[Dems2008] Re: Rezko trial

cat, once in 1982, my wife and I were guests at the home of a person
who later was found not to have filed tax returns for four
consecutive years. Also at teh same party --and, much worse, at
another pool party that we attended -- were a couple who were fired
from their jobs for incompetence.

And, of course, in the interest of full disclosure, I attended a
church for 15 years, only to learn later that several of the members
were members of the Communist Party in the 1940s.

And, I subscribe to the same newspaper as a slumlord in our area.

I guess there are some serious questions about my "associations."

--- In Dems2008@yahoogroups.com, catpurdy@... wrote:
>
> Obama's connection to a shady Iraqi-born British businessman was
confirmed in
> bombshell Rezko trial testimony on Monday. Who is Nadhmi Auchi and
why might
> Obama be back in hot water over the real estate deal on his
house?
> The star witness at the Tony Rezko fraud trial in Chicago may have
gotten
> Barack Obama in hot water again over his long term relationship
with the Chicago “
> fixer,” as well as his connection to a shady billionaire who may
have played
> a key role in the real estate deal involving Obama’s home.Stuart
Levine
> testified that Senator Obama and his wife were guests at Tony
Rezko’s house at a
> party honoring Iraqi-born British billionaire Nadhmi Auchi in early
April 2004,
> according to press reports. This was the second event attended by
Obama where
> Auchi, convicted of fraud in Europe, was the guest of honor.
Earlier that month
> on April 3, Obama met with a group of “Middle East bankers”
including Auchi
> at a reception sponsored by Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich.The
problem for
> Obama is that he first said, through campaign spokesman Bill Burton
in an
> email to the news site Raw Story back in January, that “[h]e has
no recollection
> of ever meeting him [Auchi].” Then, in an interview with the
Chicago Sun Times,
> Obama let on that he “may” have met Auchi at the Four Seasons
reception
> sponsored by Blagojevich.The question will almost certainly be
asked how Obama
> could forget meeting his longtime friend’s very important
business partner twice
> in such a short period of time.This is especially true since Auchi
apparently
> attended at least one Obama fundraiser. Joseph Cacciatore, whose
family once
> owned a 62-acre plot of land bought by Rezko and was in the process
of
> developing with Auchi, says he met Auchi a few years ago:
> > Cacciatore can’t suppress at least a touch of admiration for
the dapper,
> > sophisticated Auchi. He said they met at an Obama fundraising
party that Rezko
> > gave at his home several years ago. “He was well dressed,”
Cacciatore said. “
> > He seemed distinguished.”
> Both men say they don’t know each other.And Obama isn’t the
only one who
> wished to downplay this relationship with Auchi. Raw Story reported
that shortly
> after rumors began circulating that Obama met with Auchi, two
websites
> connected to Auchi’s holding company, General Mediterranean
Holding, were scrubbed of
> any mention of his trip to Illinois.Obama himself has been
extraordinarily
> vague about any possible meetings, saying that while he very well
may have met
> Auchi, he doesn’t recall it.Why is this so important?
Establishing a previous
> relationship between Obama and Auchi opens a fresh line of
questions about the
> real estate deal on his home involving Rezko and Obama â€"questions
about the
> source of money that Rezko used to buy a side lot to Obama’s
mansion at a time
> when he told a court he was flat broke and heavily in
debt.According to a story
> in the TimesOnline, another holding company belonging to Auchi,
Fintrade
> Services SA, loaned Mr. Rezko $3.5 million dollars just three weeks
before Obama
> and Rezko closed the sale on the property simultaneously â€"a
stipulation by the
> previous owners that both the lot and house be sold at the same
timeâ€" thus
> allowing Obama to purchase his dream house.Over the years, Auchi
loaned Rezko a
> considerable amount of money: more than $27 million, according to
prosecutors.
> To pay off the debt, Rezko gave Auchi a bigger stake in that
showpiece 62-acre
> land development on the south side of Chicago. In return, Auchi
kept Rezko’s
> head above water as his numerous business ventures including real
estate,
> pizza resturants, and property management were in various stages of
failure. There
> is also the fact that Rezko was facing several lawsuits in
connection with
> these enterprises.It was another $3.5 million loan from Auchi late
last year
> that caused a federal judge to revoke Rezko’s bail and send him
to jail. Given
> Rezko’s numerous contacts in the Middle East, including his
friendship with the
> Emir of Qatar, it worried the judge that Rezko might leave Chicago
for
> friendlier climes and not return.Auchi has a reputation in Great
Britain of
> collecting politicians “the way that other people collect
stamps.” The list of current
> and former British politicians working for one of Mr. Auchi’s
numerous
> enterprises is an eye opener.
> > Norman Lamont retired from government to a seat on the board of
the
> > financial arm of General Mediterranean Holding, which runs
Auchi’s many businesses.
> > Lord Steel, the former leader of the Liberal Democrats and the
current
> > presiding officer of the Scottish Parliament, is also on the
