Blagojevich trial wiretap evidence, June 23, 2010, Taped November 8 2008, Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, John Harris, Jarrett, Balanoff, Obama’s resignation is synchronized for Blagojevich’s benefit, Michelle controls Obama

Blagojevich trial wiretap evidence, June 23, 2010, Taped November 8 2008

More wiretap evidence was released yesterday, June 23, 2010, in the Rod Blagojevich trial. I picked one of the wiretaps because it is full of damning evidence and insight into Chicago corruption and the involvement of Barack and Michelle Obama.

From this one wiretap we learn:

• Blagojevich is clearly involved in selling of senate seat.
• Blagojevich has inside info on Obama’s senate seat resignation.
• Tom Balanoff, President of local SEIU IL State Councils, is a go between Blagojevich and the Obamas.
• Obama’s resignation is synchronized for Blagojevich’s benefit.
• Obama follows Michelle’s lead.
• Obama is trying to distance himself from Rezko.

Here are some exerpts from the wiretap:

“DATE: 11/07/2008
TIME: 10:46 A.M.
ACTIVITY: Rod Blagojevich home line incoming call.
SESSION: 374
SPEAKERS:
BLAGOJEVICH: Rod Blagojevich
HARRIS: John Harris
P. BLAGOJEVICH: Patti Blagojevich

Page 2

1 BLAGOJEVICH Um, didn’t know quite what to make of my
2 request. Uh, Barack rea-, really wants
3 to get away from Illinois politics.
4 HARRIS (Laughs)
5 BLAGOJEVICH (Laughs). Right?
6 HARRIS Right.

Page 4

16 BLAGOJEVICH We’re not available to these people yet.
17 Let Balanoff be the only one…
Page 5

10 HARRIS Right, right, right. So the question is
11 when do you want to meet with Balanoff.
12 That’s the immediate question.
13 BLAGOJEVICH He’s not available. He’s been, he’s out
14 of town. He’s in Boston Monday,
15 Tuesday. So I’ve got, if I can dodge
16 him today, which we’ll, Doug and I
17 easily can do. I’d have to, I’d, I can
18 deal with him nex-, maybe next Wednesday
19 or Thursday. You see what I’m saying?

Page 6

7 P. BLAGOJEVICH (Speaking in background) I think he
8 wouldn’t want to resign until he knows
9 that, you know…
10 BLAGOJEVICH Till he knows I’ll do Valerie Jarrett.
11 HARRIS Yeah, so he’s not gonna resign yet.
12 BLAGOJEVICH Look, she wants it. We know that.
13 HARRIS Right.
14 BLAGOJEVICH He’s also been told now that I would do
15 it if I got this. So now she knows I
16 can get this Senate seat if my friend
17 will give ‘em this.
18 HARRIS Mm-hmm.
19 BLAGOJEVICH Okay? She’s the audience we’re
20 interested in right now. We know he’s,
21 he wants her and what, I don’t know the
22 nature of the relationship but it’s
23 clear he wants her and she’s got
24 influence with him. So now she knows
25 it’s there for her. To get it, I need26 X, right?
27 HARRIS Right. The question is if Alexi is28 coming in on her behalf, do we use Alexi29 to get the word back to her?
30 BLAGOJEVICH No, I don’t trust Alexi, I, no, under no 31 circumstances.
32 HARRIS Mm-hmm.
33 BLAGOJEVICH No, no. Absolutely, not. Balanoff…

Page 11

7 BLAGOJEVICH Once he resigns next week, I’m, I’ve got
8 total control.
9 HARRIS Right, ’cause if they start movin’
10 legislation to take it away from you,
11 bing, we…
12 BLAGOJEVICH I’m in. I’m takin’ me then.
13 HARRIS Right.
14 BLAGOJEVICH So that’s right. That’s, I forgot about
15 that. Boy that’s perfect.
16 HARRIS Right.
17 BLAGOJEVICH Him gettin’ out early is good.
18 HARRIS Right, no, no, him, him resigning early
19 is good for us.
20 BLAGOJEVICH Yeah. I’m tellin’ ya this is good,
21 John. They didn’t say no. They didn’t
22 say oh, now, maybe, again, look it,
23 Balanoff probably got to be the one, the
24 messenger to tell me that, but…
25 HARRIS Right.
26 BLAGOJEVICH Of course they gotta be squeamish about
27 the whole thing. It’s not what they
28 want.
29 HARRIS Well, at least we’ve frozen them from
30 filling it with someone else.
31 BLAGOJEVICH That’s right.

