Democratic Underground Latest Greatest Lobby Journals Search Options Help Login
Google

Why Obama is scared...The $50 million contract for Companion Security "turns up in Iraqi

Printer-friendly format Printer-friendly format
Printer-friendly format Email this thread to a friend
Printer-friendly format Bookmark this thread
This topic is archived.
Home » Discuss » Editorials & Other Articles Donate to DU
 
indimuse Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-06-08 03:13 PM
Original message
Why Obama is scared...The $50 million contract for Companion Security "turns up in Iraqi
Edited on Thu Mar-06-08 03:18 PM by indimuse
It's NOT just some questionable real estate deal...It's MUCH more...these are serious questions and SHOULD be answered by ANYONE running to be OUR president!
I challenge you to review clips and more links ,review the material...then get back to me.

Thursday, March 6, 2008
RezkoTrialWatch: Reminder: Obama cuts-and-runs from press
Kevin Bunkley wrote March 6, 2008, in The Michigan Daily that, following the Texas primary/caucus,

San Antonio Obama also slithered away from reporters wanting his comment on the Tony Rezko case. The only thing Obama has conceded was that he bought a piece of land from Rezko, but did it through proper channels. This Rezko story doesn’t mean Obama is a crook, but it brings up questions about his political machine. Why? Obama was never going to run for president unless the famed Daley family of Chicago agreed to help him out.

You see, a few years ago, Obama was the hotshot politician in Chicago, and Richard Daley was in the middle of a reelection campaign. Obama’s people came to Mayor Daly, and threatened to run Obama against Daley unless he pledged financial support for Obama’s presidential campaign. Then the two appeared in public, the best of friends.

So to wrap this up, two ironic pictures to keep in mind as this democratic race drags on. Obama’s cracking a bit under the pressure, and has to learn to be more “straight-talking” if you will.
Confronted with issues about his long-time friend and indicted political fixer Antoin "Tony" Rezko, Obama tangled with the press. Watch this YouTube mashup, with Obama running away from the press at the 2:00 minute mark (note that comments at the end have been edited for effect):



http://rezkowatch.blogspot.com/search/label/RezkoTrialWatch must watch >>>>

Follow the Money: Batchelor: Rezko Connections: More Reasons Obama Should Worry
In the third installment of what promises to be a long series, John Batchelor's Rezko Connections: More Reasons Obama Should Worry published March 6, 2008, by Human Events poses some troubling questions for 2008 presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) Today, as the prosecution and defense offer their opening statements in the fraud trial of Obama's patron, indicted political fixer Antoin "Tony" Rezko, Obama's worries are piling up.

Batchelor wrote: "Why does Barack Obama need to worry about a previously unknown court filing that revealed, on the second day of jury selection in the trial of Antoin 'Tony' Rezko, that a prosecution witness accuses Mr. Rezko to have bribed the Iraqi Coalition Provisional Authority Minister of Electricity Aiham Alsammarae with $1.5 million for a bogus contract in 2005?"

Why should Obama worry? The $50 million contract for Companion Security "turns up in Iraqi government court documents in the pursuit of $650 million stolen from the CPA between 2003 and 2006 by Mr. Alsammarae" and it is connected to both Obama and Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

RezkoWatch has written a number of articles about Rezko's Companion Security, which was to be used by Rezko and his partners to train Iraqi guards for Rezko's proposed power plant in Iraq.


Alsammarae-Rezko >>>

Rezko and Alsammarae: Corruption in Iraq >>>

Rezko's power plant in Iraq >>>

Obama, Rezko and the Iraqi power plant contract <<<

Rezko's power plant—bribe allegation
Batchelor wrote that one reason Obama should worry is Rezko accuser Daniel Mahru "is not only a government witness in this present Rezko trial, but also was the lawyer for the original Companion Security deal and is reported to have pushed another Rezko partner in Companion Security, Daniel T. Frawley, to revive the Companion contract in the spring and summer of 2006 in conversation with both Governor Rod Blagojevich’s office and Senator Barack Obama’s office."

Another reason? Batchelor wrote that, "according to the same court filing," Mahru—Rezko's partner in real estate development for 16 years—has been "cooperating" since December 2005 with the Federal investigation of Rezko, which was "ten months before Rezko was indicted." Afterwards, Mahru "became partners with John Thomas in a troubled Miami real estate deal; and it is well established that Mr. Thomas has been a cooperating federal witness who wore a wire as a mole for the FBI in 2004 and 2005, including in many visits to Mr. Rezko’s offices, where frequent callers included Governor Blagojevich and State Senator Barack Obama." However, the "government states that Mr. Thomas did not record the governor or the state senator."

