None of these are stories Obamaland wanted out there in the crucial weeks of the nomination fight:
"A plainly embarrassed Obama has been sending the campaign money to charity in an effort to distance himself from the Chicago businessman, including $41,000 over the weekend," the AP's Mike Robinson writes in recapping the case.
"The former state legislator and first-term U.S. senator seemingly missed plentiful warning signs that Rezko was headed for trouble with the law."
"Beyond the heated sound bites is a story of a more complex relationship that long boosted Obama's political fortunes but now could prove a campaign liability," Bob Secter, David Jackson and Ray Gibson write in the Chicago Tribune. "For years after Rezko befriended Obama in the early 1990s, he helped bankroll the politician's campaigns. Then, after Obama's election to the U.S. Senate, Rezko engaged him in private financial deals to improve their adjoining South Side properties."
"A review by the Los Angeles Times shows that Rezko, a businessman long active in Chicago politics, played a deeper role in Obama's political and financial biography than the candidate has acknowledged," Dan Morain and Tom Hamburger write in the Los Angeles Times.
"For example, Rezko, his employees and business associates -- such as his consultants, lawyers and their families -- have provided Obama more than $200,000 in donations since 1995, helping fuel his rapid ascent in Illinois and U.S. politics."