Page 12

1 HARRIS I mean, at least the answer wasn’t we
2 promised it to someone else.
3 BLAGOJEVICH Well, I don’t know, maybe Balanoff’s
4 gonna come back to me on it, but, but
5 look, if they opt to fill that spot,
6 they’re clearly sayin’, I mean, you
7 know, they’re clearly…

Page 14

6 BLAGOJEVICH Our thought was how do we get to, now
7 how do we get to her.
8 HARRIS (Coughs) Yeah, then Mosena would be the
9 way to get it to her.
10 BLAGOJEVICH Yeah, that’s good. In other words,
11 we’re predicating this on, Michelle
12 Obama, he’s more hen pecked than me. So
13 he listens to Michelle Obama more than I
14 listen to you. Okay.
28 BLAGOJEVICH He wants to get out of Chicago politics.
29 Okay. That’s their way of saying Rezko.
30 HARRIS (Laughs)
31 BLAGOJEVICH Know what I’m sayin’?

Page 15

11 HARRIS Well, what also makes it important if
12 they want her, a, a symbol of they want
13 her, is that they, they, they took the
14 Balanoff meeting right away.
17 BLAGOJEVICH That’s right. The very next morning.
18 HARRIS Yeah. Balanoff said I met and they
19 said, okay, come on in. (Laughs).”

http://www.justice.gov/usao/iln/hot/us_v_blagojevich_exhibits/2010_06_23/transcript_11_07_2008_1046am.pdf

Blagojevich trial, Obama, Ali Ata, Ata ties to Blagojevich Obama, Obama enmeshed in Chicago and Illinois corruption, Obama ties to Muslims Arabs Middle East, Obama trial?

Blagojevich trial, Obama, Ali Ata, Ata ties to Blagojevich Obama

***  Update Below  ***

You now know that Obama’s name was mentioned again during the Rod Blagojevich trial. You were advised of this earlier at Citizen Wells and Citizen News.

There are many opportunities for Obama’s name to surface during the Blagojevich trial, just as Blagojevich’s name surfaced during the Tony Rezko trial. Obama is deeply enmeshed in Chicago and Illinois corruption. There is another side of Obama, his connections and allegiance to Muslims and Arabs. Now, as Paul Harvey always said, “The rest of the story.”
Ali Ata is another name likely to surface soon as a witness. Apparently, or at least from the documentation I have read, Ata was more involved in corruption than Joseph Aramanda. Perhaps not. Ali Ata has ties to Barack Obama.
From Citizen Wells December 19, 2008.
“Why Barack Obama should be indicted
Part 9″
“Longtime Blagojevich friend Ali Ata, in a plea bargain on charges of lying to the FBI, said that he handed $25,000 to a Blagojevich fundraiser and that the governor immediately brought up the subject of getting Ata a state job.”
“Obama’s ties to Ali Ata

“The morning after the prosecution announced that Loren would testify, Hamilton dropped another bombshell by informing the judge that Jordanian-native and co-schemer, Ali Ata, the former head of the Illinois Finance Authority, had pled guilty and entered into a plea agreement and he would testify that he received the same information in 2004.”

“Maloof is one of the donors used to funnel two $10,000 contributions to Obama through bank accounts from Rezko‘s pizza businesses from the pension fund kickback. An exhibit produced for the jury shows Maloof also made a $10,000 contribution to Blagojevich.”

“As predicted, on May 1, 2008, Ata testified that he was assured there was a plan in place to remove Fitzgerald after Bush was reelected in 2004. “Mr. Rezko informed me that they had just finished meeting with Mr. Kjellander and that there will be a change in U.S. attorney’s office come the new administration,” he said.”

“Ata told the jury he delivered one $25,000 contribution to Blagojevich at Rezko’s office in the latter part of 2002, and the three men discussed the prospects of Ata getting an appointment in the administration. He said people at the office that day included Blagojevich’s campaign chief and later chief of staff, Lon Monk, Christopher Kelly, and state Representative Jay Hoffman.”

““The way Ali Ata described it, the waiting room in the North Side office of Antoin “Tony” Rezko seemed as busy as an airport terminal,” the Tribune noted on May 1, 2008.

Ata brought another $25,000 check to a fundraiser on July 25, 2003, and he was appointed to lead the Finance Authority.

Ata made a $5,000 donation to Obama less than a month earlier on June 30, 2003. Ata is also an investor in Riverside Park. Almost without fail, the people identified in the Board Games cases as investors in Riverside Park contributed to Obama’s US senate campaign.””

““The corruption in this case involves the Illinois Finance Authority. The IFA was established, “to support the Governor of Illinois’ economic development agenda,” and “IFA approves about $3 billion in project financing each year,” according to its web site.

Co-schemer Ali Ata was appointed to lead the IFA. He made a $5,000 donation to Obama on June 30, 2003.”
“Talat Othman was appointed to the IFA Board, and he donated $1,000 to Obama on June 30, 2003.