Why else should Obama worry? Mahru's accusation means federal prosecutors have been "watching" what Rezko was doing, including the 2003 62-acre Chicago land deal between Rezko and Iraqi-British billionaire businessman Nahdmi Auchi, the 2004 Rezko-Auchi-Aiham Alsammarae power plant deal in Iraq, the 2005 Rezko-Daniel T. Frawley-Mahru-Alsammarae Companion Security deal, and, all the while, Rezko was "fundraising" for Obama "in his successful campaign for the U.S. Senate in 2004 and then into Mr. Obama’s first term."

Why else should Obama worry? There is now an alleged "direct link, the bribe," between Rezko, Alsammarae, the 2005 Companion Security deal, a 2006 attempt to revive the contract by involving Blagojevich and Obama. Batchelor wrote that there are "large holes in the narrative, and some inconsistencies."

Another worry? The "tangled criminal allegations against" Rezko, who was "detained by federal prosecutors as a flight risk it was revealed that he tried to deceive the court about $3.7 million dollars paid to him by his Rezmar business partner," Auchi. Adding to the worries is, as Batchelor recently ascertained through his own numerous efforts, Alsammarae, "the alleged recipient of the Companion Security bribe" is "not available and may be 'overseas.'"

Alsammarae has not only been "alleged in a federal court filing in the Northern District of Illinois to have taken a bribe for a U.S. firm's contract with the Iraqi CPA," but he is also a "convicted thief in Iraq with a nine year sentence pending, from which he has been a fugitive since December 2006," as indicated in an Interpol warrant online for his arrest and return to Iraq. Meanwhile, the list of unanswered questions grows—as do the reasons why Obama, Blagojevich, Mahru, and Rezko should be worried.

Batchelor wrote that Alsammarae has "information vital to clearing the suspicions, or deepening them, about Chicago political actors involved in a presidential campaign." Additionally, as Batchelor points out, Obama is not accused or alleged of any wrongdoing, but "there is an unsavory tale of how the Chicago political machine works for its friends and supporters, stretching from the South Side of Chicago all the way to Baghdad."

Also see related RezkoWatch articles

Batchelor: The Obama Files

Batchelor: Rezko Connections: More Questions for Obama

FBI mole "logged frequent visits to Rezko" by Obama

More about FBI mole John Thomas

Permanent link at 4:15 AM 0 comments Links to this post

Labels: Aiham Alsammarae, Barack Obama, follow the money, John Batchelor, Nadhmi Auchi, power plant in Iraq, RezkoTrialWatch, Tony Rezko




Is one of the most interesting finds yet...:)
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
amborin Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-06-08 03:15 PM
Response to Original message
1. the Obamas socialized with the Rezkos for over 17 years
what does this say?

that the Obamas were friends with sleazes, or they were unaware??????

either way, it's bad
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
leftofcool Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-06-08 03:16 PM
Response to Original message
2. You dare to question the Golden Child's integrity?
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
ORDagnabbit Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-06-08 03:17 PM
Response to Original message
3. dont the clintons know the reskos?
Edited on Thu Mar-06-08 03:17 PM by ORDagnabbit
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
saracat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-06-08 03:20 PM
Response to Reply #3
7. Not like Obama. Rezko bankrolled Obamas State Senate Campaign.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
ORDagnabbit Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-06-08 03:26 PM
Response to Reply #7
13. I dont think the clintons should remind people of bad real estate deals. :)
you got a link for the resko bank rolling obama story?

thanks
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
saracat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-06-08 03:32 PM
Response to Reply #13
15. I am not even bothering with the links anymore. Obama himself admitted Rezko was one of his biggest
donors to the Chicago Times. And Whitewater turned out to be nothing and the world knows it.It could only benefit the Clinton campaign because it would remind people of how the Clinton's were victimized and fought back the GOP and I am sure BO wouldn't want that!
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
ORDagnabbit Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-06-08 03:39 PM
Response to Reply #15
18. well I think something went on with whitewater...... cause 14 of their friends were convicted o
Ultimately the Clintons were never charged, but 14 other persons were convicted of more than 40 crimes, including a sitting Governor who was removed from office.<33>

