Olympics 2016. It’s that appearance of impropriety thing again (Updated; Bumped)

Nearly a year ago, on June 16, RBO (then known as RezkoWatch) wrote that the email inbox had been quite busy over the weekend, just full of suggestions, questions and opinions.

One of those interesting questions, which follows, was about Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and his possible involvement with Chicago’s bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics.

But first, we have Kenneth P. Vogel, writing in today’s The Politico:

The Obama White House is playing an unprecedented role in the bid to bring the 2016 Summer Olympics to Chicago, with top adviser Valerie Jarrett spearheading an effort that draws on the international symbolism of his presidency.

Any president would have an interest in helping an American city win an Olympic bid. But none has been as closely associated with an Olympic proposal as Obama, and the emerging effort by the White House is unusually pointed in its attempt to wrap the campaign around the president and his appealing image abroad — a strategy veteran Olympics watchers say is paying dividends and could result in an enormous hometown farewell party if Obama wins a second term.

“Without Obama in the White House, I would say there would be no chance whatsoever for the U.S. winning,” said Canadian IOC member Dick Pound. “The United States is the only country in this race that has had an absolutely extraordinary transformational experience with the election of Obama, which weighs very heavily in its favor.”

While the initiative is not formally directed by the West Wing, it relies heavily on Obama associates and confidants to raise private capital and seeks to parlay the international goodwill surrounding his election into a victory for Chicago.

The extent of Barackistan HQ’s involvement, you ask? Well, as Vogel reports, the Play-Doh Prez has

[...] recorded two separate videos supporting the bid since his election as president, one for presentation to the General Assembly of the European Olympic Committee in Istanbul less than three weeks after defeating Republican John McCain, and a second that was shown to IOC members during a tour of Chicago last month.

But it’s not only Jarrett who’s involved. Vogel writes:

Jarrett had been vice chair of Chicago 2016, the $49 million nonprofit enterprise created in 2006 to lead the city’s bid. The group maintains deep ties to some of Obama’s closest backers, who are among its top officials and major financiers.

Four of the five co-chairs of Obama’s inaugural committee have unpaid leadership roles in the Chicago bid, including Pat Ryan, the chairman and CEO of Chicago 2016; John Rogers, the treasurer and director of Chicago 2016; Penny Pritzker, the hotel heiress who led Obama’s meteoric presidential campaign fundraising; and Bill Daley, the former Clinton administration commerce secretary and brother of the Chicago mayor.

White House social secretary Desiree Rogers, an Obama family friend, also served on the Chicago committee, which still counts Obama confidant and vacation companion Eric Whitaker among its members. Jarrett was replaced as vice chair by Martin Nesbitt, the treasurer of Obama’s campaign and another Obamaland fixture.

A.S.K. Public Strategies, the Chicago-based corporate public relations company founded by Obama political guru David Axelrod, has been paid “a nominal amount of money” by Chicago 2016 to do “communication management [and] communication planning,” said former Axelrod partner Eric Sedler.

Ah, yes. The Chicago Way. Everybody close to the One makes out like a bandit.

John McCormick reports in today’s Chicago Tribune that Jarrett said the “special ethics waiver she recently received from the White House to lead the federal government’s effort to bring the 2016 Olympics to Chicago was needed only out of an abundance of caution in trying to be transparent.”

“We wanted to have one point of contact in the White House who is responsible to make sure everything runs smoothly,” she told the Tribune after a Chicago fundraising event for Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.). “Our goal is to try to win the bid.”

Jarrett, who previously served as vice chair of Chicago 2016, needed the waiver because the White House ethics pledge prohibits appointees from dealing with matters “substantially related” to previous employers or clients.

The White House has said Jarrett’s previous work for Chicago 2016 was voluntary and she has no ongoing financial relationship with the entity. She said her role will include trying to coordinate the involvement of various federal agencies in a successful bid.

Now back to that RW/RBO question from June 16, 2008:

On the evening of the celebration that was held last week when it was announced that Chicago has been short-listed for the 2016 Olympic games, Obama stated on one of the Chicago news channels, and it was subsequently reported in print, that he commented that if he were home in 2016, he would be able to walk 2 blocks out of his front door to attend events.

I vaguely recall that Obama has been involved in some of the committees that have worked over the years to bring the Olympics to Chicago, and I would not be at all surprised to find out that he may have also been involved, as a prominent member of the AA community, in convincing Daley to agree to center several of the Olympic facilities on the south side as a way to spark economic development for the largely African-American communities in that area. And let’s not forget that one big element of Obama’s now-presidential platform is to increase federal minority contractor funding, despite the scandalous dealings revealed re [Tony] Rezko, Rezko’s brother, and some earlier AA minority contracts.

I would be interested in knowing just exactly how much detail Obama had about potential Olympic facility locations in 2005 when Chicago put its proposal in, and how that relates in time to the dates in 2005 on which Obama and Rezko began looking at, discussing, and negotiating the purchase of that house and lot in such close proximity to some of the Olympic sites. Quite apart from anything else, I don’t have a clue how public the facility locations specified in the proposal at that time might have been, or whether it was actually classified as confidential information.

But, whether confidential information or not (but worse if it were confidential), to see an elected official and a now-convicted felon working the real estate market to take advantage of potential increases in values re the Olympic facilities is unsavoury. And it also seems to me, given the details of the prices used as the deal got put together, to contain some illegal elements. If Rezko didn’t help Obama actually buy his house, he helped him finance an investment.

Here are the indisputable facts RW/RBO cited in June 2008 indicating that then Sen. Obama has a bit more than a passing interest.

Fact: Previously, Chicago formed a committee to investigate a bid for 2008 but “quickly rejected that idea. Mayor Daley later criticized the USOC for ‘conning’ cities to ante up $50,000 just to get into the competition.” There was no application fee for 2016.

Fact: On March 7, 2007, Sen. Obama made an appearance “by recorded video to the USOC presentation, apparently in an attempt to impress them,” raising the question whether he was “going to actively campaign for a Chicago Olympic bid at the same time he’s campaigning for President of the United States?”

Fact: On April 14, 2007, Chicago was selected by the U.S. Olympic Committee “as the American competitor to host the 2016 Summer Olympics.”

Fact: Valerie Jarrett, one of Obama’s top campaign advisors and close friends, is the vice chair of Chicago’s bid committee.

Fact: Bill Daley, brother to Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, an Obama supporter, who signed on in December 2006 as a senior Obama advisor, is another member of the Chicago bid committee.

