In This Article
30-Second Summary
Headline Link: Court convicts Rezko
Background: Rezko and the Chicago political machine
Video: ‘Obama’s Rezko Narrative’
Historical Context: Other embattled governors in recent history
Key Players: Tony Rezko, Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Sen. Barack Obama
Reference: FindingDulcinea’s 2008 Election Web Guide, Rezko donation chart
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Antoin "Tony" Rezko
Rezko Conviction Has Political Fallout
June 05, 2008 06:25 PM
by
findingDulcinea Staff
On Wednesday, a federal court convicted Chicago real estate developer Antoin “Tony” Rezko on various counts of corruption; Ill. Gov. Rod Blagojevich's involvement remains in question.
30-Second Summary
Rezko was convicted yesterday on 16 of 24 counts of corruption and will be sentenced in September. Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who received substantial funding and counsel from Rezko, could be greatly affected by the decision as the investigation shifts toward his involvement.
Rezko, a Syrian immigrant, restaurateur and real estate trader, has faced federal charges since October 2006 for demanding kickbacks from businesses looking to procure Illinois government contracts.
After Blagojevich, a Democratic congressman from Chicago’s North Side, was elected governor in 2002, Rezko—a major Blagojevich donor and fundraiser—allegedly convinced the politician to build Rezko’s business associates into the state’s first Democratic administration since 1977.
Blagojevich is trying desperately to distance himself from Rezko as many have called for his impeachment.
Chicago Magazine cites a report stating that Rezko and his contacts “have contributed more than $675,000 to 15 prominent Illinois politicians since 1989. That sum includes $117,652 for Blagojevich.”
It also likely includes the $250,000 Rezko raised for Obama’s first three electoral races, including his landslide 2004 Senate victory. Barack and Michelle Obama’s connections to the businessman made national headlines after Rezko was tied to what Chicago Magazine called “a funky real-estate transaction involving the Obamas’ Hyde Park home” in which Rezko’s wife allegedly gave the couple a discount. Obama has denied receiving a discount.
Rezko has sponsored Republicans as well, including current federal inmate and former Ill. Gov. George Ryan. In 2003 Rezko organized a benefit that raised millions for President George W. Bush.
Blagojevich is the fourth sitting governor to be embroiled in scandal since 2004, following his colleagues in Connecticut, New Jersey and New York.
Rezko, a Syrian immigrant, restaurateur and real estate trader, has faced federal charges since October 2006 for demanding kickbacks from businesses looking to procure Illinois government contracts.
After Blagojevich, a Democratic congressman from Chicago’s North Side, was elected governor in 2002, Rezko—a major Blagojevich donor and fundraiser—allegedly convinced the politician to build Rezko’s business associates into the state’s first Democratic administration since 1977.
Blagojevich is trying desperately to distance himself from Rezko as many have called for his impeachment.
Chicago Magazine cites a report stating that Rezko and his contacts “have contributed more than $675,000 to 15 prominent Illinois politicians since 1989. That sum includes $117,652 for Blagojevich.”
It also likely includes the $250,000 Rezko raised for Obama’s first three electoral races, including his landslide 2004 Senate victory. Barack and Michelle Obama’s connections to the businessman made national headlines after Rezko was tied to what Chicago Magazine called “a funky real-estate transaction involving the Obamas’ Hyde Park home” in which Rezko’s wife allegedly gave the couple a discount. Obama has denied receiving a discount.
Rezko has sponsored Republicans as well, including current federal inmate and former Ill. Gov. George Ryan. In 2003 Rezko organized a benefit that raised millions for President George W. Bush.
Blagojevich is the fourth sitting governor to be embroiled in scandal since 2004, following his colleagues in Connecticut, New Jersey and New York.
Headline Link: Court convicts Rezko
Illinois Senator Barack Obama commented on Rezko’s conviction: "I'm saddened by today's verdict," Obama said on Wednesday. "This isn't the Tony Rezko I knew, but now he has been convicted by a jury on multiple charges that once again shine a spotlight on the need for reform. I encourage the General Assembly to take whatever steps are necessary to prevent these kinds of abuses in the future." Gov. Blagojevich expressed similar sentiments.
Source: Chicago Tribune (free registration may be required)
Background: Rezko and the Chicago political machine
Chicago Magazine cites a report from the Chicago Sun-Times showing “Rezko and his family, businesses, and business associates have contributed more than $675,000 to 15 prominent Illinois politicians since 1989. That sum includes $117,652 for Blagojevich.” He sponsored Republicans, including former Illinois Govs. Jim Edgar and George Ryan, and rising stars such as Blagojevich and Obama, both of whom Rezko first met in the early 1990s.
