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June 05, 2008
Jury Finds Tony Rezko Guilty On 16 Of 24 Charges
Obama's statement, you are going to love this omg LOL
B.Hussein O.'s statement on Tony Rezko being convicted:
"I’m saddened by today’s verdict. This isn’t the Tony Rezko I knew, but now he has been convicted by a jury on multiple charges that once again shine a spotlight on the need for reform. I encourage the General Assembly to take whatever steps are necessary to prevent these kinds of abuses in the future."
Jury Finds Tony Rezko Guilty On 16 Of 24 Charges
Political Fundraiser Has Surrendered, To Begin Serving Time Immediately
CBS ...for complete article
A prominent fundraiser for Sen. Barack Obama and Gov. Rod Blagojevich was convicted Wednesday of fraud and money laundering after a high-profile federal trial provided an unusually detailed glimpse of the pay-to-play politics that has made Illinois infamous.
Antoin "Tony" Rezko, 52, showed no emotion as the jury delivered a mixed verdict that found him guilty of scheming with the government's star witness to get kickbacks out of money management firms wanting state business, but acquitted him of charges that included attempted extortion.
Rezko attorney Joseph Duffy said the defense is "obviously very disappointed" in the jury's guilty verdicts. He said Wednesday afternoon they will pursue and appeal.
Duffy says Rezko strongly believes he is innocent.
Duffy says it was Rezko's decision to surrender and begin serving his sentence. Sentencing is set for September 3rd at 10 a.m.
The jury's mixed verdict acquitted Rezko of some of the most serious charges, including attempted extortion. Rezko was found guilty of 16 of 24 counts.
He was found guilty on the two more serious counts, on money laundering and aiding and abetting money laundering, counts 23 and 24.
The jury obviously took issue with some of the charges, resulting in the eight acquittals. They wrestled over matters in a 13-day deliberation process, delivering its verdict after a nine-week trial.
But DuPage County State's Attorney Joe Birkett, who ran against Blagojevich in the 2006 race for governor:
"The conviction of Tony Rezko represents a deep stain on the Democratic Party in Illinois. Democrats from top to bottom, including Barack Obama, stood idly by — and in some instances directly benefited — while the massive Blagojevich corruption scheme flourished. They rode into office promising to clean up after the George Ryan scandals and they have taken corruption in Illinois to a new low. They ought to be held accountable at the polls starting this November."
This is another write up on it with added information
Chicago Tribune
8 Things about Obama and Rezko Chicago Sun Times
Having a hard time keeping track of the facts? Here are eight things to know:
1. They met in 1990. Obama was a student at Harvard Law School and got an unsolicited job offer from Rezko, then a low-income housing developer in Chicago. Obama turned it down.
2. Obama took a job in 1993 with a small Chicago law firm, Davis Miner Barnhill, that represents developers -- primarily not-for-profit groups -- building low-income housing with government funds.
3. One of the firm's not-for-profit clients -- the Woodlawn Preservation and Investment Corp., co-founded by Obama's then-boss Allison Davis -- was partners with Rezko's company in a 1995 deal to convert an abandoned nursing home at 61st and Drexel into low-income apartments. Altogether, Obama spent 32 hours on the project, according to the firm. Only five hours of that came after Rezko and WPIC became partners, the firm says. The rest of the future senator's time was helping WPIC strike the deal with Rezko. Rezko's company, Rezmar Corp., also partnered with the firm's clients in four later deals -- none of which involved Obama, according to the firm. In each deal, Rezmar "made the decisions for the joint venture," says William Miceli, an attorney with the firm.
4. In 1995, Obama began campaigning for a seat in the Illinois Senate. Among his earliest supporters: Rezko. Two Rezko companies donated a total of $2,000. Obama was elected in 1996 -- representing a district that included 11 of Rezko's 30 low-income housing projects.
5. Rezko's low-income housing empire began crumbling in 2001, when his company stopped making mortgage payments on the old nursing home that had been converted into apartments. The state foreclosed on the building -- which was in Obama's Illinois Senate district.
6. In 2003, Obama announced he was running for the U.S. Senate, and Rezko -- a member of his campaign finance committee -- held a lavish fund-raiser June 27, 2003, at his Wilmette mansion.
7. A few months after Obama became a U.S. senator, he and Rezko's wife, Rita, bought adjacent pieces of property from a doctor in Chicago's Kenwood neighborhood -- a deal that has dogged Obama the last two years. The doctor sold the mansion to Obama for $1.65 million -- $300,000 below the asking price. Rezko's wife paid full price -- $625,000 -- for the adjacent vacant lot. The deals closed in June 2005. Six months later, Obama paid Rezko's wife $104,500 for a strip of her land, so he could have a bigger yard. At the time, it had been widely reported that Tony Rezko was under federal investigation. Questioned later about the timing of the Rezko deal, Obama called it "boneheaded" because people might think the Rezkos had done him a favor.
8. Eight months later -- in October 2006 -- Rezko was indicted on charges he solicited kickbacks from companies seeking state pension business under his friend Gov. Blagojevich. Federal prosecutors maintain that $10,000 from the alleged kickback scheme was donated to Obama's run for the U.S. Senate. Obama has given the money to charity.
Wild Thing's comment........
Apparently obama had absolutely no idea what was going on around him for decades. Rezko, Wright, Pfleger...all of them somehow are not the people he once knew. LMAO
He said the same thing about each one of them..."This isn't the FILL IN THE BLANK I knew."
After Manhatten goes up in a nuke fireball he will say ...” That was the Amadmanjihad that I knew.... um.. um...um
Liberal mental disease at its finest... I guess it only matters if they say it does... we are in for a dosey come November.