David Gustman was made chairman, and his wife, Lisa, also gave Obama $1,000 on June 30.

Co-schemer Abdelhamid Chaib is the former the director of Rezko Concessions. Chaib’s wife was appointed to the Department of Employment Security Review Board. Obama received $5,000 from Chaib on June 30, 2003.”

 
“As part of the scheme, Ata signed a letter on Finance Authority letterhead that falsely made it appear that Dr Paul Ray had applied for financing with the IFA for acquisition of the pizza restaurants. The letter stated that Ray’s financing would be recommended for approval by the IFA Board on March 15, 2004, and that the IFA would guarantee 50% of the total $16 million.”

“But Ata said Rezko scoffed at the concerns. “He said as far as the publicity, he will get the governor’s office to approve the transaction, and as far as the board,” Ata told the jury, Rezko said, “We put them there.”””
“”Ata is a former president of the Chicago Chapter of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. He represents “a deeper corruption” in the Arab American community, “an aspect of the story that has not received much attention,” according to a May 2, 2008 report by Ray Hanania in the Southwest News-Herald.”

“In his report, Hanania explains how Ata and others would help organize political dinners attended by Arab Americans from the suburbs at which politicians where “honored.”

“These Arab community “leaders,” he says, “would tell the community that if they bought tickets to their “candidate’s nights,” their organization fundraisers or donated through them to local politicians, these politicians would respond by giving the Arab American community empowerment.”

“In truth,” Hanania says, “these political leaders lied.”

“They did get jobs, contracts and clout,” he notes, “but the people who benefited were not members of the community but rather the relatives, children, friends and business associates of these leaders.”””

“More Obama ties to Ata and slumlords

“”The Illinois Finance Authority was established by Blagojevich in 2004. Its “role is to support the Governor of Illinois’ economic development agenda,” and “IFA approves about $3 billion in project financing each year,” according to the its site.

Rezko business associate, Ali Ata, was appointed to head the Finance Authority. He is now under indictment in a separate criminal case in which Rezko is also charged. On June 30, 2003, Ata contributed $5,000 to Obama’s US senate campaign.

On June 13, 2007, the Sun-Times reported that as a state senator, “Obama wrote letters to city and state officials supporting his political patron Tony Rezko’s successful bid to get more than $14 million from taxpayers to build apartments for senior citizens.”

“I am writing in support of the New Kenwood LLC’s proposal to build a ninety-seven unit apartment building at 48th and Cottage Grove for senior citizens,” Obama wrote in October 28, 1998 letters to both city and state housing officials. “This project will provide much needed housing for Fourth Ward citizens.””
“In the Times, Novak reported that the deal included $855,000 in development fees for Rezko and Davis, while Obama was still working at the Davis law firm, for a bid on a project that was “four blocks outside Obama’s state Senate district.”””

Read more

You knew this

And this.

From the LA Times April 10, 2008

“Allies of Palestinians see a friend in Obama”

“It was a celebration of Palestinian culture — a night of music, dancing and a dash of politics. Local Arab Americans were bidding farewell to Rashid Khalidi, an internationally known scholar, critic of Israel and advocate for Palestinian rights, who was leaving town for a job in New York.

A special tribute came from Khalidi’s friend and frequent dinner companion, the young state Sen. Barack Obama. Speaking to the crowd, Obama reminisced about meals prepared by Khalidi’s wife, Mona, and conversations that had challenged his thinking.”

 
“Their belief is not drawn from Obama’s speeches or campaign literature, but from comments that some say Obama made in private and from his association with the Palestinian American community in his hometown of Chicago, including his presence at events where anger at Israeli and U.S. Middle East policy was freely expressed.

At Khalidi’s 2003 farewell party, for example, a young Palestinian American recited a poem accusing the Israeli government of terrorism in its treatment of Palestinians and sharply criticizing U.S. support of Israel. If Palestinians cannot secure their own land, she said, “then you will never see a day of peace.”

One speaker likened “Zionist settlers on the West Bank” to Osama bin Laden, saying both had been “blinded by ideology.”"

Read more:

http://articles.latimes.com/2008/apr/10/nation/na-obamamideast10

Did you know this?

From Islam for Today, April 10, 2001.

“Halal Food Act Passed In Illinois Senate
In a landmark event for Illinois’ more than 400,000 Muslim, the Illinois senate has unanimously passed the Halal Food Act on Thursday to safeguard the interests of the Muslim consumer.”

“It also specifically defines the term “Halal” as food “prepared under and maintained in strict compliance with the laws and customs of the Islamic religion including but not limited to those laws and customs of zabiha/zabeeha (slaughtered according to appropriate Islamic code), and as expressed by reliable recognized Islamic entities and scholars.”