Fact: Sen. Obama “joked” on June 6, 2008, at Chicago’s celebration rally for reaching quarterfinalist status, “that his Hyde Park home is only two locks from the proposed Olympic site, and said that his home could be vacant by 2016 when the Olympics rolls into town.”

“I’m just going to be able to walk over there. I might have to rent out my house, I don’t know how much its going to be worth. And I also, in the interest of full disclosure, I have to let you know that in 2016 I’ll be wrapping up my second term as president.”

Any questions?

The Dan Mahru Reader — Connecting Some Dots

Daniel Mahru, the former development partner of convicted political fixer — and PSBHO’s personal real estate fairy — Antoin “Tony” Rezko, is bankrupt, the Chicago Sun-Times’ Tim Novak reports today.

Dan Mahru — a lawyer who became an ice peddler and real estate developer — has filed for bankruptcy, declaring that he and his business partners, including Rezko, owe as much as $95 million to creditors.

Mahru estimates his personal debts could be as high as $50 million.

Mahru and Rezko split a few years ago [2005]. But they’re still fighting dozens of lawsuits filed over housing developments they built. “I couldn’t handle all the multitude of lawsuits involving Mr. Rezko,” Mahru says.

Mahru lists $48,970.61 in assets in the bankruptcy case he filed shortly before Christmas.

His creditors are a “who’s who” of Rezko’s world, including:

• A company owned by Nadhmi Auchi (right), the Iraq-born billionaire who took control of 62 acres in the South Loop that Rezko and Mahru hoped to develop [in 2002].

• Joseph Cacciatore, a lawyer and developer who says he’s owed $5 million from the South Loop project.

• John Thomas, a developer and FBI mole [more here] who helped authorities document the repeated visits former Gov. Rod Blagojevich and President Obama made to the offices where Rezko and Mahru ran their Rezmar Corp.

• Fortunee Massuda, a podiatrist who invested millions in Rezmar projects. [See Rezko's "dirty money" list.]

Mahru has stopped paying the $1.5 million mortgage on his Glencoe home, which is now in foreclosure. He owes $5.4 million on mortgages for his company, Automatic Ice, which provides icemakers to restaurants and hotels. And he owes more than $480,000 in legal fees to eight law firms — including $5,075.28 to the law firm of Ald. Edward M. Burke (14th).

Crain’s reported December 17, 2008, on Mahru’s bankruptcy filing:

Mahru, who now has his own company, blamed [Tony] Rezko (left, with PSBHO) for his financial troubles, saying Mr. Rezko has not lived up to the terms of a September 2005 buyout of Mr. Mahru’s stake in Rezmar.

“I’m forced into this position because of Mr. Rezko,” said Mr. Mahru, CEO of Chicago-based Radian Development LLC. The bankruptcy filing “is not my first choice, it’s my last choice,” he added.

As part of the buyout agreement, Mr. Rezko agreed to reimburse Mr. Mahru in connection with any Rezmar-related litigation, Mr. Mahru said. Mr. Rezko also agreed to pay a $2-million promissory note, Mr. Mahru said, and make an additional payment, which Mr. Mahru declined to disclose. [...]

Mr. Mahru’s bankruptcy petition comes as he says he faces collection efforts by creditors on several Rezmar ventures, including a 4.4-acre site in Sauganash on the Northwest Side, where nearly four years ago Rezmar planned to build 35 homes.

The plan collapsed, and Wisconsin-based lender M&I Marshall & Isley Bank last year obtained a judgment for about $13 million, property and court records show.

Mr. Mahru said creditors have obtained several other judgments against him in connection with Rezmar projects, which he declined to identify.

In March, National City Bank filed a $1.5-million foreclosure lawsuit on Mr. Mahru’s Glencoe home. Mr. Mahru says the case is in “limbo.”

Crain’s clarifies the little matter of whether or not Mahru has been cooperating with federal prosecutors in Rezko’s criminal cases. Both Mary Wisniewski at the Chicago Sun-Times (Rezko accuses ex-partner. Mahru denies claim he turned informant to avoid arrest) and RBO (Rezko’s power plant—bribe allegation) wrote about this nearly a year ago. Crain’s writes:

There is little love between Messrs. Rezko and Mahru.

In December 2005, after Rezmar’s breakup, Mr. Mahru began cooperating with federal investigators against Mr. Rezko, according to a document filed by Mr. Rezko in one of his two criminal cases. Mr. Mahru ultimately was not called as a witness in Mr. Rezko’s case.

Mr. Mahru declined to comment about the investigation except to say, “I’ve had no discussions with the federal authorities in a very long time.”

Tim Novak, who has followed and reported extensively on Rezko, wrote a pair of articles April 23 and 24, 2007, from which RBO is borrowing heavily below.

Novak reported on April 23, 2007, that “[f]or more than five weeks during the brutal winter of 1997, tenants shivered without heat in a government-subsidized apartment building on Chicago’s South Side.”

It was just four years after the landlords — Antoin ‘Tony” Rezko and his partner Daniel Mahru — had rehabbed the 31-unit building in Englewood with a loan from Chicago taxpayers.

Rezko and Mahru couldn’t find money to get the heat back on.

But their company, Rezmar Corp., did come up with $1,000 to give to the political campaign fund of Barack Obama, the newly elected state senator whose district included the unheated building. [...]

Obama, who has worked as a lawyer and a legislator to improve living conditions for the poor, took campaign donations from Rezko even as Rezko’s low-income housing empire was collapsing, leaving many African-American families in buildings riddled with problems — including squalid living conditions, vacant apartments, lack of heat, squatters and drug dealers. [...] Eleven of Rezko’s buildings were in Obama’s state Senate district.

Davis Miner Barnhill & Galland

Novak wrote in his April 23, 2007, article that at the time PSBHO was “an attorney with a small Chicago law firm — Davis Miner Barnhill & Galland — that helped Rezmar get more than $43 million in government funding to rehab 15 of their 30 apartment buildings for the poor.” It remains unclear how much work the Unprez may have contributed to these efforts although, as Novak wrote, he was “associated with the firm for more than nine years.”

Between 1989 and 1998, Rezmar made deals to rehab 30 buildings, a total of 1,025 apartments. The last 15 buildings involved Davis Miner Barnhill & Galland during Obama’s time with the firm. [...]

Rezko and Mahru also managed the buildings, which were supposed to provide homes for poor people for 30 years. Every one of the projects ran into trouble.