Source: Chicago Magazine
Democratic State Rep. John Fritchey, whose district includes Blagojevich’s Chicago residence, said there “is a growing public clamor” for the governor to be impeached. According to Mike Lawrence, the director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, Blagojevich “has not been trusted for several years now. And the fact that he’s having legal problems will just reaffirm their distrust.” Ata admitted April 22 that he lied to the FBI about the links between his $127,000-a-year job and connections to Rezko and Blagojevich.
Source: Rockford (Ill.) Register-Star
Video: ‘Obama’s Rezko Narrative’
In March, Barack and Michelle Obama faced allegations that Rezko’s wife subsidized their new home in Chicago’s Hyde Park-Kenwood neighborhood. "This notion that somehow I got a discount and Rezko overpaid is simply not true … simply, factually, incorrect," said the presidential candidate. In a text accompanying the video clip, the Chicago Tribune wrote, “We fully expect the Clinton campaign, given its current desperation, to do whatever it must in order to keep the Rezko tin can tied to Obama’s bumper.”
Source: Chicago Tribune (free registration may be required)
Historical Context: Other embattled governors in recent history
Former Ill. Gov. George Ryan was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for declaring a moratorium on capital punishment. He was later found guilty of fraud and racketeering for his involvement in procuring illegal truck driving licenses, however, and began serving a six-year jail sentence in November 2007.
Source: NPR
Former N.Y. Gov. Eliot Spitzer announced his formal resignation on March 12 after disclosing in a press conference two days earlier that he had solicited a prostitute in which he said, "I have acted in a way that violated the obligations to my family.” On March 17 Lt. Gov. David Paterson took over the post.
Source: findingDulcinea
Jim McGreevey resigned as governor of New Jersey in August 2004 after announcing he’d had a homosexual affair with a man to whom he’d given a government job.
Source: CNN
Spitzer completes the triumvirate of governors in the “tri-state” region encompassing the New York metropolitan area to become embroiled in scandal. Shortly before McGreevey resigned, Connecticut’s former Gov. John Rowland resigned in June 2004 over corruption charges.
Source: StateNet.com
Key Players: Tony Rezko, Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Sen. Barack Obama
Tony Rezko (1955–)
Rezko was born into a Catholic family in Aleppo, Syria and became “the all-American success story,” writes the Chicago Sun-Times. After coming to Chicago to study at the Illinois Institute of Technology, he worked his way through business, opening restaurants and going into real estate developments, using his power to support the political candidates of his choice. He supported both Dems and GOP members—heading a multimillion dollar fundraiser for President Bush in 2003—but among his closest contacts is current Ill. Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who, according to the Sun-Times, “is desperately trying to distance himself” from the real-estate developer.
Source: Chicago Sun-Times
Gov. Rod Blagojevich (1956–)
Blagojevich was born on Chicago’s Northwest Side in 1956. He earned his bachelors from Northwestern University in 1979 and his juris doctorate from Pepperdine University in 1983. He started his political life as an assistant state attorney in Cook County, where Chicago is located, where he prosecuted felony arms and domestic abuse charges. He was first elected to Congress in 1996, where he worked to procure funding for after-school programs and health care initiatives, including a Patients’ Bill of Rights. He was elected governor of Illinois in 2002, and was reelected in 2006.
Source: State of Illinois’ official Web site
Sen. Barack Obama (1961–)
Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., the son of a White woman from Kansas and a Kenyan man, has been framed as an outsider in the White House race on account of ethnicity, youth and his short, four-year career in Washington. The BBC profiles the senator who has interpreted his unusual background as the expression of U.S. ideals. Born in Hawaii and a graduate of Harvard Law School, Obama worked in Chicago as a civil rights lawyer before his landslide victory to the U.S. Senate in 2004.
Source: The BBC
Obama’s voting records are available online from Project Vote Smart.
Source: Project Vote Smart
Reference: FindingDulcinea’s 2008 Election Web Guide, Rezko donation chart
FindingDulcinea’s Web Guide to the 2008 Presidential Election has compiled the best sites to keep informed about the latest developments in this year’s presidential campaign, as well as information about the remaining candidates in the race.
Source: findingDulcinea
A chart of donations amassed by Rezko from June 2001 to August 2004 is available from the U.S. Department of Justice.
Source: Department of Justice (PDF)
© 2009 Dulcinea Media, Inc.