“The Illinois Halal Food Act was sponsored by Sen.Christine Radogno (R-La Grange) with Senators Thomas Walsh, Barack Obama, Louis Viverito, and Ira Silverstein as Chief Co-Sponsors.”

Read more:
http://www.islamfortoday.com/illinois2.htm

***  Update June 17, 2010 5:30 ET ***

Right on cue, Ali Ata’s name was mentioned during the Blagojevich trial today.

Jill Hayden, director of boards and commissions, testified today and brought up Ali Ata as Tony Rezko’s friend and a member of the IFA, Illinois Finance Authority.

Jobless claims rise, Unemployment rate, Real truth about economy, College graduates and summer jobs

Jobless claims rise, Unemployment rate, Real truth about economy

“Winston dialed “back numbers” on the telescreen and called
for the appropriate issues of the Times, which slid out of
the pneumatic tube after only a few minutes’ delay.  The
messages he had received referred to articles or news items
which for one reason or another it was thought necessary to
alter, or, as the official phrase had it, to rectify.  For
example, it appeared from the Times of the seventeenth of
March that Big Brother, in his speech of the previous day,
had predicted that the South Indian front would remain quiet
but that a Eurasian offensive would shortly be launched in
North Africa.  As it happened, the Eurasian Higher Command
had launched its offensive in South India and left North
Africa alone.  It was therefore necessary to rewrite a
paragraph of Big Brother’s speech in such a way as to make
him predict the thing that had actually happened.”…George Orwell, “1984″

I had a conversation with a savvy friend of mine yesterday, who keeps up with news and gets it about the economy. I told him that I had been watching the jobless claims reports and that I was curious about the next report, which came out this morning. I applied some common sense and questioned what the real unemployment numbers are when the new college graduates are factored in. We both agreed that the real unemployed figure was far greater than the 9.7 % figure offered by the federal government.

This morning one of my questions was answered.

“In the week ending June 12, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 472,000, an increase of 12,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 460,000.”

Read more:

http://citizenwells.com/2010/06/17/jobless-claims-rise-june-17-2010-us-labor-dept-12000-increase-initial-claims-472000/

This probably does not factor in recent college grads but it is, however, a best case scenario from the government. I continue to read the fairy tales about the economy while truth reporters such as Rush Limbaugh warn that much of the business activity is geared to putting income in 2010 and not later years when Obama tax increases will be non business, non economy friendly.

Blagojevich trial, Joseph Cari, Two for one witness, Cari tied to Chicago corruption and Joe Biden, Joseph Cari testimony, June 17, 2010

Blagojevich trial, Joseph Cari, Two for one witness, Cari tied to Chicago corruption  and Joe Biden

Joseph Cari, Democratic National Committee finance chairman, tied to Chicago corruption, is on the witness stand today, Thursday, June 17, 2010. Cari is a two for one witness. He has ties to corruption and Joe Biden.

From the Tony Rezko trial.

April 15, 2008
“Former Democratic fundraiser Joseph Cari testified Tuesday afternoon about a 2003 fundraising trip he took to New York with Gov. Rod Blagojevich, offering some of the most damaging testimony for the governor to emerge from the trial of his fundraiser Antoin “Tony” Rezko.

Cari said the governor told him that he thought it would be easy to raise money for a presidential run because a governor had the ability to raise money by handing out contracts and state business.

Cari said his conversation with Blagojevich took place on a private plane arranged by Stuart Levine, the star witness in the case against Rezko who finished lengthy testimony earlier Tuesday.

Blagojevich told him how happy he was to be governor, Cari said, “but also that he had aspirations beyond the governorship.”

Cari said he discussed with Blagojevich why former President Bill Clinton had been successful running for the office as a sitting governor in Arkansas. Blagojevich told him that it was easier for a governor to make a run than a senator “because a governor had the ability to award contracts,” Cari said. “It was easier to obtain contributions.”"

“Cari said he met with Stuart Levine at Rezko’s office in January that year. Rezko said he had the power to award contracts and get consultants hired through the governor’s then-chief of staff, Lon Monk, Cari said.

“Mr. Monk took direction from [Rezko],” Cari told the jury.

Rezko illustrated his clout by picking up the phone and apparently calling Monk in front of him, Cari said.”

“Cari said he was a go-between for one of his partners at HealthPoint and tried to follow Levine’s orders to have a finder’s fee paid on an $80 million allocation for JER from the Illinois Teachers’ Retirement System.

When the arrangement was delayed, Cari said, he spoke to a JER executive who was shepherding the TRS deal and told her what Levine had communicated to him. If JER didn’t hire the consultant that had been named, the allocation would be pulled.