board. Lady Falkender,
> > Harold Wilson’s former secretary, has worked for Auchi, as has
Gerald
> > Malone, a former Tory Minister you’ve probably forgotten about.
Keith Vaz, the
> > former New Labour Foreign Office Minister once accepted a
directorship from
> > Auchi.
> Given Auchi’s checkered past, it’s amazing that politicians
with any
> integrity would have anything to do with him. First, there is
Auchi’s conviction in
> the notorious Elf case in France, where company directors and
officers of the
> state owned oil company used the firm as “a private bank for
executives who
> spent £200 million on political favors, mistresses, jewelery, fine
art, villas
> and apartments.”Beyond Elf, there is Auchi’s involvement in the
Oil-for-Food
> scandal through his ownership of the the PNB Paribas bank, where
the money for
> the program was held in an escrow account. BNP Paribas “was the
sole bank
> administering the $64 billion UN programme. An investigation by the
US House
> Committee on International Relations found that BNP Paribas made
payments without
> proof that goods were delivered and sanctioned payments to third
parties not
> identified as authorized recipients.”The scheme earned BNP and
Auchi $700 million
> in fees. It also earned his old friend Saddam Hussein more than $10
billion.
> Auchi acted as a conduit for arms during the Saddam years and was
also
> involved in several oil deals with western nations at that time and
bribing several
> Iraqi officials in the process, according to a court in Milan.
“The name Nadhmi
> Auchi was just another name for Saddam’s intelligence service, or
so we
> thought,” said Nibras Kazimi, a former Iraqi dissident who is now
a visiting
> scholar at the Hudson Institute in Washington D.C.So Auchi
â€"friend of Saddam, interna
> tional fraudster, and business partner to one of Chicago’s
premiere fixersâ€"
> gave Rezko the money that allowed Obama to purchase his house.
Without the
> loan, Rezko would not have been able to afford the $125,000
downpayment on the
> lot and Obama would not have been able to meet the terms set by the
sellers.Did
> Auchi know that part of that money would be used to help Obama
purchase his
> house? Did Obama know where Rezko’s money came from?This is
important to know
> because about the time of the loan to Rezko, Auchi was put on the
State
> Department’s “undesirable alien” list and was prevented from
getting a visa to the
> United States. Rezko told prosecutors that he tried to intervene on
Auchi’s
> behalf with the State Department to get the ban lifted. Running
into a stone wall
> at State, the prosecutors say that Rezko turned to “certain
Illinois
> politicians to do the same.” Who would Rezko have turned to
except Obama (and probably
> Governor Blagojevich)?The fact that Obama knew Auchi from his trip
to Chicago
> a year before alters what we had previously known about the
billionaire’s visa
> problems. The question arises if any quid pro quo was given with
regard to
> the Rezko loan, involving Obama’s possible intercession with the
State
> Department on Auchi’s behalf. Going to bat for your patron’s
business partner to solve
> a little thing like a visa problem is not a mortal sin. But
connecting it to
> a loan that made it possible for Obama to purchase his house would
be a little
> more serious and could involve the Senate Ethics Committee.Obama
denies
> helping Auchi in any way with his visa but can’t vouch for his
staff:
> > Q: Did you ever help Auchi enter the country?A: NoQ: Or your
office?A: “Not
> > that I know of.”
> That would seem to leave an “out” for the lawyerly senator but
is
> inconclusive otherwise.There will be many who say this just
doesn’t matter: that Obama’
> s relationship with Auchi, like his relationship with bigoted
preacher
> Jeremiah Wright, like his relationship with Pentagon bombers and
domestic terrorists
> William Ayers and Bernadine Dorhn, like his relationship with some
of the more
> unsavory elements of the Chicago political machine including Tony
Rezko, is
> all guilt by association and an unfair attack on the candidate.But
the average
> voter might be asking right about now where does “guilt by
association” end
> and the candidate being guilty of having monumentally bad judgment
in picking
> his associates begin?Rick Moran is PJM Chicago editor; his own blog
is Right
> Wing Nut House.
>
>
>
>
>
> citation502@... writes:
>
> > has been going on for weeks now, and I notice we're not seeing
transcript
> > excerpts with all the dirt on Obama the Hillaryites kept telling
us would
> > emerge.
> >
> > And the prosecution goes FIRST, so we are in the stage of the
trial NOW
> > where dirt would be coming if there were any.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> **************
> Need a new ride? Check out the largest site for U.S. used car
> listings at AOL Autos.
>
> (http://autos.aol.com/used?NCID=aolcmp00300000002851)
>

------------------------------------

Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Dems2008/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Dems2008/join

(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
mailto:Dems2008-digest@yahoogroups.com
mailto:Dems2008-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
Dems2008-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:

http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/