I think plenty of "birds" will be singing soon.....
Rezko Emerges With Central Role in Case
By CHRISTOPHER COOPER and JOHN R. EMSHWILLER
The pay-to-play case against Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich puts another Chicago political figure back in the spotlight: developer Antoin Rezko, a onetime fund-raiser for Barack Obama who was convicted in June of influence peddling.
Mr. Rezko appears to be playing a key role in the case against Mr. Blagojevich, which, coupled with an unrelated, recently filed lawsuit in that state, could give Obama critics grist for their attempts to tie him to corrupt Chicago politics.
Associated Press Antoin Rezko is back in the spotlight.
Earlier this year, Mr. Rezko wrote a letter to the judge in his own criminal case in which he complained that federal prosecutors in the office of U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald "are pressuring me to tell them the 'wrong' things I supposedly know about Governor Blagojevich and Senator Obama." Mr. Rezko added that he had never been involved in wrongdoing with either man. Mr. Obama has never been tied to any of the developer's alleged crimes.
A Rezko criminal attorney declined to comment, as did a spokesman for Mr. Fitzgerald's office. Obama aides declined to comment about his ties to the governor or Mr. Rezko.
Mr. Rezko this week seems to have changed his mind about Mr. Blagojevich, who was accused by Mr. Fitzgerald of attempting to auction off Mr. Obama's vacant U.S. Senate seat to the highest bidder, among other misdeeds. In a 76-page affidavit supporting the arrest of Mr. Blagojevich, a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent called Mr. Rezko a "principal fundraiser" for Mr. Blagojevich and said the convicted developer is cooperating in the case against the Democratic governor.
"Rezko has proffered [information] with the government in hopes of receiving a recommendation from the government for a reduced sentence," the affidavit says. On Thursday, the federal judge in Mr. Rezko's case abruptly suspended his sentencing proceedings. People familiar with the case said this was a clear signal that Mr. Rezko's cooperation was moving forward. Because cooperating witnesses use their testimony to get lighter sentences, judges delay giving them prison terms until their assistance to prosecutors has been completed.
Documents in the Case
Mr. Obama's other connection to Mr. Rezko revolves around a patch of land adjacent to Mr. Obama's Chicago home that he bought in early 2006 from the disgraced developer's wife for about $100,000. Mr. Obama has since called the deal "boneheaded" on his part. Obama representatives have said that the purchase of the adjacent properties by the Obamas and Ms. Rezko weren't related.
In October, a lawsuit was filed in Illinois state court by Kenneth Conner, a former employee of an Illinois bank called Mutual Bank. His suit says he was fired after raising questions in connection with a $500,000 loan that largely financed Ms. Rezko's purchase of the vacant lot, a portion of which she later sold to the Obamas.
The suit includes an internal bank email from October 2006 discussing the receipt of a federal grand jury subpoena seeking information about the Rezko lot loan. The suit alleges important information was removed from the loan file before it was turned over to authorities. There is no evidence Mr. Fitzgerald has been looking specifically at the Obama-Rezko transaction.
Mutual Bank officials didn't respond to calls.
—Cam Simpson contributed to this article.