We do know that in 1994 Obama “appeared in Cook County court on behalf of Woodlawn Preservation & Investment Corp., defending it against a suit by the city, which alleged that the company failed to provide heat for low-income tenants on the South Side during the winter.”

The connection? PSBHO’s boss, Allison Davis (left), told the Chicago Sun-Times in April 2007 that, while he was “running the law firm, he was also a board member of the Woodlawn Preservation and Investment Corp., a not-for-profit company that hooked up with Rezko’s Rezmar Corp. on tax-supported projects to rehabilitate apartments for low-income tenants. Davis’ firm handled the legal work on those housing deals.”

As Tim Novak wrote April 23, 2007, it was the DMB&G law firm that connected Rezko and Rezmar to PSBHO in 1991:

Obama’s friendship with Rezko began with a telephone call.

It was 17 years ago. Obama had just become the first black president of the Harvard Law Review. Newspapers wrote about him. One story caught the eye of David Brint, a vice president of Rezmar, a new company that had become the Daley administration’s favored developer of low-income housing.

“I just cold-called him,” Brint said in an interview.

Brint said he wanted to know if Obama would come work for Rezmar, developing housing for the poor — something Obama had expressed interest in, according to the story Brint had read. Brint arranged for Obama to meet Rezko, but Obama didn’t take the job.

Obama did join the law firm — “which specialized in helping developers build housing for the poor. Five of those deals included Rezko’s company, Rezmar Corp.” — in 1993. According to an April 2007 Chicago Sun-Times interview, PSBHO “reported primarily to former partner Allison Davis and occasionally to William Miceli,” who continues to serve as fiscal agent for the Obamas’ Hyde Park real estate.

Obama, who has a law degree from Harvard, subsequently returned to Chicago to lead a voter-registration drive in 1992.

The next year, Obama joined Davis Miner Barnhill & Galland, a 12-lawyer firm that specialized in helping develop low-income housing. The firm’s top partner, Allison S. Davis, was, and is, a member of the Chicago Plan Commission, appointed by Mayor Daley. Davis was also a friend of Rezko. Davis and Rezko would eventually go into business together, developing homes.

Another firm partner, Judson Miner (right, with Linda Miner and PSBHO), ran the city Law Department under Mayor Harold Washington, one of Obama’s political idols.

Rezko and Mahru’s “luck” turned for the better in 1998

Novak explains in his April 24, 2007, article that, even though Rezko and Mahru had “no construction experience,” Mayor Richard Daley’s city hall gave “their new company, Rezmar Corp. a $629,000 loan to help fix up … rundown buildings for poor black families,” specifically an “abandoned apartment building at 46th and Drexel.”

They had applied for the loan just six days after Richard M. Daley won his first term as mayor in 1989, having campaigned on a promise to build more housing for the poor.

Rezko and Mahru got the loan four months later, and quickly became one of the Daley administration’s favored developers. They got deal after deal — between 1989 and 1998, more than $100 million from the city, state and federal governments and bank loans to rehabilitate 30 buildings in Chicago.

Rezmar was paid at least $6.9 million to develop those apartments.

Taxpayers have lost $5.7 million in grants and loans written off by the Daley administration, a Chicago Sun-Times investigation has found. Millions more could be written off, based on court records and interviews.

Novak wrote Rezmar “was supposed to provide 1,025 apartments for the poor.” But, as of his April 2007, article …

• Six of its 30 buildings are boarded up.
• Seventeen went into in foreclosure, most after Rezmar abandoned them.
• An 18th building is being foreclosed on by the state. Rezmar walked away from it, leaving it to the corporate investors, who got a state loan to try to save it but failed. The building is now boarded up.
• Hundreds of apartments are vacant, most in need of major repairs.

When Mahru met Rezko

Novak continues in his April 2007 article:

In 1984, Rezko went to work for Crucial Concessions Inc., owned by Herbert Muhammad, whose father, Elijah Muhammad, founded the Nation of Islam. Herbert Muhammad also was the longtime manager of boxing great Muhammad Ali. Crucial had a contract with the Chicago Park District to sell food on the beaches and in many South Side parks. Rezko was running Crucial when he met Daniel Mahru.

“That’s an interesting story,” Mahru said. “He sold food along the beaches, and I sold him ice.”

Mahru, chief executive officer of Automatic Ice Inc., which leases ice makers to bars, hotels and restaurants, grew up on the North Shore. He had been an attorney with a big Chicago law firm.

He and Rezko incorporated Rezmar in January 1989 [incorporated 01/10/1989 in Cook County, Illinois (Doc. 89030572 recorded 01/19/1989)] , when Chicagoans were focused on Daley’s campaign to oust Mayor Eugene Sawyer. Daley won, and Rezmar came seeking funding from City Hall.

“Rezmar Corp. expects this project to be the first of many during the next few years,” Mahru wrote in Rezmar’s first application to the city Housing Department.

And it was.

As Rezmar’s loan application was pending, Daley reformed the Housing Department. [Richard Daley] (left with PSBHO) said he found that housing officials were giving loans to their cronies. So the mayor’s staff would now decide who got the money.

And his staff liked Rezmar, which got more than $24 million in loans and $8.5 million in federal tax credits from the city to rehab 14 buildings during Daley’s first six years as mayor. Daley’s top advisers signed off on those deals before the City Council approved them.

Novak explained how Rezko and Mahru managed to get all that money:

How did inexperienced developers like Rezko and Mahru get money from the city, state and banks? It was the people Mahru hired, and his business acumen, said Robin Coffey, a vice president at Harris Bank.

“It was his team,” Coffey said. “It was his management style. He was using contractors we knew. He was outsourcing management.”

Along with the city, Harris funded Rezmar’s first project in 1989. Over the years, Harris gave Rezmar more than $10.6 million to help rehab 18 buildings. Harris also put in additional money, purchasing some of the $50 million in federal tax credits Rezmar obtained from the city or state for the projects.

As of Novak’s April 2007 article, Harris had “lost at least $1 million on Rezmar loans” and had “to repay the IRS for some federal tax credits it got by investing in Rezmar buildings.”

While “Mahru ran Rezmar’s day-to-day operations,” Novak wrote:

Rezko was the schmoozer. He showered politicians with money for their campaign funds and got others to do the same. He gave to Democrats — foremost among them former Cook County Board President John Stroger (right), Gov. Blagojevich, Daley and Sen. Barack Obama. Rezko gave to Republicans, too — among them former Gov. Jim Edgar, the late Rosemont Mayor Don Stephens and President George W. Bush.

