The Politico’s Kenneth P. Vogel reports:
Imprisoned Chicago businessman Antoin “Tony†Rezko has accused federal prosecutors of improperly pressuring him to implicate Barack Obama in a corruption case.
In a letter to the U.S. District judge who presided over his trial, Rezko, who was convicted this month of 16 corruption-related counts including fraud and money laundering, called prosecutors “overzealous.†And he singled out what he said were their efforts to get him to turn on Obama, an Illinois Senator and the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, and Illinois Gov. Rod Bagojevich.
Rezko is imprisoned because he voluntarily turned himself in after being convicted of 16 of 24 counts of fraud and money laundering. If Rezko ever implicated Obama in any wrongdoing, I suspect the word “fraud” would be used quite a bit.
The letter, apparently written during the two-month trial, was actually a plea to allow Rezko to see his family.
But its allegations about pressure to implicate Obama will surely give ammunition to partisans on both sides.
For Democrats, Rezko’s claim dovetails with allegations that the Department of Justice targeted high-profile Democrats.
For Republicans, it will be used to suggest Obama’s relationship with Rezko drew warranted federal scrutiny.
Patrick Fitzgerald’s crew has already convicted former IL Gov. George Ryan (R) and 72 others on corruption charges. There was also the small matter involving Vice President Dick Cheney’s Chief of Staff, Lewis “Scooter” Libby. So the charge of partisanship does not seem all that credible.
Not that the supposed GOP spin is any better – Rezko’s lawyer, Joe Duffy, told the Chicago Tribune that he did not know of any investigation into Obama’s dealings with Rezko.
(h/t Memeorandum.)
Tony is awaiting – nay, rather planning for – the Magic Pen of Pardon, methinks.
O!’s half brother calls him a muslim:
Malik Obama says his brother will be good president for the Jews
By JPOST.COM STAFF
Barack Obama’s half brother Malik said Thursday that if elected his brother will be a good president for the Jewish people, despite his Muslim background.
In an interview with Army Radio he expressed a special salutation from the Obamas of Kenya.
JPost Link
Tony can Hope for a pardon all he wants; if O! wins, I’ll bet that he’s not the Tony O! knew.
I hope Tony isn’t holding his breath for a pardon — there have been so many folks thrown under the bus, I’m amazed they still touch the ground.
Given the sweetheart deals that connect Obama to Rezko, a pro-forma investigation was inevitable.
Illinois, particularly Chicago, has a long history of corruption and machine politics. That a Chicago pol’s name was dropped in the investigation of his patron should be of no surprise to anyone.
[…] Protein Wisdom – Rezko claims Feds pushed for dirt on Obama [Karl] […]
This is all a distraction. I does not do anything to help Michelle’s kids. Embrace your savior; you know who he is.
Unfortunately (or fortunately, if you’re a Federal criminal or civil defendant,) the scuttlebutt and drama surrounding the firing of the United States Attorneys allows for this to be either credible or possible. Not that it wasn’t before or won’t be in the future, but right now it’s the kind of thing that can be in the back of the minds of anyone involved in a Federal case.
– So let me see if I have this right. The latest excuse floated by the Lefturds is that its “pressuring” whenever any criminal investigation agency questions a defendant about his associations?
– So the new standard we’ve gradually developed is no one on the Left can be questioned for any reason because that would be prejudicial to the defendent. “The Progressives changiness great big bullshit ploy.”
I’m going to actually enjoy the de-saintifying of Patrick Fitzgerald as a Hillary hatchet-man and with McCellen’s testimony, an imcompentant or a Cheney cover-up artist. Should be pretty funny. Black is white, up is down. All the lefts heros – Larry Johnson and Joe Wilson – aren’t what they used to be.
BBH
he standard is the left don’t have standards. It’s pressuring and a witch hunt when a democrat is even mentioned or asked about their corruption- it’s mandatory that ropes be hauled out on even trumped up crap.