“I unequivocally told her that,” Cari testified.

The governor and the people around him selected law firms, investment firms and consultants that were used in such arrangements, Cari said he told the executive.

“This has been the history of Illinois and this is the way in Illinois that it’s done,” he said.”

Read more:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-rezko-court-story-7,0,5224754.htmlstory

Citizen Wells August 26, 2008.

Joseph Cari tied to Joe Biden

“Vice-presidential candidate Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del. (left), has been advised since 1984 by Joseph Cari (right), the Chicago lawyer and onetime mega-fundraiser who has been tied to the Antoin “Tony” Rezko patronage scandal.”

“Chicago lawyer and onetime mega-fundraiser Joseph Cari has advised Biden and his campaigns on and off since 1984, serving in posts as varied as a Senate adviser on crime to the Midwest Political Director for Biden’s aborted 1987 presidential bid. In 2005 Cari helped arrange private meetings for Biden with potential supporters, as the senator explored another run for the White House. He has also worked to raise money for Biden . “

“Cari admitted that in 2004 he helped a Rezko associate by making calls in what turned out to be a kickback scheme. The deal was an offshoot of a complex corruption scheme wrought by Antoin “Tony” Rezko , whose ties to Obama have vexed the White House hopeful . Cari has maintained he did not know the details of that scheme or any other.

Cari’s sentencing is delayed while he cooperates with the investigation. He testified at Rezko’s trial earlier this year, in which a jury found Rezko guilty on 16 of 24 corruption-related felony charges. Obama, who entered into a complex real estate transaction with Rezko and his wife in 2005 that appeared to aid the senator, has returned nearly $150,000 in donations he received from Rezko and his associates over the years.”

Read more

Blagojevich trial, Obama, Breaking news, Blagojevich defense links Obama to Joseph Aramanda corruption

Blagojevich trial, Obama, Breaking news, Blagojevich defense links Obama to Joseph Aramanda corruption

From the Chicago Tribune June 16, 2010.

“Blago defense tries to link kickback to Obama contribution”

The defense for Rod Blagojevich tried today to link money from a kickback scheme to President Barack Obama.

Joseph Aramanda, a business associate of insider Antoin “Tony” Rezko, acknowledged he donated $10,000 to Obama’s campaign when he ran for the U.S. Senate in 2004. Aramanda said he did so at Rezko’s request.

Read more:

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/06/more-testimony-on-blago-financial-deals-on-tap.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ChicagoBreakingNews+%28Chicago+Breaking+News%29
“

Reported earlier at Citizen News.

http://citizenwells.com/2010/06/15/blagojevich-trial-day-9-june-16-2010/

Alonzo Monk testimony, Blagojevich trial update, June 10, 2010, Rezko began paying Blagojevich in 2004

Alonzo Monk testimony, Blagojevich trial update, June 10, 2010

From the Chicago Tribune June 10, 2010.

“Witness says Blagojevich urged silence about money”

“Monk testified Thursday that Blagojevich fundraiser Tony Rezko, currently awaiting sentencing for fraud and other charges, slipped him as much as $90,000 in cash when he was the governor’s chief of staff — typically $10,000 at a time stuffed in an envelope.

Blagojevich has pleaded not guilty to trying to profit from his power to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President Barack Obama and squeezing people for campaign contributions. If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to 415 years in prison, though a judge would consider many factors. Blagojevich also could face fines totaling $6 million.

Monk has pleaded guilty to scheming to pressure a racetrack owner for a contribution and is testifying in hopes of getting a lighter sentence.”

“Monk said Rezko began paying him cash in 2004. At Monk’s wedding, Rezko’s present to Monk was $10,000 in cash and an offer to pay for a remodeling project at the newlyweds’ home. Thanks to the flow of cash, which Monk kept at home, he said he never had to withdraw money from the bank or use an ATM. “
“Earlier Thursday, Monk testified about how Blagojevich put supporters and fundraisers on state boards that oversaw major business sectors, often at the urging of members of his inner circle. “

Read more:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/suburbs/naperville/chi-ap-us-blagojevichtrial,0,391403.story

Blagojevich trial update, Alonzo Monk testimony, Blagojevich Monk Kelly Rezko, Secret meetings at Rezko’s offices in 2003, Rahm Emanuel grant

Blagojevich trial update, Alonzo Monk testimony, Blagojevich Monk Kelly Rezko

Today, Wednesday, June 9, 2010, the first day of testimony in the Rod Blagojevich trial, is off to a interesting start.

From the Chicago Tribune.

“Blago pal talks of secret meetings, code names and favors”

“They met in secret and referred to each other as “1,2, 3 and 4.”