He also gave to others who held sway over Rezmar’s housing deals — like Chicago aldermen.

Novak reported that at the same time Rezko was doing all that schmoozing, “Rezmar’s low-income apartments were deteriorating, and it stopped repaying some loans.”

“So why did the city keep lending Rezko’s company more tax dollars?” Novak asks:

“During the time he did work with us — and that was many years ago — there was nothing to indicate there was a problem,” Daley spokeswoman Jacquelyn Heard said.

In fact, there was. City attorneys repeatedly went to court to force Rezmar to make repairs to its buildings and, in some cases, to get the heat turned on.

So, you ask, if there were all these problems, how did Rezko and Mahru stay in business? keep getting loans? Novak wrote that the city knew — they had to know.

If one of these low-income housing deals failed, lenders and investors would lose money — but not Rezmar or its owners.

Rezko and Mahru weren’t responsible for any government or bank loans. And they would never have to repay the $50 million in federal tax credits they got to rehab the buildings.

But they were guaranteed to make money. Rezmar put just $100 into each project and got a 1 percent stake as the general partner in charge of everything. Rezmar got to hire the architect and contractor, as well as the company that would manage the buildings, screen tenants and make repairs. The management company Rezmar hired? Chicago Property Management, also owned by Rezko and Mahru.

Rezmar made its money on upfront development fees [which "ultimately came from taxpayers"]. And Rezmar got paid first — $6.9 million in all from its deals. [...]

Rezmar got part of its development fees when its deals closed. It got the last of those fees when tenants moved in.

Under its deals with the Chicago Equity Fund, Rezmar promised to cover all operating losses in any building for seven years. But after that, Rezmar began walking away from the buildings, often leaving them with many vacant apartments and other problems. [...]

Rezmar’s deals “were doomed to fail,” said David Brint, Rezmar’s former executive vice president. “You had unrealistic expectations on expenses and income.”

Rezmar missed 16 payments on its first city mortgage, and the city changed the terms: Rezmar would have to pay just $465 a month, instead of $2,982.79.

Meanwhile, the city and state each gave Rezmar more money for two more buildings — one in Logan Square, another in Uptown. Both later went into foreclosure.

Rezko and Mahru had willing accomplices in fleecing the public trough. Novak continues:

Rezmar’s financial problems became a concern to city officials in the summer of 1998 — six years after it first missed payments on city loans. Rezko and Mahru were seeking a $3.1 million loan in 1998 for what would be their final low-income housing project. [...] First National Bank of Chicago and Apollo Housing Capital — invested in that project.

That deal included three of the mayor’s top African-American allies: Bishop Arthur Brazier (right, on left with PSBHO and Dr. Byron T. Brazier), Leon Finney Jr. and Allison Davis. Brazier and Finney ran the Fund for Community Redevelopment and Revitalization, a not-for-profit group that was Rezmar’s partner in the project.

Davis’ company is listed in state records as an investor in the deal, though the state said he didn’t end up investing in the deal. Davis said he had no recollection of investing in the deal. But one of his companies formed a partnership with Apollo and got a $130,000 fee on that deal, state records show.

Davis and Finney (left) [were] also members of the Chicago Plan Commission, appointed by Daley.

Now for the “Big Lie”

In that April 2007 Chicago Sun-Times interview, the Unprez was asked and answered accordingly, with bold added:

Q: By the time the Fund for Community Revitalization and Redevelopment closed on its final deal with Rezmar in 1998, Rezmar was having financial problems, according to a 1998 lawsuit over Rezmar’s failure to pay its mortgage on an earlier housing deal. That lawsuit was filed several months before Rezmar and the Fund closed on that final housing deal, which included an investment from Allison Davis’ company, American Housing Partners. [Editor's note: American Housing Partners was to invest $250,000 in Rezmar's last low-income housing deal, state records show. But state officials say that, in the end, American Housing didn't participate in the deal.]

A: The Senator is unaware of Mr. Davis’ company making any investments in housing deals involving the Fund for Community Redevelopment and Revitalization. We have checked this point with the Miner firm, which also reports no knowledge of such an investment.

Here it comes. 1995-1996 documents posted by Judicial Watch show a clear connection between the Fund for Community Redevelopment and Revitalization (the “Fund”) and the Chicago Annenberg Challenge. On page 61 we find that, in 1996, the CAC contributed $22,155 to the “Fund”.

At the time, PSBHO was not only an associate at Miner, Barnhill & Galland, P.C. but was also serving as the CAC’s founding president and chairman of the board of directors. This puts him in a direct connection between the “Fund” and the funds that were received from it by Rezmar Corp.

At the same time, PSBHO was serving on the boards of directors of the Joyce Foundation and the Woods Fund, had joined the New Party, and was running for the Illinois State Senate.

Additional connections at the time between the “Fund” and the Unprez are through various members of its board of directors. The Judicial Watch documents show, beginning on page 46, that board membership included Brazier and Finney, as mentioned above.

The following page (47) shows two more familiar names — current White House advisor Valerie Jarrett (right, with PSBHO) and Toya D. Horn (now Howard).

The Valerie Jarrett connection is via Chicago City Hall. Jonathan Kaufman wrote in his April 11, 2008, WSJ article “For Obama, Chicago Days Honed Tactics”:

Richard M. Daley, son of the former Mayor Richard Daley, was elected mayor in 1989. He “appointed numerous blacks to high positions, including Mr. Obama’s girlfriend and future wife, Michelle,” whose “father had been a precinct captain for the first Mayor Daley’s political machine, and she knew the families of many black politicians, including Jesse Jackson’s.”

Then, while working 1989-1991 as a summer associate at Sidley Austin law firm, PSBHO met Michelle Robinson, a Harvard Law School graduate who was his mentor at the firm.

The Obamas and Valerie Jarrett have been mutually acquainted since summer 1991, at which time Jarrett interviewed Michelle Robinson for a job at City Hall. It has been reported that Michelle told Jarrett “My fiancé wants to know who is going to be looking out for me?” Michelle, PSHBO and Jarrett met prior to her hiring.

By September 1991, Michelle Robinson was hired by Susan Sher, corporation counsel in the Daley Administration, for $60,000 to be mayoral assistant. Within weeks Daley promoted Jarrett to run the Department of Planning & Development and Michelle Obama followed as her assistant. And on it goes.

