Marathon Pundit: This morning at the Rezko trial: Tony kept an eye on David Wilhelm?

Joseph Duffy, the attorney for alleged political fixer Antoin "Tony" Rezko, brought up the drug and memory problems of the prosecution's star witness yesterday--again--and may have had a good reason to, as Levine's testimony returned to the expansion of Naperville's Edward Hospital into Plainfield.

One new name came up this morning: Former Clintonista David Wilhelm. He's managed many successful campaigns, mostly for Illinois Democrats, but he was the man behind the plan for Bill Clinton's first run for the White House. His prize for the Clinton Gold Medal was the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee.

Two months ago, Wilhelm endorsed Barack Obama for president. Guess who is not getting a Christmas card from the Clintons?

Honey Skinner, yet another Chicago North Shore resident, was hired by Edward as a lobbyist for the expansion project, and hired Wilhelm as a consultant. Honey is the wife of former George H.W. Bush secretary of transportation and chief of staff Sam Skinner. Fox News' Jane Skinner is their daughter.

Initially Levine believed Wilhelm's participation would be helpful to Edward's plans.

From the Chicago Tribune's Gavel-to Gavel blog:

But Levine said he also was meeting regularly with Rezko, who told him that he and Blagojevich wanted to keep track of the success Wilhelm was having as a consultant for clients seeking approval for projects before several state boards, including the hospital panel.

"It should not be taken for granted that Mr. Wilhelm should be successful unless I was specifically told by Mr. Rezko that he wished Mr. Wilhelm to be successful," Levine said Rezko told him.

"My understanding of the conversation that I had with Mr. R was that Mr. Wilhelm's success . . . would be decided by Mr. Rezko, and that would be based upon whether or not he felt Mr. Wilhelm was deserving of whatever help he was seeking," Levine continued.

Through intermediaries, Levine said he conveyed to Edward officials that Wilhelm was on the outs with the administration. It was part of an elaborate shakedown scheme to convince Edward it needed to hire a corrupt contractor working with Levine if it wanted to get the go-ahead for its Plainfield facility.

Fortunately for the honest people of Illinois, Pam Davis, the hospital's CEO, alerted the FBI about the scheme, which led to Levine's indictment. The Republican insider pleaded guilty to various corruption charges in 2006 in exchange for the possibility of receiving a lenient sentence.

Related posts:

Rezko trial: Levine testifies about another alleged hospital shakedown

Illinois corruption watch: Top adviser to Gov. Blagojevich indicted: UPDATED

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