. And there’s no evidence Obama knew contributions to his 2004 U.S. Senate campaign came from schemes Rezko is accused of orchestrating.

[matcom]

1. posted yesterday

thank you for playing

[Gman]

2. In all fairness

Obama had no idea what this guy was doing.

[sunonmars]

4. How would you know, Obama's known him for 20 years

and all the people associated with him in the indictment.

[Barack_America]

9. You've known your parents all your life, so I ask you...

-Who are they invested with?
-Do they owe anyone money or vice versa?
-Which charities did they donate to last year?

I mean, you've known them as long as Obama has known Rezko (unless you're very young), and much more intimately too. So you should know all the answers to these questions, right?

[sunonmars]

10. are you politically dumb

you don't get anywhere in Chicago politics without knowing the right people. There has been swirls of rumours about this guy for years.

If he didnt know, he's more incompetent as i thought.

[The Backlash Cometh]

15. I live in a good ole boy community. You either accept the way they

do business, and the chaos they leave behind in the aftermath from their lopsided deal making; or you recognize it for what it is -- crookedness, cronyism and breaches of fiduciary responsiblity -- and you at a minimum, distance yourself from it.

The parent analogy is kind of weird. We have better laws on the books and agencies to curtail parental abuse, than we do political abuse.

[MNDemNY]

11. That's a stretch.

But if BHO said so.....

[Andy823]

17. Yeah

That's what they all say. Remember Duke Cunnigham, Jack Abramoff, Scooter Libby, and all the other republicans caught up in those scandals? They made the same claims!

[sunonmars]

3. that thing is being picked up everywhere now

There's articles all over the joint about it now. It may turn into a bit of a shit storm.

I find it significant that Obama went back to Chicago yesterday and is not commenting and another 40K donated to charity.

[madrchsod]

6. i`m afraid it`s over for obama

another special election in illinois

[madrchsod]

5. i knew someone would post this today...

we have to keep this story alive...

[sunonmars]

8. Notice its his campaign touting responses

why is HE not answering the question?

He's gone into hiding.

[ProSense]

7. Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential campaign responds to questions about the Rezko court filing.

From the link in the OP:

Sen. Obama Presidential Campaign Q&A

A Chicago Sun-Times Exclusive: Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential campaign gave the following written responses to these questions about the Rezko court filing.

Q. What is Sen. Obama’s reaction to being referred to in the Rezko evidentiary proffer?

A. We have no way of knowing he is the politician named here but we returned this money months ago for other reasons.

Q. Was Sen. Obama aware that Rezko allegedly had directed at least one person to donate to the senator’s campaign and later reimbursed that person, possibly violating federal election law?

A. No.

Q. Has the Federal Election Commission or the U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago contacted the senator or any of his representatives about these matters?

A. No.

Q. Why has the senator donated to charity campaign contributions from Rezko and Rezko-linked people?

A. In keeping with our practice of donating to charity donations from people who have been called into question through the legal process, when he was named in documents as potentially engaging in wrongdoing we thought it was appropriate to return his donation to charity.

Q. Does the senator think this development will have any impact on the presidential campaign or undercut the senator’s message that he is an agent of change?

A. No. In fact, Sen. Obama has been a champion of reforms that have made campaign finance laws more transparent so that the public can more closely follow the source of contributions to campaigns. As with any campaign, occasionally individual contributions are called into question. Sen. Obama’s policy in such instances is to donate that money to charity which is what he did in this case seven months ago when questions first surfaced.

link

[MNDemNY]

12. Why is BHO not answering himself?

[MH1]

13. That's nothing. You should read this

http://tinyurl.com/2ru8gx

and think about the comparative implications.

Not to mention the juicy stuff that is being sat on until the nominee is selected.

[Tom Rinaldo]

14. ALWAYS innocent unless proven Guilty, but ESPECIALLY when no charges have even been made

I will assume Obama is guilty of no wrong doing, certainly nothing more than the types of prior fund raiser snafus that folks like Al Gore and Hillary Clinton have had to deal with in the past also. The need for money to scramble for money to remain viable in politics is obscene and it forces all candidates to associate with people who have access to money simply because they have access to money.

I will say this though. I am glad this turned out not to be a short primary season. I think it has been useful to see Hillary Clinton forced out of a front runners buttoned down defensive campaign posture, and I think we do need to have a hint about what type dirt may be waiting to get thrown at Obama and how well he handles those types of attacks.

[MNDemNY]

16. That house and lot deal stink the high heaven.

Looks like a half million dollar bribe. Stinky-poo.