Obama's pal Rezko: Convicted felon

When he was in the process of buying a mansion in Chicago's Kenwood neighborhood three years ago, Barack Obama sought out the advice of a man who as of today can add "convicted felon" to his résumé: Antoin "Tony" Rezko. At that time there was already a cloud of suspicion surrounding the Wilmette businessman who offered a job to Obama in 1991 and was arguably Barack Obama's first political sponsor.

The owners of the property offered the Georgian Revival house separately from the garden lot south of the home. But they wanted to sell both. So the Obamas bought the mansion, and Rezko's wife Rita bought the south parcel. Seven months later, the Obamas, who said they wanted more space next to their home, purchased a 10 foot wide strip of the "Rezko lot."

It's my belief that the Obamas wished to purchase, piece by piece, the Rezko lot and unite the properties while the senator's book royalties rolled in. Which meant that Tony Rezko, through his wife, could have in fact arranged a loan of sorts for the Obamas.

After the Tribune found out about the Rezko lot, whatever plans were made for the property went out the window. Obama told the Tribune in 2006 about what he thought he wanted Rezko had in mind for the lot: "My understanding was that he was going to develop it."

Maybe.

But by the fall of 2006, Rezko had been indicted, and this afternoon a federal jury in Chicago found guilty of 16 of 24 counts of corruption.

The Rezkos sold the lot, and its been since re-sold. I believe it's still for sale, I took the picture on top in April.

The house on the right is Rezko's Wilmette mansion. It was the site of a key 2003 fundraising party for Obama's US Senate campaign. While Obama, Rezko and their pals were whooping it up, Illinois officials were in the process of foreclosing on some Rezko-tied properties.

There are other connections between Rezko and Obama. The twelve-attorney law firm Obama worked for in the 1990s counted Tony Rezko as one of its clients, one of the name partners of the firm, Allison S. Davis, left the firm and went into business with Rezko.

Do you want more?

The Chicago Sun-Times wrote last year:

Obama, who has worked as a lawyer and a legislator to improve living conditions for the poor, took campaign donations from Rezko even as Rezko's low-income housing empire was collapsing, leaving many African-American families in buildings riddled with problems -- including squalid living conditions, vacant apartments, lack of heat, squatters and drug dealers.

The building in Englewood was one of 30 Rezmar (a company co-owned by Rezko) rehabbed in a series of troubled deals largely financed by taxpayers. Every project ran into financial difficulty. More than half went into foreclosure, a Chicago Sun-Times investigation has found.

"Their buildings were falling apart,'' said a former city official. "They just didn't pay attention to the condition of these buildings.''

Eleven of Rezko's buildings were in Obama's state Senate district.

That's not, as John McCain quipped several times last night, change I can believe in.

Barack Obama will be the Democratic Party's nominee for president this fall. In his three years as a US Senator, he has gotten one bill enacted into law.

So it's important to look at Obama's past, and his judgement. And when we look at Rezko, Bill Ayers, and the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, there's a lot to be concerned about.

Remember, when Obama needed advice in 2005, he called Tony Rezko.

Obama has bad judgement skills.

And here's a link to the YouTube vido I posted on Marathon Pundit yesterday.

Technorati tags: politics Illinois Election Democrats Chicago Tony Rezko corruption legal Obama Barack Obama McCain John McCain Republican