Jim Guy Tucker: Governor of Arkansas at the time, removed from office (fraud, 3 counts)
John Haley: attorney for Jim Guy Tucker (tax fraud)
William J. Marks Sr.: Jim Guy Tucker business partner (conspiracy)
Stephen Smith (Whitewater): former Governor Clinton aide (conspiracy to misapply funds). Bill Clinton pardoned.
Webster Hubbell: Clinton political supporter; Rose Law Firm partner (embezzlement, fraud)
Jim McDougal: banker, Clinton political supporter: (18 felonies, varied)
Susan McDougal: Clinton political supporter (multiple fraud, contempt of court) Bill Clinton pardoned.
David Hale: banker, self proclaimed Clinton political supporter: (conspiracy, fraud)
Neal Ainley: Perry County Bank president (embezzled bank funds for Clinton campaign)
Chris Wade: Whitewater real estate broker (multiple loan fraud) Bill Clinton pardoned.
Larry Kuca: Madison real estate agent (multiple loan fraud)
Robert W. Palmer: Madison appraiser (conspiracy). Bill Clinton pardoned.
John Latham: Madison Bank CEO (bank fraud)
Eugene Fitzhugh: Whitewater defendant (multiple bribery)
Charles Matthews (Whitewater): Whitewater defendant (bribery)
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
ORDagnabbit Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-06-08 03:42 PM
Response to Reply #18
20. says that the investigation was "impeded" by president clintons lawyers
Kenneth Starr's successor as Independent Counsel, Robert Ray, released a report in September 2000 that stated "This office determined that the evidence was insufficient to prove to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt that either President or Mrs. Clinton knowingly participated in any criminal conduct."<17> Ray nonetheless criticized the White House in a statement regarding the release of the report, saying delays in the production of evidence and "unmeritorious litigation" by the president's lawyers severely impeded the investigation's progress. Ray's report effectively ended the Whitewater investigation, with a total cost to American taxpayers of nearly $60 million.<4>
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
saracat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-06-08 03:47 PM
Response to Reply #20
22. This post sounds very GOP to me! Most Democrats supported President Clinton.
and had no respect for the Ken Starr witchhunt.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
ORDagnabbit Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-06-08 03:53 PM
Response to Reply #22
23. this is from the Starr successor Robert Ray. he released a report in 2000
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
saracat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-06-08 03:57 PM
Response to Reply #23
25. How nice for you.Still quoting RW talking points.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
ORDagnabbit Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-06-08 04:04 PM
Response to Reply #25
26. how the hell can a report be a right wing talking point? its taken right from the report.
It is a Fact.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
ORDagnabbit Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-06-08 04:06 PM
Response to Reply #26
28. heck heres even more...saying the clintons gave factually inacurrate testimony
Ray's final report on the Whitewater investigation concluded that former President Clinton's mid-1980s Arkansas land venture benefited from criminal activity and that the president and first lady gave factually inaccurate testimony, but there was not enough evidence to prove they had engaged in wrongdoing.

On the Whitewater matter, prosecutors concluded that although both Clintons had made “factually inaccurate” statements to federal investigators, the available evidence failed to prove that either of them had committed perjury or obstructed justice.

