On Jan 23, 2008 12:39 PM, Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
> [from The Note]
>
> 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."
>
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