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The Blago/Obama/Blackwell pay-to-play circle

The news media reported this in pieces but never put the whole thing together. Essentially, Chicago entrepreneurs Robert Blackwell Jr. and Sr. were good friends to Barack Obama and Rod Blagojevich (campaign contributions) and Obama and Blagojevich were good friends to the Blackwells. A chronology: 2001–Barack Obama gets an $8,000 a month legal consulting contract [...]

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Were both Blago and Obama lying about Auchi?

Federal prosecutors were successful in revoking Tony Rezko’s bond in early 2008 when they found out the infamous Illinois fixer had taken $3.5 million from British/Iraqi billionaire Nadhmi Auchi without telling the court. Auchi is a controversial figure closely linked to Saddam Hussein over the years. For background on Auchi, check here and here. It’s [...]

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He had the political courage Obama lacked

There was one Democrat in 2006 who dared take on Rod Blagojevich’s re-election bid. His name wasn’t Barack Obama, of course, he endorsed Rod, corruption and all. He was Edwin Eisendrath, who ran against Rod in the Democratic primary. He was interviewed recently by Steve Rhodes of the website Beachwood Reporter. Beachwood: Obama stood behind [...]

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Three questions for Tony Rezko

As we’ve mentioned before, the mainstream press has virtually no curiosity about convicted fixer Tony Rezko any more. Let us amend that: There is no curiosity about Rezko’s relationship with Barack Obama. Former Chicago Tribune top editor James Warren, now writing for the Chicago News Cooperative, which feeds stories to the NY Times, outlines some [...]

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Right from the start, national media whitewashers tried to erase Blago from Obama’s past

When looking for evidence of the national media’s attempt to extricate Barack Obama from his numerous ties to Rod Blagojevich, the Washington Post published a classic misdirection piece by Eli Saslow that is a museum piece of liberal propaganda. The first clue ought to be the title, “Obama worked to distance self from Blagojevich early [...]

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Guilty on all counts

That’s our prediction for Rod Blagojevich. A prison term of between 10 and 12 years. For Rob Blagojevich, a split verdict with a sentence of 1 to 2 years. Then it’s on to sentencing of Tony Rezko. We will have more on Rezko and the unanswered questions surrounding his dual relationship with Blagojevich and Barack [...]

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Sam Adam’s lawyer got one thing right

Rod Blagojevich’s cartoonish defense lawyer did get one thing right in his closing argument—that the Obama team was “negotiating” for a Valerie Jarrett appointment to the U.S. Senate. Sam Adam Jr. has just accused President Barack Obama and his transition team of negotiating with Blagojevich. The offer came from Rod to Tom Balanoff, Adam says. [...]

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Blago campaign chairman, transition director helps create train wreck then walks away unscathed

“Rod realizes that he is being elected as a reformer. People in this state are fed up with corruption and broken promises. The Blagojevich administration will be one of honesty,” he said. —David Wilhelm Another member of the club that brought us Rod Blagojevich is David Wilhelm, the former DNC chairman and Clintonista who ran [...]

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After Blago spokesman made Baghdad Bob look like Honest Abe, BO was so offended he hired him

Democratic consultant Pete Giangreco was a top advisor and spokesman for Rod Blagojevich during his candidacies for Governor. He was an aggressive, over-the-top defender of the former congressman, who had promised Illinois residents an era of reform after the scandals and eventual imprisonment of the previous Governor, George Ryan. In Illinois, if you are a [...]

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Did Rezko/Obama coverage get JournoListed?

It wasn’t lost on those who closely followed the 2008 presidential election that scrutiny on Barack Obama was less than intense. Plenty of material was there. When it surfaced, more often than not, it just faded away. One reason why, we are finding out, was that instead of watchdogs, the national press corps acted like [...]

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