Regarding Toya D. Horn, as RBO reported in Friends of Obama — 1995, we find that Horn was not only an Obama campaign supporter 1995-2005, but that she and her husband, Bob Howard, both worked for Fannie Mae:

Toya D. Horn [Howard], $150, 12/11/1995. In 1999, Howard contributed $1000 to Obama for Congress 2000, in addition to $3700 2002-2004 to Obama for Illinois and $2300 towards Obama’s presidential campaign.

In August 1998, Horn married and became Toya Horn Howard. A graduate of Wellesley College and the University of Washington in Seattle, she was then an account executive for multifamily housing at Fannie Mae. When Obama was sworn into the U.S. Senate in 2005, Howard was described as a long-time supporter.

Friends of Obama — 2001 shows Bob and Toya D. Horn, 4/20/2001, $1000. FEC records identify Bob Horn as an account executive with Fannie Mae.

See next page for more.

Pages: 1 2 3

Rezko gets new digs, another sign he’s “co-operating”

“Tony Rezko is ‘out of the hole’,” Natasha Korecki writes in today’s Chicago Sun-Times.

On December 16, 2008, Rezko, “poised to become a crucial witness in the massive corruption case against ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich”, was “quietly moved out” of the Metropolitan Correctional Center in downtown Chicago and into another unnamed facility.

On the same day, U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve “indefinitely postponed Rezko’s sentencing.”

Authorities seeking Rezko’s cooperation pushed for the move after Rezko complained about being held in the tough confines of solitary imprisonment, known as “the hole,” even as he was providing information to prosecutors. [...]

Rezko’s relocation is a sign that, even with thousands of taped conversations of the governor, investigators still highly value Rezko’s potential as a witness.

Illinois blogger Anne Leary at BackyardConservative writes:

In Detroit and Boston for starters, commentators are linking the Obama Cabinet troubles to his roots in the Chicago Way–movin’ on up to D.C.–the Rezkozation of the Obama administration. And Rezko may have more to say. Yes he can.

Cheers! Subpoenas all around!

The AP reports that Blago’s attorney, Ed Genson, wants to order a New Year’s round of subpoenas for everyone!

According to Ill. State Rep. Barbara Flynn Curry, Genson “has asked the legislative panel considering impeachment of the governor to subpoena more than a dozen witnesses,” including PEBO’s chief of staff in waiting, U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel, “longtime Obama friend and adviser” Valerie Jarrett, and U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr..

Currie, the head of the committee, said she did not yet know what the committee’s response to Genson’s request would be. Its next meeting is scheduled for Monday, she added.

Currie noted that the U.S. attorney’s office has already denied the panel’s request to interview a list of people named in the criminal complaint against Blagojevich. U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald said earlier this week that lawmakers’ interviews of current or former members of Blagojevich’s staff might jeopardize his criminal investigation.

And, of course, no word from “Team Obama”.

Update: Ed Morrissey at Hot Air chimes in:

Ed Genson wants to play a game of chicken with the Illinois House and its impeachment panel. The attorney for Governor Rod Blagojevich has demanded that the committee issue subpoenas to people connected to the pay-for-play scandal, including Barack Obama’s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel. Ostensibly, Genson claims that they will clear Blagojevich, but it’s really a high-stakes gamble [...]

Genson’s demand is a big bluff, a sing-or-get-off-the-karaoke-stage moment for the Illinois legislature. He knows that they will resist interfering in Patrick Fitzgerald’s investigation, and that Fitzgerald will act to protect it. They have the right to issue these subpoenas, but if they derail the years-long probe into Illinois corruption by doing so, they will bear the blame for its collapse. On the other hand, if they don’t subpoena these witnesses (and potential co-conspirators), then Genson can make a public argument that impeachment is nothing more than a railroad job, an illegitimate attempt at a coup in Illinois.

Would that work? Potentially, it could. The Illinois House doesn’t need to prove a crime was committed in order to impeach Blagojevich, as the state constitution doesn’t have any restrictions at all on grounds for impeachment. It’s a purely political process — but that cuts both ways. If Genson paints them as a kangaroo court unwilling to force the appearance of witnesses that might reluctantly produce exculpatory evidence, or unable to prove any crime was committed, then that puts the legislature in a very bad position, politically speaking.

Genson’s betting that the legislature will back down from impeachment if he can make it look like Blagojevich isn’t getting a fair hearing. He’s using the law as a springboard for a political campaign to save Blagojevich. The big question is whether Genson holds any cards at all for this bluff, or whether Blagojevich and the wiretap tapes will inevitably trump any questions on process.

Nadhmi Auchi — What goes around ….

^{Barack Obama, Nadhmi Auchi, Tony Rezko (l to r)}
RBO last posted more than a month ago, on November 15, 2008, about the webscrubbing-prone and litigiously-inclined Iraqi-British billionaire businessman Nadhmi Auchi.

It appears that Mr. Auchi’s now-habitual intimidation tactics have reached both a fever pitch and the floor of Parliament, causing those good agents of the British government both to register concern and to spur into action, neither of which will ultimately benefit Mr. Auchi’s cause.

Thanks to an RBO tipster, we learn the following from two UK newspaper reports, both published December 18, 2008.

The first article — MPs demand reform of libel laws — was written by The Guardian’s David Pallister, who informs:

A cross-party trio of influential MPs has urged the government to implement radical reforms of Britain’s much-criticised libel laws, including the “international scandal” of libel tourism, which allows wealthy foreigners to sue in the English courts for material published abroad.

Their initiative is the first salvo in series of impending inquiries aimed at scrutinising the laws of defamation, which have been widely attacked as a limitation on free speech.

In a House of Commons debate on Wednesday, the MPs, Labour’s Dennis MacShane, the Conservatives’ Michael Gove and the Liberal Democrats’ Norman Lamb, won some concessions from the government.

The justice minister, Bridget Prentice, said she would consider the introduction into statute law of the relatively recent court-made rules on qualified privilege – the so-called Reynolds principles – which give media organisations a public interest defence when they make serious allegations against an individual.

She also announced a public consultation would be held in the new year on defamation and the internet – one of the most contentious and unresolved issues in libel law that can threaten bloggers who make links to disputed articles.

The abolition of criminal libel would be considered, as well as the “disproportionate cost of defamation proceedings” and the possibility of a small claims court for claimants.

The second — MPs accuse courts of allowing libel tourism. Britain ‘being used for Soviet-style censorship’ — was written by Dominic Kennedy and published in The Times Online. Kennedy wrote “Lawyers and judges were accused by MPs yesterday of using ‘Soviet-style’ English libel laws to help the rich and powerful to hide their secrets.”