I just found out the REAL reason Rezko and Wright aren’t the people Obama knew. heh heh
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Posted by Wild Thing at June 5, 2008 03:55 AM
Comments
"... This isn't the Rezko I knew...nor the Wright... nor the Pfleger... nor the Farrakhan...
nor the ?" Granddad used to say "Show me the people you socialize with tells me about your CHARACTER son!" If a conservative or GOP candidate had a slumlord sell him a mansion cheaply, or a pastor of hate or a priest of racism...the candidate would be toast!
Posted by: darthcrUSAderworldtour07 at June 5, 2008 04:20 AM
How many mothers have told tv cameras that her boy, now going to jail for some odd reason is a "good boy" and "that's not the son I raised"? I hear that over and over again. Al Capone's mother thought he was a good boy because he was good to her. She didn't see the evil she had raised.
Time to stop making excuses and take the consequences. Obamanation was in bed with Rezko, just like Hitlery was during the White Water scandal. Why should we elect criminals who will rob us of our entire worth? What do my children and grandchildren have to look forward to? It's up to me to make sure their futures are secure and safe and electing criminals is not going to help. I told my children that, if anything, at least they learned something from this election. Always read up on the candidates and don't go blindly into the night.
What a mess!
Posted by: Lynn at June 5, 2008 08:22 AM
"I encourage the General Assembly to take whatever steps are necessary to prevent these kinds of abuses in the future." This is what your neighbors have put in place, another Carter.
Doe's that idiot think that he'll be in charge of the United Nations, not the United States? Sheesh!!!!
Posted by: Jack at June 5, 2008 10:45 AM
I love the music from these old Sci-Fi flicks of the 50's and 60's. Some of this scary and dramatic music would make great background for Obama's, the Body Snatcher, public appearances.
Posted by: TomR at June 5, 2008 11:43 AM
Obama is a post-modern clown. You don't come to this kind of equivocation and unrealty about "knowledge" without years and years of practice in evasion. It's the main reason why we all hate politicians, and the main reason why, if there's a Hell, they're all going there.
In the circles Obama moves in, reality is perspective, perception and context; nothing is true and certain or knowable. It's the deterioration of the liberal mind. When Obama says he didn't know this about Rezko, what he's saying is that it didn't matter to him, and only matters now because it matters to his career.
Posted by: Rhod at June 5, 2008 05:57 PM
Obama has a terrible character flaw, He can not judge character, and all of the snakes from his past, he never knew them. All of these dirtbags hid their Real-selves so well that only now Obama has realized who they are. Obama has now disowned them, or until after January 20.
Now, either he is stupid and naive or just a 'down right mean and nasty' liar. He is not stupid and not naive.
Posted by: Mark at June 5, 2008 06:06 PM
Darth, that's for sure, and the news would be presented over and over and how it was the fault or connection to the conservative.
This on TV anyway was almost an afterthought in how they presented the news.
Posted by: Wild Thing at June 5, 2008 06:52 PM
Lynn, well said...."Always read up on the candidates and don't go blindly into the night."....and far too many people can't be bothered and that is part of the problem in getting so many that are not any good.
Posted by: Wild Thing at June 5, 2008 06:56 PM
Jack, the way Obama is talking now about "HIS party", by the time Nov. gets here he will be saying he is in chagre of the entire world.
Posted by: Wild Thing at June 5, 2008 06:58 PM
Tom, LMAO that is such a great idea.
Posted by: Wild Thing at June 5, 2008 07:03 PM
Rhod there has to be a Hell, there just has to be. I sure hope so, we have to have a place to store all the bad guys like these politicians.
Your right about Obama he knew this stuff, yes sir re sir he did, like you said it didn't matter to him.
Posted by: Wild Thing at June 5, 2008 07:06 PM
Mark, "or until after January 20"......now see that I never ever thought of and your right. I bet these people all get invited to the WH after January.
Maybe even when Obama is sworn in, he might even say, he and Wright kissed and made up and he wants Wright to do the prayer for his ceremoney.
Wow that would make more history then Obama being the first black President we keep getting drummed into our brains on the TV news.
Posted by: Wild Thing at June 5, 2008 07:09 PM
Listening to Barack Obama's repeated excuse on his obvious questionable relationships brings to mind Hillary Clinton's rebuke of General Petraeus when she said that his progress report required "a willing suspension of disbelief."
On the lighter side, does the United States want to be represented in the world by a President wearing a German WWII helmet doing a Hogan's Heroes' Sgt. Schultz imitation all of the time saying, "I know nothing, I see nothing, and I say nothing!"?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztgYhVFSDSQ
Maybe someone (Chrissie?) creative can come up with a Photoshop side by side picture of Sgt. Schultz with a caption, "I know nothing, I see nothing, and I say nothing!" , and the same picture and caption with Barack Obama's face and added to the caption, "This isn’t the (fill in name) I knew".
Posted by: Les at June 5, 2008 07:29 PM
Les, LMAO oh wow that would make a good graphic. Thanks Les.This is great!
Posted by: Wild Thing at June 5, 2008 07:43 PM
PS: Since WHEN do godless liberals realize what CHARACTER is? Same for MORALS and VALUES and GOD,
SACRIFICE and COUNTRY? A blessed D-Day reflection one and all...
Posted by: darthcrUSAderworldtour07 at June 6, 2008 03:15 AM
Darth, thank you and a special D-Day to you too.
Posted by: Wild Thing at June 6, 2008 04:44 AM
