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APCHICAGO -- A government witness testified Monday that political fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko told him three years ago that Chicago's chief federal prosecutor was to be fired and replaced by someone chosen by then-U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert.
Restaurant owner Elie Maloof quoted Rezko as saying the new U.S. attorney in Chicago, whom Rezko said would be chosen by Hastert, would then kill a federal investigation into corruption under Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
"The federal prosecutor would no longer be the federal prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald would be eliminated," Maloof told Rezko's fraud trial.
Prosecutors said last week that former Illinois Finance Authority executive director Ali Ata, who is to take the witness stand later in the trial, would testify that Rezko told him of a plan to replace Fitzgerald.
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Second witness refers to hint of Fitzgerald ouster~snip~
Rezko told him during that meeting that when he spoke with federal investigators, he should not mention Rezko or talk about Gov. Blagojevich, Maloof testified. Rezko also indicated, Maloof said, that the U.S. attorney's office would soon change hands, that Fitzgerald "would be terminated" and that Dennis Hastert, then U.S. House speaker, would name a replacement.
"And what did you understand would be the significance if Fitzgerald was no longer U.S. attorney," assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Niewoehner asked.
"That the investigation would be over," Maloof answered.
Maloof said Rezko kept three cell phones aligned in front of him during this conversation and that when he inquired about the trio of phones, Rezko told him he had alternative phones "just in case somebody's listening."
"What did you understand him to mean," Niewoehner asked.
"That the feds were listening."
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