Kennedy reported on specific references to Mr. Auchi, convicted political fixer Antoin “Tony” Rezko, and the connection with PEBO.

The British-Iraqi businessman Nadhmi Auchi, who has a conviction for corruption in France and is linked to a fundraiser for Barack Obama, was accused of using the law to stifle debate. [...]

Norman Lamb, the Liberal Democrat MP, accused Mr Auchi and his lawyers, Carter-Ruck, of using the threat of defamation proceedings to close down legitimate reporting. He was connected to Tony Rezco, a fraudster with connections to Mr Obama. “It has been reported in the US that Carter-Ruck has been writing to US and British newspapers and websites demanding removal of material that it deems defamatory of its client, “Many are concerned that creating a link on a blog to a newspaper article, which may have been available for years to anyone searching the internet, can result in action being threatened or taken. Is that legitimate?”

Likewise, Pallister wrote:

Norman Lamb said he was concerned about how the libel laws act as a constraint on investigative reporting and referred to the case of the British Iraqi billionaire Nadhmi Auchi.

He said: “He is a British citizen – an Iraqi exile – and he is reported to be a multibillionaire. He was convicted in France in 2003 of fraud in a trial involving the oil company Elf. Importantly, he continues to assert his innocence of the charges – there was a conviction, but he is pursuing routes of appeal against it. He was barred from entering the United States in 2005.

“My interest in the matter is in his connections to Tony Rezco, who was convicted of fraud, money laundering and bribe-related charges in Illinois, and who is currently in prison pending sentencing. We understand that sentencing has been delayed, and it has been suggested that he should talk to federal prosecutors, especially about allegations against Illinois governor [Rod] Blagojevich, which are being investigated.

“There is political interest in the US because of the connections between Rezko and President-elect Obama. I make no allegation at all relating to the latter.

“There have been reports that a company related to Mr Auchi registered a loan of $3.5m to Tony Rezko on 23 May 2005. That and other alleged connections are obviously of great interest to investigative journalists and others. More to the point, it is legitimate to investigate such a matter, given that Auchi is a prominent British citizen with political connections in this country and overseas. As I said, it is not appropriate to go into more detail, but it is alleged that Mr Auchi and his lawyers, Carter-Ruck, have been making strenuous efforts to close down public debate. Of course, it is absolutely legitimate for any citizen to demand accurate and rigorous investigation and reporting. The question is whether UK libel laws have the disproportionate effect of discouraging legitimate reporting. Many believe that they do.”

There you have it, for now. As promised, this matter will be revisited after the New Year.

There’s also a lesson here. No one is above the law, nor allowed to twist existing laws to their own benefit indefinitely. Sooner or later someone will notice and take action. Even the richest and most powerful can be taken down. Check your history books. It has been happening for centuries, long before the Nadhmi Auchis of this era came around.

See next page for complete repost of The Auchi Webscrub-O-Matic v7.0

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RBO News & Views — The Truth and Consequences Edition

Shocked! We’re shocked, we say! The Politico’s Kenneth P. Vogel reports:

Barack Obama is promising that next week he’ll disclose contacts between his staff and disgraced Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s office, but he’s stopped short of pledging to release e-mails or other records that could be key to understanding those contacts.

Whatever such records exist may never see the light of day, thanks to a gap in government records disclosure laws that allows presidential transition teams to keep their documents — even those prepared using taxpayer dollars — out of the public record.

Now you know why “Team Obama” has not been so quick to produce that contact info after all. Somebody was busy at work looking for the trap door.

Ed Morrissey at Hot Air opines (with RBO emphasis added):

Obama’s currently vacationing in Hawaii, and expect him to remain out of sight when the report gets released. His aides have already begun lowering expectations by telling reporters that Obama won’t make any public statements about the release of the internal report Obama himself promised. After holding a series of press conferences to announce Cabinet appointments over the last two weeks, Obama has suddenly become as camera-shy as newly-minted wallflower Rahm Emanuel.

The internal report won’t be worth much, anyway. For obvious reasons, Patrick Fitzgerald hasn’t shared the wiretaps and transcripts with Obama’s transition team. They had to poll their team internally and perhaps review e-mail and telephone records, but without the transcripts, they won’t have a basis to provide a full response. It may have been better for them to wait until after the grand jury review to report back, when they could have reviewed Fitzgerald’s information. That’s a structual limit on transparency, and one that makes the internal report even less impactful.

We now have better context for Blagojevich’s disdain for “appreciation”. The “f*** that!” response comes not from a refusal to play Let’s Make a Deal, but the lack of quid pro quo from Emanuel for giving him some political assistance. According to sources, Emanuel pushed Valerie Jarrett for the Senate seat not because Obama wanted it but because Emanuel wanted Jarrett out of the White House, where he was afraid she would compete with him for power. Given the grubby nature of Emanuel’s demands and the apparent lack of tangible reward offered for making his life as Chief of Staff easier, Blagojevich’s response is somewhat more understandable if still revealing about his character.

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Caught on tape … since 2003: WaPo reports today that the FBI and Patrick Fitzgerald (left), U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, began secretly taping conversations in late 2003 in what came to be known as Operation Board Games, the pay-to-play scheme that led to the conviction of political fixer Antoin “Tony” Rezko, better known as Obama’s personal real estate fairy:

Pamela Meyer Davis, CEO of Edward Hospital, had been trying to win approval from a state health planning board for an expansion of [Edwards Hospital], located in a Chicago suburb. She realized that the only way to prevail was to retain a politically connected construction company and a specific investment house. Instead of succumbing to those demands, she went to the FBI and U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald in late 2003 and agreed to secretly record conversations about the project.

Her tapes led investigators down a twisted path of corruption that over five years has ensnared a collection of behind-the-scenes figures in Illinois government, including Joseph Cari Jr., a former Democratic national committeeman, and disgraced businessman Antoin “Tony” Rezko.

On Dec. 9, that path wound up at the governor’s doorstep. Another set of wiretaps suggested that Blagojevich was seeking to capitalize on the chance to fill the Senate seat just vacated by President-elect Barack Obama. [...]

Fitzgerald’s patient strategy has led to uncomfortable questions not only for Blagojevich but also for the powerful players who privately negotiated with him, unaware that their conversations were being monitored. Democratic Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr. faces queries about his interest in the Senate seat, and key players in the Obama presidential transition team — White House Chief of Staff-designate Rahm Emanuel and adviser Valerie Jarrett — are being asked about their contacts with the governor on the important appointment.