http://www.history.com/encyclopedia.do?vendorId=FWNE.fw..wh044350.a
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
saracat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-06-08 04:10 PM
Response to Reply #26
30. And Ken Starr wasn't biased .What Democrat believes crap like this?
I suppose you also believe Clinton should have been impeached?
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
ORDagnabbit Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-06-08 04:13 PM
Response to Reply #30
31. nope should not have been impeached at all but he shouldnt have lied either.
sex between two consenting adults is a non impeachable offense
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
bjobotts Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-07-08 05:30 PM
Response to Reply #26
52. It's a report not a fact. Done thru the eyes of a GOP front man. Just look at Gonzales, Mukasey
Look at their "reports" on habeas corpus and signing statements etc., It was bullshit twisted to make an assumption not based on truth but innuendo.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
bjobotts Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-07-08 05:32 PM
Response to Reply #52
53. Accounts twisted by assumptions and innuendo to suggest outcome is truth.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
bjobotts Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-07-08 05:24 PM
Response to Reply #23
50. Is Siegelman case teaching you nothing? Ray was one of them.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
bjobotts Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-07-08 05:25 PM
Response to Reply #50
51. This from people who refuse to allow Bush to be investigated.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
bjobotts Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-07-08 05:22 PM
Response to Reply #20
49. They tried everything possible. More subpoenas then ever before
Even pulling in people with the same names who had nothing whatever to do with anything before the subcommittees. Millions wasted in the GOP's attempt to get the Clintons with the full support of the corporate media. The most ridiculous investigation ever. Republicans will stop at nothing to get rid of any highly supported democrat.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
saracat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-06-08 03:44 PM
Response to Reply #18
21. This is RW garbage.The Clinton's were exonerated.
I am alerting on this.Ken Starr affectionados are not allowed.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
ORDagnabbit Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-06-08 03:54 PM
Response to Reply #21
24. nope cant hide from the facts by throwing the old RW attack machine crap...
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Rageneau Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-06-08 04:09 PM
Response to Reply #18
29. This post is nothing but GOP wingnut lies -- very, very old and nasty ones.
The TRUTH is, not a single person was EVER convicted of ANY wrongdoing that had anything to do with the Clintons.

The people listed on your wingnut-generated list (excepting Susan McDougal, who was wrongly convicted because she would NOT lie about the Clintons), were all convicted of separate personal crimes -- completely unrelated to the Clintons -- that were uncovered during Starr's 100 million witch hunt.

Starr leaned on all of these people as hard as he could to get them to lie about the Clintons. One did, professional wingnut David Hale, who is one of the foulest human beings to ever draw breath. He lied about the Clintons enough to get himself a nice plea deal with Starr, but his bullshit story made the jurors laugh him off the witness stand.

This post comes straight from Free Republic -- where I have seen it many, many times. It is straight out of Rush Limbaugh. It is nothing but pure nasty, mean-spirited, lying wingnuttery!

It is posts like these -- probably from an Obama supporter -- that are tearing our party apart. They are deliberate lies meant to be deliberately disruptive, and thus far only ONE side -- the rightwing-nut side -- has resorted to them.

Unfortunately, these days the rightwing-nut side is often the Obama side, too.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
ORDagnabbit Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-06-08 04:14 PM
Response to Reply #29
32. HELLO???? MC'FLY wake the hell up and actually read. It comes from Wikipedia and the Encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitewater_controversy#Convictions

Ultimately the Clintons were never charged, but 14 other persons were convicted of more than 40 crimes, including a sitting Governor who was removed from office.<33>

Jim Guy Tucker: Governor of Arkansas at the time, removed from office (fraud, 3 counts)
John Haley: attorney for Jim Guy Tucker (tax fraud)
William J. Marks Sr.: Jim Guy Tucker business partner (conspiracy)
Stephen Smith (Whitewater): former Governor Clinton aide (conspiracy to misapply funds). Bill Clinton pardoned.
Webster Hubbell: Clinton political supporter; Rose Law Firm partner (embezzlement, fraud)
Jim McDougal: banker, Clinton political supporter: (18 felonies, varied)
Susan McDougal: Clinton political supporter (multiple fraud, contempt of court) Bill Clinton pardoned.
David Hale: banker, self proclaimed Clinton political supporter: (conspiracy, fraud)
Neal Ainley: Perry County Bank president (embezzled bank funds for Clinton campaign)
Chris Wade: Whitewater real estate broker (multiple loan fraud) Bill Clinton pardoned.
Larry Kuca: Madison real estate agent (multiple loan fraud)
Robert W. Palmer: Madison appraiser (conspiracy). Bill Clinton pardoned.
John Latham: Madison Bank CEO (bank fraud)
Eugene Fitzhugh: Whitewater defendant (multiple bribery)
Charles Matthews (Whitewater): Whitewater defendant (bribery)
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
xmas74 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-06-08 06:17 PM
Response to Reply #32
46. Wikipedia isn't the best source
for an argument. Anyone with an account can change info at any time.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
libbygurl Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-06-08 04:36 PM
Response to Reply #18
34. Hello?!...Remember the tens of millions of $$$ spent by the Repubs on this? Got nothing more...
Edited on Thu Mar-06-08 04:42 PM by libbygurl
...than the silly blue dress story which was none of anyone's business to show for all their efforts?

The Clintons lost money on the deal as well! Really worked for them, that.

Go take that list to Free Republic where it belongs, and whence it came. While you're at it, you can take yourself there, too, and stay there.

