Axelrod Denies Barack Obama Met With Rod Blagojevich

Seems a bit of a coincidence, that Axelrod says he was "Mistaken" about Obama meeting with the "Disgraced" Gov. Must be another Obama evasive manuever, This "Distantcing act" is getting quite a workout. Let's see, that makes three now, Wright-Ayers and now the Illinois Gov.....Who's next???

Why make it always the white guy who is anglo saxon? Or did you mean simply you wished it was one of those names because they're harder to spell right, pronounce, etc. I'm serious. You notice I haven't spelled his name in this -- too lazy to go find it an cut and paste or try to remember how to sepll it.

What sheer idiocy. Are Americans so pathetically lacking in intelligence and meaning in their lives that they must turn everything into a reality show/soap opera/tabloid?

Like all the other crap, this is a nonissue which will be ignored by all but the more sensationalist media and those hungry for every whiff of every imagined scandal.

Get a life, people, and learn what real problems are and join with those who are actually addressing those.

And try actual news outlets...like the BBC.

Oh give it a rest. Once again making a mountain out of a molehill. The FBI has said Obama is not caught on tape. The GOV denigrates him and indicates that all he would get from Obama is appreciation.-No money, no influence, no power so he went diving for dollar$ He's scum prosecute him and move on. For almost two years people have tried to tar and feather Obama with corruption and scandal-lo and behold it ain't there.

Blagojevich....Is that better??

Why Obama’s Next--Comparison of the Indictment and E. Pringle's articles


I. FROM THE BLAGOJEVICH INDICTMENT


35. As described more fully in the following paragraphs, Mercy Hospital, which sought permission from the Planning Board to build a hospital in Illinois, received that permission through Rezko’s exercise of his influence at the Planning Board after Rezko was promised that Mercy Hospital would make a substantial campaign contribution to ROD BLAGOJEVICH. Rezko later told a member of the Planning Board that Mercy Hospital received the permit because ROD BLAGOJEVICH wanted the organization to receive the permit.


36. Levine’s criminal activities included his abuse of his position on the Planning Board to enrich both himself and Friends of Blagojevich. The Planning Board was a commission of the State of Illinois, established by statute, whose members were appointed by the Governor of the State of Illinois. At the relevant time period, the Planning Board consisted of nine individuals. State law required an entity seeking to build a hospital, medical office building, or other medical facility in Illinois to obtain a permit, known as a "Certificate of Need" ("CON"), from the Planning Board prior to beginning construction.


37. Levine, as well as Planning Board members Thomas Beck and Imad Almanaseer, testified under oath at the Rezko Trial.9 Beck testified that he asked Rezko to reappoint him to the Planning Board and that Beck thereafter followed Rezko’s directions regarding which CON applications Rezko wanted approved. Beck testified that it was his job to communicate Rezko’s interest in particular CONs to other members of the Planning Board, including Almanaseer, who were loyal to Rezko. Beck testified that he understood that Rezko spoke for the Blagojevich administration when Rezko spoke to Beck about particular CONs. Almanaseer testified that Beck instructed him that Rezko wanted Almanaseer to vote a particular way and that Almanaseer should follow Levine’s lead in voting on CONs. Almanaseer testified that before certain Planning Board meetings, he received notecards from Beck indicating how to vote on certain CON applications. Beck testified he provided these notecards to Almanaseer and certain other members of the Planning Board to communicate Rezko’s directions about certain CON applications.


38. During his testimony, Levine described a plan to manipulate the Planning Board to enrich himself and Friends of Blagojevich. The plan centered on an entity commonly known as Mercy Hospital ("Mercy") that was attempting to obtain a CON to build a new hospital in Illinois. Levine knew the contractor hired to help build the hospital. In approximately November 2003, on behalf of the contractor, Levine checked with Rezko to determine whether Rezko wanted Mercy to obtain its CON. Rezko informed Levine that Mercy was not going to receive its CON. According to Levine, he asked Rezko whether it would matter to Rezko if Mercy’s construction contractor paid a bribe to Rezko and Levine and, in addition, made a contribution to ROD BLAGOJEVICH. Levine testified that Rezko indicated that such an arrangement would change his view on the Mercy CON.


39. Levine’s testimony regarding Rezko’s actions to change the Planning Board decision concerning Mercy’s application for a CON based on contributions for ROD BLAGOJEVICH is confirmed by attorney Steven Loren. Loren testified at Rezko’s criminal

trial and, before that, in the grand jury.11 According to Loren, in approximately December 2003, Levine informed Loren that Rezko was against the Mercy CON. According to Loren, Levine relayed to Loren a conversation between Rezko and Levine during which Levine asked Rezko whether a political contribution to ROD BLAGOJEVICH would make a difference for Mercy’s CON, and Rezko responded to Levine that such a contribution might

make a difference.


40. Thereafter, and confirmed by the testimony of Levine, Beck, and Almanaseer, as well as recorded conversations, Rezko switched his directions to Beck and informed Beck that Mercy was to receive its CON. According to Almanaseer, although he previously had been told by Beck that Rezko did not want Mercy to receive its CON, he was later told that there had been a change and that Rezko now wanted Mercy to receive its CON.


