Rezko's letter should put Obama, governor on alert
John Kass
June 13, 2008
Digg Del.icio.us Facebook Fark Google Newsvine Reddit Yahoo Print Reprints Post comment Text size: The last thing Sen. Barack Obama and Gov. Rod Blagojevich needed was that letter written by convicted Illinois influence peddler Tony Rezko promising he'd never rat out his pals.
The imprisoned political fixer insisted that federal prosecutors are squeezing him, according to an exclusive Tribune report written by federal courts reporter Jeff Coen for Thursday's paper.
"They are pressuring me to tell them the 'wrong' things that I supposedly know about Governor Blagojevich and Senator Obama," the fundraiser (and Obama's personal real estate fairy) wrote in a letter to U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve.
"I have never been a party to any wrongdoing that involved the Governor or the Senator," Rezko argued. "I will never fabricate lies about anyone else for selfish purposes. I will take whatever comes my way, but I will never hurt innocent people."
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Amen, Tony. But those who say nothing don't brag. They shut up.
Yet those who promise to say nothing, and promise it loudly, often have much to say later, in a calm and rational voice, meekly from the witness box.
I've seen a few lately, a convicted Outfit hit man who killed at least a dozen people and testified against Chicago mob bosses, and, in an unrelated case, a convicted political apparatchik of the GOP who talked like Joe Pesci in the movies until he broke, blubbered and helped put former Gov. George Ryan in prison.
They all want the same thing—to make sure their loved ones are well cared for on the outside. It could be that Rezko, who mentioned his sons in the letter, cares more about them and his wife, Rita, than he does about his political buddies. Hence, the implied threat to the senator and the governor. That could be a problem for both Obama and Blagojevich, but mostly, I think, for Blagojevich, if Rezko—convicted of more than a dozen corruption counts—begins to squeak.
Democrat Obama—whose campaign reiterated he's never done wrong with Rezko—is on the verge of assuming the presidency, about to defeat a Republican Party that has forgotten what it believes. Republicans were blinded and seduced by crooked GOP lobbyists like Jack Abramoff and overspent on Illinois Republican boss-hog-style deals. There was a national conservative silence when phrases such as "big government conservatism" were bandied about without ridicule. So the road was paved for Obama.
Obama's supporters don't know exactly what Obama believes in, but they seem not to care. He's on the way up and out of the wetlands of Chicago politics, reborn unto his national and mythic reform narrative, discovered by joyous national media and embraced, much as the iconic child was discovered and embraced when found in the reed basket floating on the River Potomac.
Obama doesn't need to remind the national media that he walked the Chicago Way, that his feet actually touched the soiled political ground. Rezko's recent conviction and the letter are such reminders. But Blagojevich is the member of Rezko's posse who is federally vulnerable. An unofficial Patty Watch has sprung up among reporters speculating that Blagojevich's wife, Patty, may be the first in the family with federal issues, as the FBI is investigating her own real estate dealings with Rezko and others.
Note: In Thursday's column, I mentioned just a few of the aldermen who voted on Richard Shortshanks' Great Grant Park Land Grab. In case you missed it, here's the complete list:
The 16 brave aldermen who voted to keep Grant Park forever free and clear were: Ald. Manuel Flores (1st), Ald. Pat Dowell (3rd), Ald. Toni Preckwinkle (4th), Ald. Leslie Hairston (5th), Ald. Sandi Jackson (7th), Ald. Sharon Denise Dixon (24th), Ald. Ed Smith (28th), Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd), Ald. Rey Colon (35th), Ald. Thomas Allen (38th), Ald. Brian Doherty (41st), Ald. Brendan "Braveheart" Reilly (42nd), Ald. Vi Daley (43rd), Ald. Thomas Tunney (44th), Ald. Eugene Schulter (47th) and Ald. Joseph Moore (49th).
The 33 knaves who voted to despoil the lakefront park on the king's command were: Ald. Robert Fioretti (2nd), Ald. Freddrenna Lyle (6th), Ald. Michelle Harris (8th), Ald. Anthony Beale (9th), Ald. John Pope (10th), Ald. James Balcer (11th), Ald. George Cardenas (12th), Ald. Frank Olivo (13th), Ald. Ed Burke (14th), Ald. Toni Foulkes (15th), Ald. JoAnn Thompson (16th), Ald. Latasha Thomas (17th), Ald. Lona Lane (18th), Ald. Virginia Rugai (19th), Ald. Willie Cochran (20th), Ald. Howard Brookins (21st), Ald. Ricardo Munoz (22nd), Ald. Michael Zalewski (23rd), Ald. Daniel Solis (25th), Ald. Billy Ocasio (26th), Ald. Walter Burnett Jr. (27th), Ald. Isaac Carothers (29th), Ald. Ariel Reboyras (30th), Ald. Ray Suarez (31st), Ald. Richard Mell (33rd), Ald. William Banks (36th), Ald. Emma Mitts (37th), Ald. Margaret Laurino (39th), Ald. Patrick O'Connor (40th), Ald. Patrick Levar (45th), Ald. Helen Shiller (46th), Ald. Mary Ann Smith (48th) and Ald. Bernard Stone (50th).
Remember them.
jskass@tribune.com
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