Ed. to add further info.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
ORDagnabbit Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-06-08 04:46 PM
Response to Reply #34
36. grow up and read for yourself instead of being told what to believe
Edited on Thu Mar-06-08 04:47 PM by ORDagnabbit
do the damn research for yourself instead of believing in "fairy tales"

ask yourself 5 questions and then do the research

what was white water

who was involved

who got convicted

How were they connected to the clintons

who did not get convicted



Just cause facts dont match your view of the world doesnt mean its from the free republic.


Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
libbygurl Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-06-08 04:50 PM
Response to Reply #36
38. Nope, it's actually YOU who must do your own research AND THINKING. Grow up yourself and get out...
Edited on Thu Mar-06-08 04:52 PM by libbygurl
...of those old '90s rags that have become so tattered and useless today. What a worthless read and back-and-forth this has been.

'Bye now.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
ORDagnabbit Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-06-08 05:00 PM
Response to Reply #38
41. come on do the research and answer the 5 questions. you're not scared of the answers are you?
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
xmas74 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-06-08 06:15 PM
Response to Reply #18
45. A supposed liberal
quoting Ken Starr?

Something smells fishy to me.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Rageneau Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-06-08 03:41 PM
Response to Reply #13
19. The Clintons lost money in Whitewater. Did Obama lose money with Rezko?
Even if he didn't, fair play demands that Obama's real estate dealings, his law firm billing records, his outside investments and Michelle's underwear drawers be subject to exactly the same level of intense investigation that the innocent Clintons were subject to.

This is what is meant as being 'vetted.' Hillary already has been.

Is Obama even WILLING to be?
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
twompy Donating Member (26 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-06-08 03:33 PM
Response to Reply #3
16. Never heard of him!
Rezko Who?:sarcasm:

Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
libbygurl Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-06-08 04:47 PM
Response to Reply #3
37. Rezko was one among tens of thousands who posed with Pres. and Mrs Clinton...
...all those years ago.

Obama, on the other hand, has had a 17-year-relationship with Rezko. Even asked for his help with the real estate deal AFTER Rezko was already under investigation by the authorities. Do not attempt to draw a parallel between non-existent relationship between the Rezkos and the Clintons, and the very long-term and real one between the Rezkos and the Obamas.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
susankh4 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-06-08 04:51 PM
Response to Reply #37
39. I'm sure they don't remember most of us.
That would be incredible if they did.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
saracat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-06-08 03:19 PM
Response to Original message
4. But Rezco has NOTHING to do with Obama!!! His supporters say so all the time.
What is important is that some Resko connections may have given a donation to someone connected with Hillary! Woow! But this is nothing. Move away from the curtain!:sarcasm:
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
tabatha Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-06-08 03:20 PM
Response to Reply #4
6. Where did you see one solid fact?
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
saracat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-06-08 03:23 PM
Response to Reply #6
10. According to some people the Dallas observer, the LAtimes and the NYTimes and ABC news are all
partisan hacks for reporting similar stories. Also forgot the Sun times. SomeObama fans wouldn't recognize a "fact" if it hit them in the face.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
tabatha Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-06-08 03:19 PM
Response to Original message
5. There is not ONE solid fact in a number of those posts that I read
that points to Obama's guilt. It is all hypothetical supposition.

Someone has set up a blog just to "get" Obama with innuendo and not one solid fact.

If Rezko has been watched as much as he has as indicated in those posts, then why is Obama not on the witness list?

If there were a hair of a connection, he would have been subpoenaed during the discovery process.



Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
indimuse Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-06-08 03:24 PM
Response to Reply #5
12. let's see what unfolds..but
you miss the point. Obama is a HUGE RISK to our win. He already has tons of ammunition the RW and MSM has quietly collected since his run...and most likely earlier..
This story and trial is very untimely for BHO. It will only generate millions of questions from all news sources, here and abroad.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
libbygurl Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-06-08 04:38 PM
Response to Reply #5
35. Case ain't over yet, is it? Only starting, so we're watching it unfold. nt
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
katty Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-06-08 05:16 PM
Response to Reply #35
43. it's just getting started
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
SteppingRazor Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-06-08 03:21 PM
Response to Original message
8. Innuendo and edited videos does not an indictment make.
I especially found this part incredible:

"You see, a few years ago, Obama was the hotshot politician in Chicago, and Richard Daley was in the middle of a reelection campaign. Obama’s people came to Mayor Daly, and threatened to run Obama against Daley unless he pledged financial support for Obama’s presidential campaign. Then the two appeared in public, the best of friends."



