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 questions the Blagojevich trial is failing to answer. Predictably, he’s not interested in Rezko’s connection to Obama. He’s curious about Rezko’s connection to a Blagojevich bond deal and a large finders fee that a former GOP official received.
Then there’s no Tony Rezko, the convicted swindler and once-respected developer deemed so untrustworthy that neither side beckoned him from prison.
The defense sees Mr. Rezko as a slimy manipulator who was putty in Mr. Blagojevich’s hands. But his absence leaves much unclear, including details on a $10 billion state bond issuance in 2003 to bolster pension funds.
It’s the sort of under-the-radar deal that we in the news media rarely mention or understand. We’re left hanging as to what was going on between Mr. Rezko and Robert Kjellander, a Springfield lobbyist and former Republican National Committee treasurer.
An interesting question, for sure. But more interesting than a potential illegal land deal with the President of the United States?
Here are three questions that we wish Tony Rezko would answer:
1. What really happened on that house purchase/land deal with the Obamas? (For a complete transcript of Obama’s meeting with the Chicago Sun-Times editorial board explaining the deal, check here). After reading the transcript, there can be little doubt that Rezko conferred upon the Obamas a financial benefit. There are many holes in the public record. What really happened, Tony?
2. How did you get controversial British/Iraqi billionaire Nadhmi Auchi into the country in 2004 and which Illinois politicians tried to get him back in in 2005? For a primer, read this. Auchi is in the news again this morning in Chicago.
3. Since you fervantly believed that inside connections would stop the federal investigation against you, do you believe your even higher level inside connections can get your sentence lightened or commuted?
When the Blagojevich verdicts are announced this week, we shouldn’t forget about Tony Rezko. He has not been sentenced yet and he holds more secrets than anyone we know.
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