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Disbarred in Illinois: The Chicago Sun-Times provides a short list of lawyers who had plead guilty in high-profile cases, two of whom were involved with Tony Rezko:

•• Joseph Cari Jr. (right): a former Democratic fund-raiser — surrendered his license and was disbarred last month. He pleaded guilty more than three years ago to attempted extortion. His testimony helped convict Tony Rezko, a fund-raiser for Gov. Blagojevich. Cari hasn’t been sentenced.

•• Stuart Levine (left): a Republican fund-raiser and the star witness against Rezko — gave up his law license and was disbarred this fall. It has been more than two years since he pleaded guilty to taking kickbacks while serving on two state boards. He hasn’t been sentenced.

Just Headlines

• Monique Garcia, Rick Pearson and Ray Long,‘I will be vindicated’. Governor won’t resign, asks for patience, Chicago Tribune, December 20, 2008.
• Naftali Bendavid, Democrats Try to Lower Expectations, WSJ, December 21, 2008.
• Chris Fusco and Tim Novak, What really happened with Jackson Jr., feds. Congressman talked with authorities about Blagojevich but never met them face-to-face, Chicago Sun-Times, December 22, 2008.
• Ray Long and Rick Pearson, As Gov. Rod Blagojevich vows to fight and impeachment looms, a transitional government is being built. Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn quietly builds a list of people to help if he takes over, Chicago Tribune, December 22, 2008.
• Jonathan Weisman, Report Arrives on Obama-Blagojevich Staff Contacts, WSJ, December 22, 2008.
• Japhy Grant, Nobody Loves Barack Obama Anymore, Queerty.com, December 22, 2008.
• Jim McTague, Unraveling Rahm Emanuel’s Fast Fortunes. Rahm Emanuel, like Dubya, is an artful dodger, WSJ, December 22, 2008.

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Check back often for updates and new brief items.

RBO News & Views — The Not In Your Wildest Dreams Edition

Buyer’s remorse? So soon? Riverdaughter at The Confluence has a great post from yesterday — “Telltale signs of buyer’s remorse” — in which she slams Salon’s Glenn Greenwald. Be sure to read the whole article:

Glenn attempts to rationalize why Obama can get away with “triangulation” even though Obama’s whole shtick during the primaries, and the single most important thing that set him apart from Hillary Clinton (or so he said), is that he is not a triangulator.

Triangulation was THE selling point. Obama was above negotiating with lobbyists. Obama would not have negotiated on the Iraq War Resolution. Obama was not going to compromise on “don’t ask, don’t tell”. Triangulation was old and nasty. Obama was NEW and fresh!

Well, we now know that Obama is not new and fresh. He smells just like the old gym socks but he’s never done anything but sit on the bench while everyone else played.

Gateway Pundit writes “Surprise! Obama’s Change.gov as corrupt as his campaign website.”

Cinie has more along the same lines in her blog post Apparently, Appearances are Everything:

That the only thing all these juvenile machinations reinforce is the fact that the former inexperienced, unqualified, junior Senator is now an inexperienced, unqualified junior president-elect is of no importance, when kids play dress-up, it’s all about the image.

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Obama Expands Biden Role Behind The Scenes: Title and pic from an RBO favorite, Dan Riehl, who writes on his blog Riehl World View (excerpt):

Contrary to initial reports an Obama spokesperson confirmed that the incoming administration does plan to expand the responsibilities of a Vice President Biden, giving him more hands-on control of targeted initiatives, though perhaps slightly different in nature and visibility from the roll Vice President Cheney is said to have played in the Bush Administration.

“During the campaign Vice President Elect Biden made it very clear that he was ready, willing and able to step-up in any unforeseen crisis”, said the spokesperson. “Given the tremendous crowds anticipated for the upcoming coronation, we think this presents just such an opportunity.”

In photo at top Vice President-Elect Biden can be seen taking to his new assignment with the energy and enthusiasm that so often marked his appearances during the long Fall campaign. When asked if these new responsibilities might not interfere with the Vice President’s own acceptance speech that day, aids brushed aside the question. “We have every confidence that the Vice President-Elect will have ample time to slip out of his cover-alls and make it to the podium for his speech. And as President-Elect Obama intends to deliver one of his own long-winded oratories, certainly he can be back in place before traffic starts to mount on the way out.”

Riehl adds:

And if nothing else, I expect Biden to be a source for amusement during the next administration. It’s either laugh that a guy like Biden is VP, or cry. At least for today, laughing sounds like the better option.

Also at American Thinker, Ed Laskey asks what’s missing from PEBO’s “Cabinet” — executive experience: “There is no one on the Cabinet that has any sort of notable business experience whatsoever.”

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Just Headlines

• Irwin M. Stelzer, Obama’s Blank Check. Economic upheaval will give the next president free rein over his domestic agenda, The Weekly Standard, December 19, 2008.
• Michael Barone, Expectations of Hope and Change. The old team hasn’t been batting 1.000 and the new team won’t be able to, either, NRO, December 20, 2008.
• Hugh Hewitt, Sigh, Townhall.com, December 20, 2008.
• Lori Montgomery, Obama Expands Stimulus Goals. As Economic Outlook Grows More Dire, Early Target for Job Growth Is Bolstered, WaPo, December 21, 2008. Bottom line? He’s now bumped the make/”save” jobs numbers up half a million to 3.
• Louis Uchitelle, Maybe It Can’t: A Trap in Obama’s Spending Plan, NYT, December 21, 2008.
• Stephen F. Hayes, Guess Who Doesn’t Like the Press. And the feeling may be mutual, The Weekly Standard, December 29, 2008 (issue).

Check back often for updates and new brief items.

Isikoff’s 5 questions for PEBO

Newsweek’s Michael Isikoff speculates that, if he had subpoena power, he has five unanswered questions for PEBO. Read the article for full details. Isikoff asks:

1. Define “inappropriate.” Isikoff refers to PEBO’s assurances that nobody on his staff was “involved in inappropriate discussions” with Blago “about his apparent plans for your Senate seat.”

2. “Explain what happened with Senate ‘Candidate 1′.” Isikoff refers to the criminal complaint filed against Blago in which Blago “is quoted in a Nov. 11 tape recording as saying that you wanted him to name Senate Candidate 1 (since identified as your close adviser Valerie Jarrett), but that you and your aides were ‘not willing to give me anything except appreciation. [Expletive] them.’”

Isikoff is wanting details about the time table and events that moved Jarrett from Senate Candidate 1 status to a newly created position in the White House, which, by the way, occurred nearly simultaneously.

