CHICAGO, March 6, 2008
Obama's Rezko Ties Escape National Radar
Politico: Just-Underway Trial Of Obama's Former Fundraiser Evades Intense Media Coverage
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Indicted political fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko leaves Chicago's federal building in this Oct. 19, 2006, file photo. Rezko, who has poured thousands of dollars into Barack Obama's political campaigns, was arrested by federal agents Monday, Jan. 28, 2008, after his $2 million bail was revoked. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
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Four lonesome television cameramen lounged on folding chairs, read newspapers and idly chatted on cell phones in the sprawling marble lobby of the federal courthouse here, hoping to catch the players in the just-underway trial of former Barack Obama fundraiser Antoin “Tony” Rezko.
The scene was quite a contrast from the circus atmosphere they recalled in the same lobby during the early stages of two other recent high-profile trials -- those of former Illinois Gov. George Ryan and newspaper magnate Conrad Black. In each case, about three times as many TV cameramen jockeyed for position with sound men, photographers and reporters, with another media gaggle waiting outside. “We were tripping all over each other,” one of the cameramen recalled Tuesday, the second day of jury selection in the Rezko trial.
There are a number of reasons why those cases might have garnered more attention than Rezko’s trial. Those defendants were marquee attractions, and Obama is playing only a bit role in this case. Still, his inability to knock out Hillary Rodham Clinton in Tuesday’s primaries will surely provide her campaign with more opportunities to call attention to Obama’s relationship with Rezko.
He has pleaded not guilty to charges he solicited campaign cash, including $10,000 for Obama’s 2004 Senate campaign, and bribes in exchange for help doing business with the state of Illinois. Though the trial likely will get more coverage if Obama’s name is invoked as expected, few following the case dispute that, so far at least, the media spotlight on Rezko’s case -- and his relationship with Obama -- has been less than white hot.
In some respects, though, the case is becoming something of a proxy for the intense media-bias battle being waged behind the scenes in Obama’s struggle with Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination.
The trial comes as the national media are increasingly grappling with the question -- raised by everyone from Clinton to media critics and “Saturday Night Live” comedians -- of whether Obama has gotten less press scrutiny.
Though Obama has not been implicated in any wrongdoing in the Rezko case, the trial could yield new details about his ties to the Chicago businessman and political fundraiser who also helped him buy a home. Fresh information about their relationship could trip up Obama in what has been a remarkably rapid ascent in national politics. Or Obama could hurdle it, as he has other controversies.
Much could depend on the tenor and intensity of the media coverage, which likely won’t become clear until opening arguments begin Thursday.
Obama professes to be unconcerned that the trial will reveal anything that could sully his carefully crafted image as a post-Abramoff-era crusader for ethics in government and politics. Still, his campaign sent an aide Monday to monitor the start of the trial.
Cameras and sound equipment aren’t allowed in the courtroom. And Obama spokesman Bill Burton said the aide was there to “gather information because of all the media inquiries we’re getting.” But, he added, she “won’t be there for the whole trial.”
Clinton’s campaign also intends to send someone to the courthouse to monitor the trial. And the Republican National Committee is closely following -- and publicizing -- the developments, as it girds for a potential general election showdown between Obama and Arizona Sen. John McCain, the Republican nominee-in-waiting.
As for the press, regulars at Chicago’s Everett McKinley Dirksen Federal Courthouse said this week many more media descended on their beats to cover the jury selection proceedings for the trials of Ryan and Black.
Coverage of court proceedings for Ryan -- now in federal prison after his 2006 conviction on 18 corruption-relatedcounts, including taking bribes for state business and doling out campaign funds to relatives and to pay personal expenses -- filled Illinois papers and newscasts for more than two years. Black’s trial, which led to his conviction last year for bilking investors, was comprehensively chronicled by the press in Britain and Canada, where he owned papers.
Though Ryan and Black, also now in prison, had higher profiles than Rezko -- a real estate developer and fast-food franchise owner -- the collateral damage in Rezko’s case could be greater.
A major behind-the-scenes player in Illinois politics, Rezko raised cash for prominent Democrats including Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Obama, who also benefited from a 2005 land deal with Rezko’s wife that expanded the newly purchased $1.65 million Obama homestead in a way the senator’s family otherwise would not have been able to afford.
Obama’s campaign says it has donated to charity about $150,000 in contributions linked to Rezko. And Obama has repeatedly said he regrets the perception created by the real estate transaction, which he called “a boneheaded move.”
That shouldn’t satisfy voters, say Clinton aides. In targeted telephone calls and open teleconferences, they have chastised national reporters, who, they charge, have failed to hold Obama accountable for his dealings with Rezko.