Rod Blagojevich, his longtime friend Lon Monk and trusted fundraisers Chris Kelly and Antoin “Tony” Rezko.”

Their agenda: How to exchange state contracts and jobs for campaign cash for Blagojevich.

The plotting started even before Blagojevich was elected governor in 2002, according to Monk, who took the stand today to testify against his pal from college days.

“This was something that we were going to be able to do now that we were close to Rod and he was going to become governor,” Monk said as Blagojevich stared straight at him and shook his head.

“I was intrigued,” Monk added. “And I wanted to make money.”

At one of the secret meetings — at Rezko’s offices in 2003 — the four discussed money-making ideas that involved state action, said Monk, sometimes sighing loudly as he testified.”

“Collecting kickbacks was too risky while Blagojevich was still governor, Monk said.  “It would be easier for people to find out we were receiving money.”

Rezko was to hold the funds while Blagojevich was in office,  Monk alleged. “Any money found would be held in separate accounts that would be difficult to locate.”

Rezko would often bring up firms and individuals to help with state business or an appointment to a state board, Monk said.

Prosecutor Christopher Niewoehner asked why Rezko would do that.

“So that he could ask them for more money or additional money for donations,” Monk replied.

Asked whether Rezko was trying to give rewards for political contributions, Monk answered yes.

Monk said he also had conversations with Kelly also about helping people get state business or positions.

What would Monk do when Rezko or Kelly asked him for help getting someone appointed or a contract, Niewoehner asked.

“Whatever they asked,” he said. 

Monk also recalled being a meeting with Blagojevich and Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff who was then a congressman. Emanuel was help getting a state grant for the Chicago Academy, Monk said.

Blagojevich had a simple answer. “He’d try and get it done,” Monk recalled as jurors were shown a photo of Emanuel.”

Read more:

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/06/blagos-close-friend-and-top-aide-likely-to-testify-today.html

Blagojevich trial witnesses, Alonzo Monk, June 9, 2010, Blagojevich chief of staff, Rezko trial revelations, Rezko controlled Monk, Blagojevich Monk law school roommates, Monk lobbyist

Blagojevich trial witnesses, Alonzo Monk, June 9, 2010, Blagojevich chief of staff, Rezko trial revelations

Alonzo Monk, former Blagojevich chief of staff and law school roommate, will likely be one of the first witnesses called by the prosecution. Monk has plead guilty to scheming with Rod Blagojevich to shake down a racetrack businessman for a $100,000 campaign contribution. Here is some background on Alonzo Monk and his involvement in Chicago and Illinois corruption.
From the Tony Rezko trial in 2008.
March 10, 2008

“”He called me and he said we need to move on Stuart Levine,” Hayden testified. Hayden said Rezko told her he had already spoken to her boss, Blagojevich chief of staff Lon Monk, about the Levine reappointment and been assured the appointment would go through.

Hayden said Rezko laughed when she said she would have to check with Monk herself. “I took that to mean that I could go ahead and ask him, but it was already a done deal,” she recalled.”
March 19, 2008

“Levine also said that Rezko told him that he and fellow Blagojevich fundraiser Christopher Kelly “exercised the most influence” in Blagojevich’s kitchen cabinet. And Levine said Rezko told him that “all the major decisions in the governor’s office were cleared through [chief of staff] Lon Monk and through Mr. Rezko.”

“Mr. Rezko told me that he was able to have individuals appointed to state boards and was able to have individuals hired into state agencies and that he spoke very often — and in fact went over decisions — that Lon Monk would put into place,” Levine said.”
April 15, 2008

“Cari said he met with Stuart Levine at Rezko’s office in January that year. Rezko said he had the power to award contracts and get consultants hired through the governor’s then-chief of staff, Lon Monk, Cari said.

“Mr. Monk took direction from [Rezko],” Cari told the jury.

Rezko illustrated his clout by picking up the phone and apparently calling Monk in front of him, Cari said.”
Alonzo Monk pleads guilty in 2009.

From CBS Chicago Oct 20, 2009
“Blagojevich Pal Alonzo Monk Pleads Guilty
Former Chief Of Staff Cooperating With Feds In Exchange For Reduced Sentence”
“Former Rod Blagojevich Chief of Staff Alonzo Monk pleaded guilty Tuesday to his role in an alleged scheme by Blagojevich and his top aides to profit off state business deals.
 

A longtime friend and ex-chief of staff to Rod Blagojevich said he was an eyewitness to a litany of corruption — including a scheme by the former governor and his top aides to profit off state business deals, according to a guilty plea entered Tuesday.