3. “What did you know about Blago’s exit strategy?” Isikoff is referring to various self-enrichment schemes, also caught on tape, for after he leaves the governor’s office.

No question about it, the idea that Blago would need an “exit strategy” is not news. Although it may not be exactly what Blago meant on the tapes, Illinois attorney Russ Stewart commented May 14, 2008, on his website:

If he or his campaign committee are indicted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office on charges of trading state jobs and contracts for contributions, the governor needs an exit strategy — or, more appropriately, a don’t-send-me-to-jail strategy. The feds need to extract some visible punishment, so a plea bargain to avoid prison would include resigning the governorship.

4. “Have you shared everything you have on Rezko?” Isikoff pops the $64,000 Question. RBO would like to know, as well.

5. “Will you promise to leave Fitzgerald alone? Isikoff is referring to PEBO’s “promise” to leave Patrick Fitzgerald (right) in place as the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, a question posed by others, as well.

He’s also referring to rumors that Fitz will be under the Obama bus lickity split after he takes office. HillBuzz wrote December 9, 2008, about Fitz’s press conference in which he called this a “political corruption crime spree”. Based on the tenor of his remarks alone, Fitz could be gone in a flash.

So, the question is this — if YOU had subpoena power, what questions would YOU ask?

Batchelor: Blago Fights Lynching

John Batchelor writes this morning on his blog:

It Worked for Oliver North, Clarence Thomas, Bill Clinton

Speaking Sunday 21 with my professionals in praise of Governor Blagojevich’s skilled performance in declaring his self-evident innocence and reaching for theatrical metaphors to emphasize how hard he will fight the charges of “a political lynch mob.”

“…Now I’m dying to answer these charges, I am dying to show you how innocent I am. And I want to assure everyone who is here and everyone who’s listening that I intend to answer every allegation that comes my way. However, I intend to answer them in the appropriate forum, in a court of law, and when I do, I am absolutely certain that I will be vindicated.”

Every breath of this argument is designed to demonstrate that Blago knows when to fight, where to fight and how to fight. This struggle isn’t about Patrick Fitzgerald, or the tapes, or the grand jury, or the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times. This struggle is about public opinion. Blago knows that the public wants a contest, like a gladiator match in the Arena.

Blago knows that the match was too one-sided for the last ten days, with Fitzgerald, Obama, Kass, Durkin, Daley, even Leno, Letterman and Stewart, all presenting Blago as a mobbed up madman. Now begins the fight back.

Ed “Devil’s Advocate” Genson (right) is challenging every detail of the charges, of the recorded evidence, of the impeachment hearing in Springfield, of the broadcasts that convict Blago of everything crooked in Illinois the last fifty years. Simultaneously Blago takes to the TV, reaches right past the frantic media posse, and speaks to the voters at home. This is a case before “everyone who is listening.” America loves a charmer only slightly more than a scrapper, and in their day Oliver North, Clarence Thomas and Bill Clinton each won their fights by charming the public as they bashed their accusers as a lynch mob. And why did it work? Because it was mostly true.

What About Rahm Emanuel?

The worst news today was for the Obama team, because when Blago “answers every allegation that comes my way,” he is going to do it in a fashion that makes certain Rahm Emanuel is in the frame. Mr. Obama has gone to the 50th State. The Obama transition report on the contacts between Blago and Rahm Emanuel (left) is still scheduled for Monday 22.

The slow motion leaking all week, first that there were 21 contacts, now that Blago and Emanuel spoke directly, is designed to soften the headlines. It will not work if we get a chance to see the vulgarity in its glory.

Also, the Rahm and Blago mentions of Valerie Jarrett will not read unambiguously. This is a political story, not a criminal story. And the risk to Emanuel is also the risk to President-Elect Barack Obama (PEBO), and it will go on for months as Blago fights.

The first remark is the vulnerability, when on December 9, the day after the Blago arrest, PEBO (right) said, “I had no contact with the governor or his office so I was not aware of what was happening.”

There are three possibilities to debate about this remark through the winter:

1. PEBO deceived the public with the usual lawyerly parsing and manipulation of “I” when he said, “I had no contact,” without acknowledging that his staff was acting on his orders all the while.
2. Rahm Emanuel, who we now know did have at least 21 contacts with Blago, did not keep PEBO informed of his negotiations.
3. PEBO just spoke out on December 9 without checking with his staff.

PEBO followed up on December 11 with a statement that expanded the ambiguity of the communications between Rahm Emanuel and Blago:

“I have never spoken with the governor on this subject. I am confident that no representative of mine would have any part in any deals related to this seat.”

Blago’s grandiose intention to make himself the victim of an overreaching prosecutor means that gradually, inevitably, we will hear all possible interpretations of “any deals related to this seat.”

Heaven can wait.

Batchelor: Insane Fun Shoe-Throwing Game

John Batchelor wrote last night on his blog:

The News is Insane, Enjoy

Bernie Madoff is under house arrest with a 7 pm curfew (after the markets close), so he can be home to watch his former colleagues and proteges staring into the camera on Larry Kudlow’s show and explaining, or not, how Bernie insanely fooled them all.

Meanwhile, Caroline Kennedy, worthy by suffering, is reported upstate in insanely drafty horse barns on an HRC-invented listening tour, the updated and accelerated version for Senate appointees.

Meanwhile, George Tenet is reported insane drunk in Prince Bandar’s pool by Jeff Goldberg in the Atlantic from a new book by Patrick Tyler. No confirm.

Meanwhile, Ed “Devil’s Advocate” Genson (right in Springfield today) wants insanely ambitious Attorney General Lisa Madigan to recuse herself and for Illinois to appoint a special prosecutor for the impeachment hearings to remove Blago.

Meanwhile David Axelrod assures everyone that the Obama team has insane confidence in Rahm Emanuel and that nothing “inappropriate” was discussed between Rahm and Blago.

Meanwhile, Blago will tell his side of the story tomorrow, or not, and also Blago promised through Ed Genson that he will not name anyone to fill the empty Senate seat from Illinois — leaving the seat open as long as Blago is governor and Illinois does not organize a special election.

Also, the now boxed-in but feisty Governor Blago is reported to have been a bookie for the North Side Outfit before he insanely plunged into politics in the 5th CD.

Meanwhile, all these stories have legs like the giant squid that grabbed onto Nemo’s Nautilus, and there will be no respite for winter, so how wonderful it is to have a fun novelty about George Bush that is guaranteed to make you laugh insanely. The shoe-throwing game. Cheers.