Howard Wolfson, the bulldog communications director for the New York senator’s campaign, challenged reporters in a Friday conference call to answer a list of questions about Obama’s ties to Rezko: What has the Obama campaign done to root out straw donations from Rezko? How many fundraisers has Rezko thrown for Obama? How much money did Rezko bundle for Obama’s campaigns? How many events did Obama attend on behalf of Rezko?
“As good as the press corps on this call is, I bet that most of you don’t know the answers to those questions,” Wolfson said. “But I bet at some point, all Americans are going to know these answers to those questions if he’s our nominee.”
Wolfson asserted the Clinton campaign faced more scrutiny over -- and was also more proactive and forthcoming in dealing with -- its own troubled fundraiser, Norman Hsu (alternately pronounced “soo” or “shoe”), a fugitive convicted on grand theft charges years ago. The campaign gave to charity $23,000 contributed by Hsu and identified and returned more than $800,000 in contributions he bundled for Clinton.
“I can guarantee you that if the shoe were on the other foot, so to speak, no pun intended,” Wolfson said, “I would have been getting those calls, those questions, left and right, and having to come up with answers that were satisfactory to a very serious and dogged press corps.”
In fact, a Nexis search of major world newspapers Tuesday yielded 2,568 hits for the words “Clinton” and “Hsu” versus only 426 for the words “Obama” and “Rezko.” Expanding the search to include all media outlets, the Clinton/Hsu query produced more than 3,000 hits, while Obama/Rezko turned up 1,741.
Early this week, about 20 reporters occupied the long wooden benches in the 12th-floor courtroom where U.S. District Judge Amy J. St. Eve interviewed potential jurors for the Rezko trial. Another handful of reporters watched the proceedings via simulcast in a nearby courtroom. The New York Times, The L.A. Times and The Washington Post all had reporters in Chicago -- if not in the courtroom -- for recent write-ups of the Rezko case. And Chicago-based reporters for The Associated Press and Bloomberg have advanced the story at stages.
ABC, NBC and CNN had producers from their Chicago bureaus in the courtroom, but neither producers nor correspondents from their political or investigative units. CBS did not have anyone in the courtroom, but spokeswoman Sandra M. Genelius said, “We are closely monitoring [the trial] and will cover it as news warrants.”
All were relying on local affiliates to provide video as necessary and said they expected to ramp up their coverage if the trial touched Obama in any meaningful way.
National Public Radio is dividing coverage duties between its Chicago-based reporter, Cheryl Corley, and Chicago Public Radio, according to NPR Washington editor Ron Elving.
“Local NPR stations generally do a lot with the legal travails of state officials, while national NPR generally does not,” he said. “But the potential involvement of a presidential candidate is obviously another matter, and that’s why we have reported on this case on national programs as it progressed to trial and twice on the first day of the trial.”
The heavy lifting on the Rezko-Obama relationship has been done mostly by the Chicago media. However, the many column inches and broadcast minutes chronicling the complicated pay-to-play scheme involving Rezko -- but not Obama -- hasn’t gotten much traction outside the Windy City. Still, the Chicago press corps has doggedly pursued Obama for more information.
Obama bristled Monday after a campaign stop in San Antonio when a pack of Chicago reporters peppered him with questions about the land deal and Rezko’s fundraising activities and suggested he has been less than forthcoming with details on those matters.
“I don’t think it is fair to suggest somehow that we have been trying to hide the bone on this,” Obama told Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun-Times.
“There have been several hundred stories written on this issue,” he said, asserting the only reason the story is on anyone’s radar is that the trial started and Clinton’s aides “have decided to make this a theme the past couple days.”
By Kenneth P. Vogel
Copyright 2008 POLITICO
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See all 28 CommentsObama comes out looking like a boy-scout for just being guilty by association . . .
I can now understand why Republican Charlie Crist of Florida, Govenor Magnanimous has now drapped himself in the American flag to protect the Democratic primary votes for Hillary.
Ah Yes, Alfred Lord Tennyson
''Forward, the Light Brigade!'' aka The Democratic Party
Was there a man dismay''d ?
Not tho'' the soldier knew
Some one had blunder''d:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do & die,
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred. And Hillary, and the Democratic Party.
jagee49, you are a political hack and are probably paid by either the RNC or Obama''s team to post your nonsense and innuendo. Millions and millions of taxpayer dollars were spent trying to destroy the Clintons and all they bought was a blue dress.
Administration Whitewater counsel Mark Fabiani said in a statement the newly disclosed information was unreliable, since it "passed through five different people before it was ever taken down in a lawyer''s notes."
Republicans have been baffled over why the president wasn''t told about Foster''s note for 30 hours when the first lady knew about it immediately.
