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One of the persistent questions that political observers have wrestled with about Tony Rezko is when (and if) he will roll on Governor Blagojevich and others now that he has been convicted. Will he cut a deal to get a shorter prison sentence, or will he do his time and hope that his friends will reward his loyalty when he gets out?
Rezko answered that question in part in a letter he sent to Judge Amy St. Eve earlier this year. In the letter, publicized last week, Rezko told St. Eve "prosecutors have been overzealous in pursuing a crime that never happened.... They are pressuring me to tell them the wrong things that I supposedly know about Gov. Blagojevich and Senator Barack Obama." But Rezko's lawyer Joseph Duffy says that he was never interviewed by prosecutors and was never pressured — directly or indirectly — to talk about Blagojevich, Obama or anyone else.
Former prosecutor Zachary Fardon told the Sun-Times that convicted former governor George Ryan's chief of staff Scott Fawell sent a similar letter during his trial. Fawell was the government's star witness in Ryan's trial. Fardon noted that while Rezko could be "effectively [cross examined] on this letter," it wouldn't necessarily exclude him as a witness.
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that's what i was thinking, xlprg.
Someone should ask if Rezko was ever given any kind of list of facts and asked to support or verify them. Obama's involvement is clearly shown in the boards legislation, in this excerpt by Evelyn Pringle:
"That part of the scheme will likely be detailed in future indictments, probably starting with Blagojevich. Blagojevich signed the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Act with an effective date of June 27, 2003. However, before he could sign the act, a bill had to be passed by the Illinois House and Senate. As discussed fully in Curtain Time Part II, Obama was the inside guy in the senate who pushed through the legislation that resulted in the Act.
Obama was appointed chairman of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee. The minute the bill was introduced, it was referred to his committee for review. The sponsors of the bill also served on this committee with Obama. Within a month, Chairman Obama sent word to the full senate that the legislation should be passed.
On May 31, 2003, Senate Bill 1332 passed and specified that the “Board shall be appointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate." The legislation reduced the number of members from 15 to 9, paving the way for the appointment of a five-bloc majority to rig the votes.
The corrupt members appointed included three doctors who contributed to Obama. Michel Malek gave Obama $10,000 on June 30, 2003 and donated $25,000 to Blagojevich on July 25, 2003. Malek also gave Obama another $500 in September 2003.
Fortunee Massuda donated $25,000 to Blagojevich on July 25, 2003, and gave a total of $2,000 to Obama on different dates. After he was appointed, Dr Imad Almanaseer contributed a total of $3,000 to Obama. Almanaseer did not give money to Blagojevich.
When the first pay-to-play scheme was put in play, and the application for approval of a new hospital was submitted, the Department of Human Services, along with four other Illinois agencies, sent recommendations that the project should be approved even though experts said the hospital was not needed.
During the trial, Rezko’s attorney presented an email exchange to the jury that hinted at Obama's role in setting up the scheme. The exchange showed that Obama and seven other top Illinois politicians consulted on the legislation passed in 2003 and were involved in recommending the members for the board.
Matthew Pickering wrote the memo to Blagojevich’s general counsel, Susan Lichtenstein, on behalf of David Wilhelm, a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, who headed Blagojevich's 2002 campaign for governor.
Pickering said he and Wilhelm had “worked closely” over six months with state legislators. The memo recommended the appointees listed above and stated, “our attached recommendations reflect that involvement” with the political leaders.
The persons appointed to rig the votes, including those who contributed to Blagojevich and Obama, are cooperating in exchange for immunity or lighter prison sentences."
And this is only ONE of many criminal activities of Obama. Let's see his "Smear" site deal with this one. Of course, they never will.
In any event, I expect Obama to be indicted sooner rather than later, and his indictment to have more counts in it than Rezko's (24).