Lon Monk, 51, of Decatur, said in a plea agreement with the federal government that during the ex-governor’s first term in office, there was an ongoing agreement among Blagojevich and his closest advisers that involved making hundreds of thousands of dollars off state business deals.

A personal friend of Blagojevich who was also the ex-governor’s law school roommate, Monk said Blagojevich sat in on meetings where there were discussions about splitting money from state business four ways, according to the plea. The alleged recipients: Blagojevich, the now-deceased Christopher Kelly, convicted businessman Tony Rezko and Monk.

The plea indicates that Rezko was responsible for setting up money-making arrangements from the state deals. Monk said that Blagojevich and Monk agreed to use “their power and authority in state government” to help Rezko and Kelly make money. Monk said as part of the agreement, he and Blagojevich would “share in the money that was made” but they wouldn’t get their cut until after they were no longer in government, according to the deal.

Monk’s plea pledges his cooperation with federal prosecutors in exchange for a two-year prison sentence instead of the nearly four years he faced.”

“One of the state deals involved the refinancing of $10 billion in Pension Obligation Bonds by the state of Illinois in 2003, according to the plea.

Monk says that two of Blagojevich’s advisers picked the underwriter that Blagojevich subsequently chose to take the lead role on the bond sale. Monk said he learned there was a deal in which the four would split a $500,000 kickback from an investment firm acting as a consultant on the deal. The plea agreement doesn’t give further details about the money.

Discussions about making money off of state deals stopped when the FBI visited Stuart Levine, a member of two state boards and a longtime political donor, according to the plea.

Still, Monk claims he received cash payments from Rezko from 2004 to 2005. Rezko delivered to Monk $10,000 in cash payments seven to nine times, his plea says.

“Rezko never suggested that [Monk] would have to pay Rezko back and [Monk] understood that the money that Rezko provided was a gift, not a loan,” the plea indicates.”
“Monk also claims in his plea deal that Blagojevich and others met about making money off of a lucrative piece of property at Roosevelt and Clark in Chicago.

“Rezko talked about different ways that [Monk], Blagojevich, and Kelly could benefit from the Roosevelt and Clark Project, such as by having Blagojevich’s wife work on marketing the project or by allowing [Monk] to work on the project after [Monk] left state government,” the plea indicates.

While Monk admitted to knowing about a variety of alleged schemes including one involving a tollway project and another involving state money for Children’s Memorial Hospital.”

Read more:

http://cbs2chicago.com/local/alonzo.monk.plea.2.1258765.html

From Citizen Wells April 3, 2010.
“This issue may be sorted out soon enough because Fitzgerald’s charts matching up Obama’s contributions, visits and calls are bound to be every bit as thorough as the ones produced to prove Rezko is guilty as charged in the first trial. They simply were not produced because they were not needed to prove the defendant guilty in the first case.

As an example of what records might be squirreled away, consider that an FBI agent presented a chart to the jury on April 28, 2008, showing 257 calls from Rezko’s phones to Blagojevich’s chief of staff, Lon Monk, between March 2004 and May 2004 alone.”

Read more

To learn more about Chicago and Illinois corruption and Alonzo Monk’s involvement:

Read more

Blagojevich trial prosecution opening statements, Prosecution witnesses, Patrick Fitzgerald, Children’s Memorial Hospital, Blagojevich Rezko Monk others kickbacks

Blagojevich trial prosecution opening statements, Prosecution witnesses, Patrick Fitzgerald

The prosecution side of the Blagojevich trial presented opening statements. I was pleased to see references to the earlier corruption that Blagojevich was involved in, not just the selling of the senate seat.

From the Chicago Tribune June 8, 2010.

“Hamilton ticked off a list of some of the witnesses who will testify against Blagojevich, including former chiefs of staff Lon Monk and John Harris. She did not mention fundraiser Antoin “Tony” Rezko, who has been cooperating with government agents since his 2008 conviction.

Hamilton also stressed how jurors will get to hear the alleged corruption unfold for themselves on government wiretaps, including the now infamous phrase where Blagojevich describes his power to appoint a successor as senator to President Obama as “(expletive) golden.” As she spoke, those words, in their entirety, were flashed on the screen.

“He corrupted the office of the governor of the state of Illinois for his own personal benefit,” she concluded. “When you hear him say this senate seat is golden and he’s not giving it up for nothing, you are going to know, that’s how he viewed his power.”

Earlier today, Hamilton began her opening statement with the most emotionally packed of the charges against Blagojevich: the government claim that he tried to shake down the CEO of Children’s Memorial Hospital.

“On the North Side of Chicago,” she began, “there is a hospital called Children’s Memorial Hospital. It is a non-profit hospital that treats kids no matter where they are from or ability to pay…”

Hamilton then explained how Blagojevich committed to helping the hospital with millions of dollars in increased reimbursements to help pay its doctors. “But there was a catch,” she said. “Now that he decided to help the hospital, he wanted the hospital to pay him.”

