Obama's "sweetheart" mortgage: Was the competing lender Broadway Bank?

I've had two days (with a 12 1/2 hour workday in between) to ponder Major Garrett's Fox News' Bourbon Room blog post. It leaves a lot of questions unanswered.

Two days ago the Washington Post published an article stating that the Obamas received a discount on their mortgage when they purchased their Kenwood mansion in 2005. Obama told the Chicago Tribune that financially it was "a stretch" to buy the stately home, so in stepped Barack Obama's pal of more than a decade, since-convicted political fixer Antoin "Tony" Rezko, through his wife Rita, to purchase the garden lot on the south end of the property. A few months later, the Obamas purchased a 10 foot strip of the "Rezko lot." It remains my belief--although Barack Obama denies it--that as his book royalties rolled in, the Obamas would slowly re-unite the two parcels.

Unfortunately for the Obamas and the Rezkos, Cook County property transactions, including my own, can be easily looked up by curious citizens--these are public records. The Chicago Tribune was curious, and it exposed the Obama-Rita Rezko deals in late 2006.

From Garrett's blog:

On The Washington Post story "Obama Got Discount Home Loan," the campaign, through spokesman Ben LaBolt, tells The Bourbon Room that Barack Obama received a loan that "anyone with the Obamas’ financial profile could have gotten the same rate on that mortgage."

LaBolt says the Obama family was flush with cash at the time they were loan shopping and that the bank in question, Northern Trust, sought their business by offering a lower mortgage rate and to respond to a competitive mortgage rate offered by another lender. LaBolt would not identify the lender "at this time." (Emphasis mine.)

"There was a competitive offer from another bank and the Obamas had a substantial amount of cash to deposit in the bank," LaBolt said. "Northern Trust made the loan for commercial reasons."

The Obama family secured a $1.32 million loan from Northern Trust for a $1.65 million home in Chicago. The interest rate was 5.625 percent on a 30-year, fixed-rate loan. The Post says the rate "below the average for such loans at the time in Chicago."

Why won't the campaign reveal who the second lender was? Was it another big bank? Or a smaller, well-connected one?

In early 2006, although he said he didn't want to be "the kingmaker," Obama took the unusual step of endorsing little-known 29 year-old banker Alexi Giannoulias in his primary fight over Paul Mangieri, who was endorsed by the state party. Obama's endorsement, along with his appearance in a Giannoulias television commercial, put the poltical novice over the top. However, it was later revealed that Alexi, an officer at his family-owned Broadway Bank, approved a loan to convicted mobster Michael "Jaws" Giorango. Although Giannoulias was the Democratic candidate in the fall election, the state party, led by powerful Illlinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, refused to endorse Giannoulias. But he prevailed that November anyway.

Obama, in my opinion, never gave a satisfactory reason for stepping into a "kingmaker" mode to endorse "the boy banker."

Moving forward a couple of years, just as Tony Rezko's corruption trial was winding down, a Nevada judge issued an arrest warrant against the Democratic political insider for allegedly writing bad checks to two Las Vegas casinos, among other reputed indiscretions. The checks were drawn from Giannoulias' Broadway Bank.

Does that put Obama's mysterious endorsement of Giannoulias in a new light?

So if, I repeat, if, the competing lender that the Obama campaign won't reveal "at this time" is indeed Broadway Bank, it's understandable why they'd want to keep quiet about it. The campaign issued its statement two days before the start of the holiday weekend, hoping that the story will fizzle away, meeting the fate of the countless sparklers that will be lit today.

One other item in the campaign's statement didn't make sense to me. According to Obama spokesperson Ben Lebolt, the "Obamas had a substantial amount of cash to deposit in the bank" at the time of the home purchase. Why is that? How is that true? As I noted earlier, Obama already said about buying the house that it was "a stretch" financially. Why wouldn't have the Obamas put that "substantial amount of cash" towards their downpayment? Why was Rezko's wife brought in to purchase the south lot?

Why don't the pieces add up here?

And finally, who was the competing lender?

It's a holiday weekend. Happy Independence Day to everyone! But I'm not going to let this story get buried.

Related posts:

Coincidences and the Las Vegas Rezko arrest warrant

Rita Rezko's contribution to America's worst government, Cook County

Obama's state treasurer pal needs a memory upgrade

Thanks for the link:

The Bench

Technorati tags: Obama politics Barack Obama Election Democrats Illinois Politics cronyism Tony Rezko corruption mortgages business Nevada las vegas banking Alexi Giannoulias real estate