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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dale Baker who wrote (62795)	5/1/2008 2:55:57 PM
From: Dale Baker	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 542043

The Washington Post Candidate Watch has Rezko under the magnifying glass, but no clear verdict: Candidate Watch Obama's Rezko Connection "Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama was again drawn into Tony Rezko's corruption trial on Monday, when the prosecution's star witness placed Obama at a party for an Iraqi-born billionaire who was later barred entry to the United States." --Chicago Sun-Times, April 15, 2008. Proof of a meeting between Barack Obama and the Iraqi-born billionaire, Nadhmi Auchi, would be a blow for the Illinois senator's presidential campaign. Obama has repeatedly said that he cannot recollect any meeting with Auchi, a London-based businessman who is appealing a conviction for fraud in France. Auchi was a business contact of Antoin Rezko, a former Chicago developer and Obama fundraiser currently on trial for corruption. With a fortune estimated at more than $5 billion, Auchi is one of the world's richest men. According to U.S. prosecutors, Rezko lobbied the U.S. government to get a visa for Auchi after he was banned from entering the country. The Facts So far this is a case of "he said, she said," or rather "he said, he said." According to Stuart Levine, a former Rezko associate turned prosecution witness, both Barack Obama and his wife Michelle were among the guests at a April 3, 2004 party at Rezko's Chicago home for Auchi. At that time, Rezko was trying to impress Auchi with his political connections. The British billionaire would later buy part of Rezko's pizzeria business and invest $170 million in a prime piece of Chicago real estate that Rezko wanted to develop. While acknowledging his friendship with Rezko, Obama has minimized their social dealings. Interviewed last month by the Chicago Tribune, he said that he and Rezko met for breakfast or lunch infrequently. He said that he attended a fundraising event at Rezko's home in Wilmette in 2003, but made no mention of the April 2004 party for Auchi. On the other hand, legitimate questions have been raised about the credibility of Stuart Levine, the government's star witness in the Rezko case. The trial judge has ruled that Levine, a prominent GOP fundraiser, can be questioned about past drug use, ranging from cocaine to ecstasy to crystal meth. Defense lawyers have also questioned a plea bargaining arrangement under which Levine would be sentenced to a maximum of 5 1/2 years in prison instead of 30 years in return for cooperating with prosecutors. After Monday's court hearing, a spokesman for Obama said that he had "no recollection" of the April 2004 event at Rezko's Wilmette home. Obama recently acknowledged stopping by the Four Seasons Hotel in Chicago on another occasion when Rezko was hosting a small private dinner for two Qatar bankers in February 2004. At the time, Obama was in the middle of his U.S. Senate race. A lawyer for Auchi, Alasdair Pepper, told me by phone from London that his client also had "no recollection" of any meeting with either Obama or his wife. The Pinocchio Test We will have to wait to see how this story plays out. It took many months for Obama to answer questions about his dealings with Rezko from Chicago newspapers, and new details about the relationship have dribbled out over time. On the other hand, Levine's rather sketchy testimony about the alleged April 2004 meeting with Auchi is far from conclusive.

To: Dale Baker who wrote (62795)	5/1/2008 4:07:15 PM
From: Katelew	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 542043

. A few months after Obama became a U.S. senator, he and Rezko's wife, Rita, bought adjacent pieces of property from a doctor in Chicago's Kenwood neighborhood -- a deal that has dogged Obama the last two years. The doctor sold the mansion to Obama for $1.65 million -- $300,000 below the asking price. Rezko's wife paid full price -- $625,000 -- for the adjacent vacant lot. The deals closed in June 2005. Six months later, Obama paid Rezko's wife $104,500 for a strip of her land, so he could have a bigger yard. At the time, it had been widely reported that Tony Rezko was under federal investigation. Questioned later about the timing of the Rezko deal, Obama called it "boneheaded" because people might think the Rezkos had done him a favor. My guess is that the attack will turn on this. Obama got a $300,000 discount on a house at the peak of the real estate market while Rezko pays full price for the side yard lot. Did Rezko's purchase subsidize Obama's discount? That's the question. Obama buys 1/6 of the lot from Rezko, a strip 10' by 50', and pays 1/6 of the $625,000 that Rezko's wife paid for the lot.....which is $104,500. Buried in the original news article is Obama's own statement something to the effect that he chose to pay this price because he thought it was fair even though an appraiser appraised the strip at only $40,500. An appraised value of $40,500 is $27 a square foot. Based on this, one might assume that the appraised value of the entire original 9000 sq. ft. lot was only $243,000. If the appraised value of the lot is $243,000, that means Rezko's wife OVERPAID by $382,000. This makes up for the $300,000 discount the seller gave to Obama on the house purchase. Based on this, one can argue that 'yes', Rezko's wife did do the Obama's a favor. Please don't anyone attack me personally or call me silly. I've stated over and over that I intend to vote a straight D ticket. I'm a little more comfortable with Hillary but not opposed to Obama by any means. I'm not even going to answer anyone who attacks me personally or attempts to rebut my statements by tearing down Hillary because if you do this, you're missing the point, IMO. I'm simply saying that IF I were a right-wing harpie, this would be the core of my character attack on Obama. I would try to refute Obama's characterization of the real estate transactions by pointing to the appraised value. If this discrepancy hasn't been picked up by someone yet, I believe it will. To this, I would add (if I were a right-wing attack machine) the following observations or facts taken from the various articles in the MSM. 1. The lot in question was only 9000 sq. ft. with dimensions of 60' by 150'.....not very big for building anything on. After the strip is sold off, what is left is only 50' by 150'. Maybe condos could be built but with only 50' in depth, I have to wonder about covenances and fire codes coming into play. 2. The history of the property shows that the supposed lot was always a side yard and sold with the house. Before the Obama sale, the lot had never been platted or sold or treated as a separate piece of property. No separate deed. 3. The real estate broker says she doesn't remember who approached her first about the listing....Obama or Rezko. 4. The seller required that the closings on both pieces be done on the same day with the Rezko lot purchase closing first. All I'm doing here is outlining where Obama is at risk to having his character attacked. And I'm not alone. David Axelrod is obviously worried, too. He's on record as saying that had he been in the picture in 2005, he would have had Obama avoid these transactions. More importantly, Axelrod has obtained a email from the seller of the property which is an answer to questions about the transaction. The thing about the email, though, is that it doesn't actually answer the kind of questions that can be raised. Also, I found myself thinking that an affadavit would be much more persuasive and wondering why this hasn't been obtained from the seller. Being suspicious, I was left thinking that the few, rather generic questions the seller answered in the email was all the Obama campaign was able to extract from the seller. So, if I were a right-wing harpie, this email would actually raise more suspicions and questions than it answered. Again, what I personally think is the truth doesn't matter. I'm just speculating on how the attack could logically unfold. I also have some guesses as to what the Obama rebuttals could be.