Really? Says who? No one has been quoted as to that having happened. Are we to take this "Batchelor" fellow at his word? Clearly, he's not an unbiased source, writing about how Obama "slithered away from reporters."

As to the rest, the article mentions Rezko's shady deals and his fundraising for Obama, but completely fails to actually connect the two. For example:

"Why else should Obama worry? Mahru's accusation means federal prosecutors have been "watching" what Rezko was doing, including the 2003 62-acre Chicago land deal between Rezko and Iraqi-British billionaire businessman Nahdmi Auchi, the 2004 Rezko-Auchi-Aiham Alsammarae power plant deal in Iraq, the 2005 Rezko-Daniel T. Frawley-Mahru-Alsammarae Companion Security deal, and, all the while, Rezko was "fundraising" for Obama "in his successful campaign for the U.S. Senate in 2004 and then into Mr. Obama’s first term."


Note how the author conflates Rezko's business deals with his Obama fundraising, while actually failing to draw a link between them.

In the end, I see nothing here that should cause Obama to lose any sleep. Obama's only real problem with the Rezko situation is that it is happening now, and so, while he may not be guilty of any wrongdoing, the ongoing trial will be casting that specter for weeks, if not months.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
indimuse Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-06-08 04:34 PM
Response to Reply #8
33. true..
ongoing trial will hurt Obama...timimhg.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
not_too_L8 Donating Member (757 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-06-08 03:21 PM
Response to Original message
9. I'm interested
Edited on Thu Mar-06-08 03:22 PM by not_too_L8
But need the facts...not something from a spin site
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
LSparkle Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-06-08 03:23 PM
Response to Original message
11. Consider the source: John Batchelor hosts an uber-rightwing talk show on KFI/LA
If it's the same John Batchelor (and I believe it is),
his guests on Sunday nights have included Mann Coulter,
John Fund, et al. ...

This guy has an AGENDA ...
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
kevinmc Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-06-08 03:29 PM
Response to Original message
14. Great Another Clinton Scandal Brewing .....
By: Peter F. Paul

Hillary and Bill Clinton have made a significant issue about how the press is treating Hillary unfairly in their hyper-critical reporting on her and their “softball” reporting on Barak Obama. Hillary maintains she has been fully investigated by the media and Barak hasn’t!

As the Tony Rezko trial begins in Chicago, Clinton and her surrogates are linking Obama to Rezko and the media is speculating about whether Obama will be called to testify as a witness in the case. Obama admits he received $85,000 in contributions from Rezko which Obama has donated to charity rather than keep

Yet the civil fraud trial of Bill Clinton, Grammy’s producer Gary Smith and Clinton intimate and fundraiser Jim Levin, for defrauduing Hillary’s largest donor in 2000, which has been pending in Los Angeles since 2003, and now preparing for a November, 2008 trial has NEVER been announced by the mainstream media.

Hillary was able to extricate herself as a co-defendant in the case in January, 2008 after years of appeals relating to her efforts to use of First Amendment protections from tort claims arising out of federal campaign solicitations to be extricated as a defendant after the California Supreme Court refused to dismiss her from the case in 2004.

Hillary will be called as a witness in both discovery and the trial according to the trial court Judge who so-advised Hillary’s attorney David Kendall when he dismissed Hillary as a co-defendant in 2007. A subpoena is being prepared this month and will be served personally on Hillary, along with Chelsea, Pa Gov. Ed Rendell, Al Gore and other well known political and media figures.

Yet the media has refused to report about this landmark civil fraud case- brought by Hillary’s biggest 2000 donor to her Senate race, regarding allegations that were corroborated by the Department of Justice in the criminal trial of Hillary’s finance director David Rosen in May, 2005. That indictment and trial was credited as resulting from the civil suit’s allegations by Peter Paul, the Hollywood dot com millionaire Bill Clinton convinced to donate more than $1.2 million (according to the DOJ prosecutors and the FBI) to Hillary’s Senate campaign as part of a post White House business deal with Bill.