According to the document, Mrs. Clinton "said they should have a coherent position and should have decided what to do before they told the president."
(Hillary Clinton''s) billing records from the (Rose Law Firm) are found on a table in the White House residence book room (after two years). Clinton aide Carolyn Huber says she found the bills in August 1995 but didn''t realize their significance until coming across them again. The documents include copies of bills for Hillary Clinton''s legal work, showing she performed 60 hours of legal work for Madison in 1985 and 1986.
Re the house/land purchase, the original owners are on record that Obama did not receive any special arrangements or discounts, so no wrongdoing there; it was "boneheaded" because it could be subject to the APPEARANCE (my emphasis) of wrongdoing. There was no actual wrongdoing, though.
Certainly, nobody should be deemed guilty by association alone. Otherwise, Clinton would be "guilty" by dint of her relationship with fundraiser Jinnah,
http://articles.latimes.com/2008/02/21/news/na-jinnah21
who hosted fundraisers in his home for her and others, and just plead guilty to funneling $53,000 to Senators Clinton and Boxer.
And of course there''s Hsu. (cont''d below)
The federal government has accused the Illinois management consulting firm...of a brazen pattern of sexual harassment including "sexual assaults,%u201D %u201Cdegrading anti-female language" and "obscene suggestions."
In a 2001 lawsuit full of lurid details, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claims that 103 women employees at IPA were victimized for years. The civil case is ongoing, and IPA vigorously denies the allegations.
"This is by far, hands down, the worst case I''ve ever experienced," said Diane Smason, one of the EEOC lawyers handling the lawsuit....
Sen. Clinton%u2019s spokesman, Howard Wolfson, told NBC News in a statement that the senator decided to keep the funds because the lawsuit is "ongoing" and because none of the sexual harassment allegations has been proven in court. "With regard to the pending harassment suit, as a general matter, the campaign assesses findings of fact in deciding whether to return contributions," Wolfson said.
http://deepbackground.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/02/29/718285.aspx
So, per Wolfson, not guilty until proven in court.
Very true.
But in this case, I''d have to question Clinton''s judgment in hanging on to that $170,000. It APPEARS boneheaded to me.....
Hillary Clinton''s billing records from the Rose Law Firm are found on a table in the White House residence book room after two years. Clinton aide Carolyn Huber says she found the bills in August 1995 but didn''t realize their significance until coming across them again. The documents include copies of bills for Hillary Clinton''s legal work, showing she performed 60 hours of legal work for Madison in 1985 and 1986.
Jan. 8, 1996
In a commentary titled "Blizzard of Lies," New York Times columnist William Safire describes Hillary Clinton as "a congenital liar." White House press secretary Michael McCurry said if Clinton were not president he "would have delivered a more forceful response to that [column] on the bridge of Mr. Safire''s nose."
Jan. 15, 1996
Republicans suggest billing documents may have been withheld from their investigation to disguise how much work Hillary Clinton had done for Madison Guaranty. The White House issues a denial.
Jan. 22, 1996
Kenneth Starr subpoenas Hillary Clinton in a criminal probe to determine if records were intentionally withheld. This is the first time a wife of a sitting president has been subpoenaed.
Jan. 26, 1996
Hillary Clinton testifies before a grand jury about the discovery and content of the billing records.
March 4, 1996
Whitewater trial of Arkansas Gov. Jim Guy Tucker (D) and the McDougals begins in Little Rock.
The House Banking Committee, chaired by Republican Jim Leach of Iowa, finishes its examination and finds no illegalities.
Aug. 17, 1995
A grand jury charges James and Susan McDougal and Arkansas Gov. Jim Guy Tucker with bank fraud relating to questionable loans.
Oct. 26, 1995
The Senate Whitewater committee issues 49 subpoenas to federal agencies and others involved in the affair.
Dec. 12, 1995
White House associate counsel William H. Kennedy III, who worked at the Rose Law Firm, refuses to release subpoenaed notes of a 1993 meeting between administration officials and the president''s lawyers about Whitewater.
Dec. 20, 1995
The Senate votes along party lines to enforce the subpoena. The next day, the White House drops its claim to attorney-client privilege and releases the notes. They prove vague and do not reveal any illegality, but contain the phrase "Vacuum Rose law files WWDC Docs %u2013 subpoena."
The Democratic majority on the Senate Banking Committee releases a report finding no laws were broken in the Whitewater matter.
April 22, 1995
Starr interviews the Clintons privately.
July 18, 1995
The Senate Special Whitewater Committee, chaired by Republican Alfonse D''Amato, begins hearings on Whitewater and on Foster''s suicide. D''Amato is also a chairman of Republican Bob Dole''s presidential campaign. The hearings last 11 months.
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