Blagojevich is charged with demanding tens of thousands of dollars in fundraising help from the CEO of the hospital before he would release the increased reimbursements.

That was just one of a series of illegal shakedowns that started shortly after Blagojevich became governor in 2003 and extended into 2008, the prosecutor alleged.
“He was trying to use his power as governor to get something of personal benefit for himself,” she said.

Time and again, she continued, “when he was supposed to be asking ‘what about the people of the state of Illinois?’ he was asking, ‘what about me?’”

As Hamilton spoke, a chart was projected on a screen in the courtroom with a picture of  fundraisers Antoin “Tony” Rezko, Christopher Kelly and Alonzo “Lon” Monk, Blagojevich’s college roommate and later chief of staff who has pleaded guilty in the case and is expected to testify for prosecutors.

On the other end of the hall from the 25th-floor courtroom where the case is being heard, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald sat in a different “overflow” courtroom listening to Hamilton’s presentation on an audio hookup. He stared at the ceiling as Hamilton launched into a long laundry list of Blagojevich’s alleged misdeeds.

Proceeding in largely chronological fashion, Hamilton told jurors how Blagojevich, Rezko, Monk and others allegedly schemed to take kickbacks from investment firms seeking state business and squeeze mountains of campaign cash out of contributors in exchange for state action.

Some of the alleged kickbacks to Blagojevich, she said, were funneled to him in the form of $12,000 monthly payments from Rezko through his real estate company to Blagojevich’s wife, Patti, who did no work to earn the money. Patti Blagojevich has not been charged in the case.

Hamilton said the Rezko payments to Patti Blagojevich abruptly ended in May 2004 when another conspirator in the case, political fixer Stuart Levine, was confronted by the FBI.”

Read more:

http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/blagojevich-on-trial/2010/06/lawyers-begin-opening-statements.html

Rod Blagojevich trial opening statements, Day 4, June 8, 2010, How soon will Obama’s name be mentioned?, Open thread

Rod Blagojevich trial opening statements, Day 4, June 8, 2010

From Citizen News.

“Today, Tuesday, June 8, 2010, jury selection is almost complete and opening statements should begin. How soon will Obama’s name be mentioned? You have heard this before. During the Tony Rezko trial Rod  Blagojevich had not been indicted yet his name kept popping up. The same thing should happen for Obama.

From the Chicago Tribune.

“As courtroom styles go, it is hard to imagine a more stark contrast than the ones that will be on display Tuesday when prosecution and defense lawyers make their opening statements in the federal corruption trial of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich.”

“Blagojevich’s side, as presented by the often volcanic lawyer Sam Adam Jr., might resemble a passionate plea from a televangelist as much as a legal presentation.

With the preliminaries in the trial all but over after three days of vetting potential jurors, the final panel is set be seated early Tuesday, then the main event will get under way — with an estimated four months of testimony to follow.

At long last, prosecutors will unveil the full weight of the case against a former governor whose administration came under federal scrutiny not long after his election in 2002. It culminated in the bugging of Blagojevich’s campaign office and the tapping of his phones as he allegedly tried to trade official acts for campaign cash and sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President Barack Obama.

Hamilton is part of the same three-member prosecution team that secured the 2008 corruption conviction of Blagojevich’s fundraiser and friend Antoin “Tony” Rezko.

At her opening in that trial, she exhibited a biting tone of indignation as she explained how Rezko allegedly used his influence with Blagojevich to manipulate state regulatory panels so he and others could pocket kickbacks. On Tuesday, she will go a step further and claim that Rezko was acting on behalf of Blagojevich in an alleged conspiracy that the government has dubbed “the Blagojevich Enterprise.”

“The primary purpose of the Blagojevich Enterprise was to exercise and preserve power over the government of the state of Illinois for the financial and political benefit of defendant Rod Blagojevich, and for the benefit of his family members and associates,” the indictment against the governor states.

Adam will open for Blagojevich’s defense, and his statement promises to be delivered with all the calm of a gospel preacher in full fire and brimstone fury. Arguing with animated passion and sometimes belly-busting humor has become a trademark for the 37-year-old Adam at the Cook County Criminal Courts Building at 26th Street and California Avenue, where he has spent most of his legal career.

“The more you try to say things the way you think people want to hear them, the more you get away from what got you there in the first place,” Adam said in a recent interview.””

http://citizenwells.com/2010/06/08/blagojevich-trial-day-4-june-8-2010-jury-selection-nears-completion-opening-statements-begin-how-soon-will-obamas-name-be-mentioned/