See Harry Reid and Dem Abramoff money WAPO comment tantrum.
jon – Was that the end game plan for all of the mendacity the Dems displayed about the US attorneys? It was all a big game to discredit federal prosecutors in general?
jon,
And Tony forgot to tell his own attorney about it. M’kay.
the scuttlebutt and drama surrounding the firing of the United States Attorneys
jon- do you think President Barack Obama will fire any of the current US attorneys? Do you think he’ll hire back any of the attorneys that were pushed out, that the left has been pushing for so hard for the last 2 years?
What do you think: Attorney General David Iglesias
Eh, probably did. Rezko probably has dirt on Senator Obama too, I’d be pretty disappointed if they hadn’t tried to find out who else was involved, particularly a powerful public figure.
jon: “the scuttlebutt and drama surrounding the firing of the United States Attorneys allows for this to be either credible or possible.”
Complete red herring, insofar as the administration didn’t need a reason to fire the attorneys — they serve, unless I misremember, at the pleasure of the President.
As for Obama and Rezko… Obama went from nowhere to state senator to US Senator. Most, if not all of it, had to be with the blessing of the Chicago political machinery.
Does that make him illegitimate? Nope.
Does that mean that he *might* have more than a few skeletons in his closet? Maaaaaaybe.
Throw in the instances of “poor judgement” Obama has excercised where dealings with Rezko are concerned and some level of inquiry was inevitable, just as Abramoff was likely asked about every pol he dealt with over the years in his investigation and trial.
how original and convenient.
Nobody ever come up with that thought before.
“They pressed me to get materials on some other guys”……..
sashal: “how original and convenient.
Nobody ever come up with that thought before.
“They pressed me to get materials on some other guysâ€Â……..”
He’s gotta say something, whether they did or not, whether he said anything or not. The downside of dealing with messianic rhetoric is that it’s *really* bad to get cast in the “Judas” role.
Karl, for the love of Gop, pick some better source material. You’re nothing but a drugrunner at this point.
All I’m saying is that those attorneys that were let go, whether they serve at the President’s discretion or not, were ones who were either politically inconvenient to the President’s side or not politically inconvenient enough to Democratic-Party-related defendants/figures of interest. And then after questions were raised, the excuse was poor performance. And when questioned about that, seeing that they were considered good on the whole, the whole “never mind, they serve at the President’s discretion” thing popped up. Nice dodge, but too late.
Federal prosecutors were shown to have to be politically useful or they’d get fired. That shows many that all Federal cases are tainted by politics. That puts immediate doubt on all high-profile cases, which puts prosecutors at an earned disadvantage in my book. I’m not likely to ever serve on a Federal jury, but I must ask: if they get to put their politics in, why can’t I? Now do you see the problem?
And I see instances of rich people getting sweet and sweetened and artificially sweetened deals all the time. And most of them are tied to politicians, other landowners, bankers, restaurant owners, car dealers, golf course owners, homebuilders, shady connected individuals, and all sorts of government employees working in planning and zoning bureaus. Big real estate is all about connections, greed, zoning, and all sorts of crap that involves deals-within-deals that make many attentive people put those involved into “corrupt” and “not-yet-proven corrupt” categories. If Rezko is awful, and I think he sure sounds like a sleazy character, then look up Legendary Land Speculator Don Diamond some time. If Obama is too close to Rezko, then voters really need to know about McCain’s good buddy Don.
That is complete and utter horseshite, jon. You assert as fact that which you want to believe.
And they were over-zealous! They prosecuted him and he got convicted!
The dastards!
jon: “All I’m saying is that those attorneys that were let go, whether they serve at the President’s discretion or not, were ones who were either politically inconvenient to the President’s side or not politically inconvenient enough to Democratic-Party-related defendants/figures of interest. And then after questions were raised, the excuse was poor performance. And when questioned about that, seeing that they were considered good on the whole, the whole “never mind, they serve at the President’s discretion†thing popped up. Nice dodge, but too late.”
Still doesn’t change the fact y’all are trying to froth up a PR blunder into something more.
jon: “Federal prosecutors were shown to have to be politically useful or they’d get fired. That shows many that all Federal cases are tainted by politics.”
Uh-huh… and the fact that the same silliness happens when the other side has power is just coincidence? Try to claim the moral high-ground all you want — all that glorious back-lighting does is highlight hypocrisies and make you a better target.