“I don’t know the man,” Mrs. Clinton told Mr. Lauer. “I wouldn’t know him if he walked in the door. I don’t have a 17-year relationship with him.”
She added: “There’s a big difference between standing somewhere taking a picture with someone you don’t know and haven’t seen since, and having a relationship that the newspapers in Chicago have been exploring.”
According to the 1997 story in the Chicago Tribune, both Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton attended the fund-raiser for Senator Moseley-Braun on June 25, 1997. And the next day, records show, one of Mr. Rezko’s companies donated $10,000 to a state Democratic party organization that was supporting Ms. Moseley-Braun, records show.
There was no immediate way to know for sure if that is when the picture was taken. But it is the best bet right now among political insiders familiar with Mr. Rezko. Mrs. Clinton attended another fundraiser for Ms. Moseley-Braun in October 1998, but President Clinton was not there.
more Mr. Rendell is a longtime friend of the Clintons and a chairman of the Democratic National Committee under Mr. Clinton.
At the committee, he proved to be a prodigious fund-raiser; in 2000, under his watch, the committee accepted $15,000 from Tony Rezko, a Chicago businessman who was once a fund-raiser and friend of Mr. Obama and who is now scheduled for trial on federal charges of business fraud.
Mrs. Clinton made a connection between Mr. Rezko and Mr. Obama on Monday in a televised debate, criticizing her rival for associating with a “slum landlord.”
The Clinton campaign had no comment on the Rezko-Rendell connection.link Rendell's ties to the Clintons include having served in 2000 as general chairman of the Democratic National Committee, a position made possible by then-President Bill Clinton.
link Governor Rendell is a close friend of former President Bill Clinton and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, leading some to speculate that he may not run since Senator Clinton is in the race for President. He has also been suggested as a possible Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in a future Democratic administration, and has hinted that he would be amenable to appointment as Secretary of Transportation. His successful tenure as District Attorney of Philadelphia has led many to believe he could also be considered for the position of Attorney General in a future Democratic administration.
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