The Wilmette mansion of Tony Rezko, site of an important 2003 fundraiser for Barack Obama's nascent Senate campaign, is causing another headache for the junior senator from Illinois.And Obama certainly doesn't need more headaches. But hey, he's the one who decided to run for president.
One month ago, Obama had sit-downs with reporters from the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune editorial board so he could, once and for all, explain any unanswered questions about his longtime friend and political sponsor, Antoin "Tony" Rezko.
Conveniently, the meetings took place while the Revered Jeremiah Wright controversy was at its peak. So the "Rezko confessions" story was for the most part covered only by the Chicago media.
But the Rezko tale has not been put to bed.
From the Chicago Tribune's Swamp Blog:
Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama's name came up again during the Antoin "Tony" Rezko corruption trial today in Chicago 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 time, Obama was fresh off a surprise win in the Illinois Democratic primary for U.S. Senate and was riding a crest of national publicity.
That downtown parcel is known as Riverside Park, which Auchi's General Mediterranean Holding (GMH) now owns. Nothing has been built yet. Ironically, the land is less than a mile from where Rezko sleeps each night--the Metropolitan Correctional Center, not his stately Wilmette mansion.
While Auchi was in town, he also met with Governor Rod Blagojevich and State Senate President Emil Jones, both Chicago Democrats.
Jones, an old-fashioned machine pol, has recently been exposed as "the man behind the curtain" for Obama--the fellow South Sider helped build Obama's slim statehouse résumé so he'd have a record to run on.
Auchi has not been accused of wrongdoing in regards to any business dealings with Rezko, but he was convicted for taking kickbacks by a French court in 2003, but the billionaire maintains his innocence and is appealing the verdict.
Prior to Levine's testimony yesterday, both Obama and Auchi claimed they had no memory of meeting each other. At this hour, I haven't been able find any explanations online from the Obama campaign or from Auchi's camp regarding yesterday's new wrinkle.
On the subject of memory, Rezko defense attorney Joseph Duffy has been challenging the accuracy of Stuart Levine's memory--the Republican political insider is an admitted longtime abuser of hard drugs. Duffy will surely challenge Levine's recall ability yet again.
Related posts:
Obama's state legislative record--he got a lot of help
Controversial Iraqi billionaire tied to Obama home purchase?
Rezko trial: Memory and tapes
Obama talks to Chicago Sun-Times reporters, Tribune editorial board about Rezko: UPDATED
Obama surfaces in Rezko indictment
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