How big is Barack Obama's "Tony Rezko" problem?

Kim Pearson — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 21:13:25 -0600

As Barack Obama headed into tonight's mini-Super Tuesday primaries, his rivals, journalists and a cast of thousands are casting one eye on the federal district courtroom in Chicago where the criminal trial of Antoin Rezko began this week. Rezko, a real-estate developer and restaurant owner who has donated money to both Republican and Democratic candidates over the last 15 years, stands accused of corruption and extortion. Specifically, he is accused of shaking downother business owners for illegal payments and then using the proceeds to buy political influence.

The Chicago Sun-Times has a great summary of the charges and key players. The trial is expected to expose relationships between Rezko and a number of Illinois politicians, including Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Barack Obama. Prosecutors say someone in Blagojevich's administration suggested that political influence could be had for a price. They also say that $10,000 of the funds that Rezko extorted was donated to Obama's 2004 Senate campaign. According to TPMMuckraker, Rezko raised $150,000 for Obama's Senate and Presidential campaigns. Obama has returned money donated by Rezko and his associates or donated it to charity.

Prosecutors have not suggested that Obama has done anything illegal, nor will he be called as a witness. However, Obama's relationship with Rezko has been under scrutiny for several years now because of the donations, and because in 2005, Rezko and Obama bought adjoining pieces of real estate on the same day from the same seller. Obama has said that there was no collusion between him and Rezko on the deal, but that he was "boneheaded" for not realizing that the coincidence might look improper.

Still, Chicago investigative reporters have complained that Obama has not answered all of their questions about the transaction, or about Rezko's fundraising on his behalf. Obama and his staff have denied that charge, citing occasions where Obama answered reporters' questions.Chicago Sun-Times reporter Lynne Sweet has details:

"On Sunday, the chief strategist for the Obama campaign disagreed with my conclusion where I wrote that Obama has not talked to reporters who know the Tony Rezko story the best.

"For more than a year, that has been a pretty small group of investigative journalists—from the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune. I checked with the Sun-Times reporters before I wrote my column and rechecked again. They all said they have never had a chance to discuss Rezko with Obama...."

Hillary Clinton's campaign staff released a statement urging reporters to ask Obama to release all of the documents related to the land transaction, as well as more detailed information about Rezko's fundraising on Obama's behalf. Senior Clinton campaign advisers also raised the issue in a conference call with reporters, leading New York Observer's Katherine Jose to say:

"The main points Wolfson and Singer made were true--there are some questions Obama hasn't answered, and Rezko's trial is underway. It also seemed like another way of making a case to the press that the race, whatever today's result, is very much alive."

Jeralyn Merritt, who is covering the trial for TalkLeft, says this is a "trial about the politics of crime and crime in politics:"

"Let me start out by saying, as I have before, that I don't think Barack Obama did anything illegal in his dealings with Anton "Tony" Rezko. Obama has labeled his involvement with Rezko and his wife in the purchase of his home "boneheaded." In other words, since Rezko was under federal investigation by a grand jury at the time Obama bought the $1.65 million house, it was bad judgment, nothing more."

Although Obama will not be in the courtroom, Chicago Sun-Times blogger Natasha Korecki reported that he does have a surrogate on hand at the trial. New York Times blogger Catrin Einhorn said that an Obama campaign spokesman said the woman was taking notes to help them respond to reporters' queries.

Jay Fitzgerald, a reporter for the Boston Herald who covered Illinois politics in the 1990s, doesn't expect the Rezko case to block Obama's path to the nomination,but:

"[L]ong-term (i.e., post-nomination), it will hurt Obama the same way that the lobbyists story has dinged McCain's reputation and the same way Whitewater followed the Clintons around like a skunk. ..."

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How big is Barack Obama's "Tony Rezko" problem?