PrairiePundit

The Belmont Club looks at new revelations about the Iraqi who was loaning Rezko money at a time when Rezko was facilitating Obama's home purchase.

Chicago Sun-Times: Convicted political fixer Tony Rezko had a hard time following rules -- even simple ones, like when a federal judge told him: Stay home. Twice, Rezko violated the home-confinement terms of his bail, formerly sealed court files show, by making "social calls" -- including last September to the home of former top Cook County official Orlando Jones after Jones committed suicide. "FBI agents responding to information regarding the suicide of Rezko's associate Orlando Jones were surprised to find Rezko at the Jones home after Jones' suicide. This was not Rezko's only social call," federal prosecutors wrote on Feb. 25, 2008. " . . . it is a further indication that Rezko did not respect the strictures of home confinement. ... • • Prosecutors put a value on Rezko's schemes. "The government believes that Rezko's schemes cheated victims out of over $10 million," assistant U.S. attorney Reid Schar wrote in one fi...

The Swamp , Chicago Tribune: Late last week, Sen. Barack Obama said he didn't recall meeting a controversial Iraqi-born billionaire at a party held at the home of his former friend and fundraiser, Antoin "Tony" Rezko, on April 3, 2004, because it was in the midst of his campaign for the U.S. Senate seat from Illinois. Obama didn't deny the assertion of Stuart Levine, a key witness in Rezko's federal fraud trial, that the now-Democratic presidential contender attended the party held on behalf of Nadhmi Auchi, a British citizen appealing a fraud conviction in France. Rezko was allegedly trying to partner up with Auchi and may have been using an Obama appearance to demonstrate clout. "I just don't have a recollection of the event," Obama said Friday. "As I said, I was in the middle of running a U.S. Senate race. So, you know, I was speaking all the time, probably six, seven, eight times a day." Obama may not recall Rezko's party fo...

Chicago Tribune: ... Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama's name came up again at the Antoin "Tony" Rezko corruption trial and in a way that earlier filings in the case did not telegraph. Stuart Levine, the prosecution's star witness, said he and Obama were at a party Rezko threw at his Wilmette mansion on April 3, 2004, for Nadhmi Auchi, a controversial Iraqi-born billionaire who Rezko was trying to get to invest in a South Loop real-estate development. Auchi, now a citizen of the United Kingdom, has faced criminal charges in Europe. He also figured in the revocation of Rezko's bond early this year after attempting to wire him more than $3 million. Upon learning of that attempt, U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve declared Rezko a flight risk and ordered him held in a federal jail in the Loop. The Rezko party in 2004 was designed to induce Auchi to pour money into the South Loop investment. Obama's presence at the party was not previously known. At the ...