The media - except for World Net Daily- has also suspiciously refused to report on Hillary’s last FEC report regarding her 2000 Senate campaign, filed in January 30, 2006. In a secret settlement of an FEC complaint by the plaintiff in Paul v Clinton, Peter Paul, the FEC fined Hillary’s campaign $35,000 for hiding more than $720,000 in donations from Paul, and it required Hillary’s campaign to file a 4th amended FEC report.

In that report Hillary and her campaign again hid Paul’s $1.2 million contribution to her campaign and falsely attributed $250,000 as being donated by Paul’s partner, Spider Man creator Stan Lee, who swore in a video taped deposition he never gave Hillary or her campaign any money.

Lee did testify to trading $100,000 checks with Paul to make it appear he gave $100,000 to Hillary’s campaign (admission of a felony) but none of that has been reported by the “overly critical” media!

Where is the outrage from Obama that the press is engaging in a double standard relating to his possible role in the Rezko trial and his refunding the $85,000 contributed to his campaign by Rezko- which Obama has always admitted taking. The media makes no mention of Hillary’s role as a witness in Bill’s fraud trial for defrauding Hillary’s largest donor- and Hillary’s refusal to refund the $1.2 million she illegally received from Paul, which she has denied taking from Paul ever since the Washington Post asked her about Paul and his felony convictions from the 1970’s before her first Senate election in 2000?

Will the media ever ask her about Peter Paul and the upcoming trial before the November elections?

http://www.hillaryproject.com/index.php?/en/story-details/is_there_really_a_vast_media_conspiracy_against_hillary/


Sounds like the same people that wrote the "Obama is scared" article wrote this one.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Fredda Weinberg Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-06-08 03:35 PM
Response to Reply #14
17. I actually read this entire post ... looking for anything new. Nope,
this train left the station long ago.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
JTFrog Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-07-08 06:16 PM
Response to Reply #17
55. Right. No one will be paying attention to Hillary and Bill in court during a GE.
I'm sorry, when is Obama's court date again? I'm sure you have a link handy, right?

We know for a fact that a certain candidate and her husband have to appear in court to once again defend their shady financial scandals. You're right, nothing new there.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
pleah Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-06-08 04:05 PM
Response to Original message
27. The plot thickens!
:popcorn:
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
susankh4 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-06-08 04:52 PM
Response to Reply #27
40. Yep. Now we just watch....
:popcorn:
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
katty Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-06-08 05:06 PM
Response to Reply #27
42. didn't the Rezko trial start today?
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
ExtraGriz Donating Member (405 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-06-08 06:22 PM
Response to Reply #42
47. it was opening statement day at the rezko trial
should have some interesting news in the coming days, right up til april 22nd and beyond
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
texshelters Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-06-08 05:28 PM
Response to Original message
44. Whitewater, Resko, whatever
Sounds like McCarthyism to me. You should be guilty because you know people who did bad things and they were once your friends and helped you out? So shoot me now, I'm guilty!

Did Resko steal money and give it to the Obama campaign without or with his knowledge? The point should be, who knew what, when. Accusations without facts, that's what this is for now.

Tex
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
crimsonblue Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-07-08 04:03 PM
Response to Original message
48. Ok I'm a douche...
Edited on Fri Mar-07-08 04:33 PM by crimsonblue
I apologize for my stupid comments. I should not have been so mean to anyone here on DU. I'm an idiot and I ask for everyone I offended's forgiveness.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
CaliforniaDreaming Donating Member (36 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-07-08 05:38 PM
Response to Original message
54. This all looks extremely tenuous at best. n/t
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
DU AdBot (1000+ posts) Click to send private message to this author Click to view 
this author's profile Click to add 
this author to your buddy list Click to add 
this author to your Ignore list Fri Apr 26th 2024, 09:36 AM
Response to Original message
Advertisements [?]
 Top

Home » Discuss » Editorials & Other Articles Donate to DU

Powered by DCForum+ Version 1.1 Copyright 1997-2002 DCScripts.com
Software has been extensively modified by the DU administrators


Important Notices: By participating on this discussion board, visitors agree to abide by the rules outlined on our Rules page. Messages posted on the Democratic Underground Discussion Forums are the opinions of the individuals who post them, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Democratic Underground, LLC.

Home  |  Discussion Forums  |  Journals |  Store  |  Donate

About DU  |  Contact Us  |  Privacy Policy

Got a message for Democratic Underground? Click here to send us a message.

© 2001 - 2011 Democratic Underground, LLC