41. Mercy received its CON as a result of a controversial and irregular vote at a public Planning Board meeting.12 The vote brought significant publicity to the Planning Board and ultimately led to the disbanding of the Planning Board. Almanaseer testified under oath in the grand jury that not long after the Planning Board vote on Mercy’s CON he saw Rezko at a fundraiser. According to Almanaseer, he was still embarrassed about what had occurred at the Planning Board vote on Mercy’s CON and Rezko’s role in the vote. Almanaseer testified that he asked Rezko why Rezko had switched the vote on the Mercy CON. According to Almanaseer, Rezko stated: "The Governor wanted it to pass."


II. FROM EVELYN PRINGLE’S "CURTAIN TIME" ONLINE ARTICLES


Tony Rezko is a private citizen. Therefore, the evidence presented in the trial focused on his influence over officials in getting members appointed to the Boards. Prosecutors did not discuss how the legislation got passed that enabled the Planning Board to be set up in a way that allowed for the appointment of members to rig the votes to begin with.

That part of the scheme will likely be detailed in future indictments, probably starting with Blagojevich. Blagojevich signed the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Act with an effective date of June 27, 2003. However, before he could sign the act, a bill had to be passed by the Illinois House and Senate. As discussed fully in Curtain Time Part II, Obama was the inside guy in the senate who pushed through the legislation that resulted in the Act.

Obama was appointed chairman of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee. The minute the bill was introduced, it was referred to his committee for review. The sponsors of the bill also served on this committee with Obama. Within a month, Chairman Obama sent word to the full senate that the legislation should be passed.

On May 31, 2003, Senate Bill 1332 passed and specified that the "Board shall be appointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate." The legislation reduced the number of members from 15 to 9, paving the way for the appointment of a five-bloc majority to rig the votes.

The corrupt members appointed included three doctors who contributed to Obama. Michel Malek gave Obama $10,000 on June 30, 2003 and donated $25,000 to Blagojevich on July 25, 2003. Malek also gave Obama another $500 in September 2003.

Fortunee Massuda donated $25,000 to Blagojevich on July 25, 2003, and gave a total of $2,000 to Obama on different dates. After he was appointed, Dr Imad Almanaseer contributed a total of $3,000 to Obama. Almanaseer did not give money to Blagojevich.

When the first pay-to-play scheme was put in play, and the application for approval of a new hospital was submitted, the Department of Human Services, along with four other Illinois agencies, sent recommendations that the project should be approved even though experts said the hospital was not needed.

During the trial, Rezko’s attorney presented an email exchange to the jury that hinted at Obama's role in setting up the scheme. The exchange showed that Obama and seven other top Illinois politicians consulted on the legislation passed in 2003 and were involved in recommending the members for the board.

Matthew Pickering wrote the memo to Blagojevich’s general counsel, Susan Lichtenstein, on behalf of David Wilhelm, a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, who headed Blagojevich's 2002 campaign for governor.

Pickering said he and Wilhelm had "worked closely" over six months with state legislators. The memo recommended the appointees listed above and stated, "our attached recommendations reflect that involvement" with the political leaders.

The persons appointed to rig the votes, including those who contributed to Blagojevich and Obama, are cooperating in exchange for immunity or lighter prison sentences.

Feds shut down pay-to-play schemes

Only two pay-to-play schemes succeeded before the Feds swooped in and shut them all down. Blagojevich did not receive the $1.5 million from the Planning Board deal because the hospital was never built.

But Obama received $20,000 from the first kickback paid in the pension fund scheme and the straw donors used to funnel the $10,000 payments, Elie Maloof and Joseph Aramanda, also made $1,000 contributions to Obama's failed run for Congress in 2000.

In addition, Aramanda gave $500 to Obama's senate campaign on June 30, 2003. In the summer of 2005, Aramanda's son landed an intern position in Obama's Washington office.

Obama also received contributions for his senate campaign from the two persons appointed to rig the vote on the pension fund board. On June 30, 2003, Jack Carriglio contributed $1,000, and the other appointee, Anthony Abboud, donated $500 on June 30, 2003, $250 on March 5, 2004, and $1,000 on June 25, 2004.

The person chosen to funnel the kickback in a future scheme, Michael Winter, donated $3,000 to Obama on June 30, 2003.

All these people are also cooperating in exchange for immunity or lesser prison sentences but prosecutors pointed out during closing arguments that people who entered into agreements with the government are required to tell the truth or all deals are off.

TC, it's time to come clean. This might be one of the upcoming revelations to be uncovered of Obama's past that will eventually stick. There is nothing wrong in admitting one can be misled by the swift tongue of another. There is much wrong in denial of facts that intelligent people continue to discount in order not to feel stupid for their past support. Obama is not kin to any of you, you're not married to the guy. He is indeed on the threshold of becoming the most powerful leader on earth. It is your duty to connect the circumstantial dots that only those of small intellect refuse to do. I've defended our past president with much fervor, there's no disgrace in any of that. The never ending rhetoric of Bush & Cheney promoting the war for personal gain was far less proven circumstantially than the associations of president elect Obama is in a corrupt background setting of endless tarnished officials, public enemies & possible money laundering through political power for financial gain. Other than having direct video feed of Obama with his hands in the cookie jar, the revelations are unfolding.

Are you going to be an endless "yes man" like Axelrod? Grow a spine, it's the manly thing to do. I can sense you're actually having some doubts here...

He mis-spoke. His words were taken out of context. That's not what he meant. It's a distraction.

We know the drill.

Well Now, Jan Honey, That makes perfect sense, Americans getting their News from the BBC...Damn, Why didn't we think of that!!!

Funny how you Obamanaysayers somehow always find a way to hold him responsible for everything that others do, just because their names are linked in certain ways... its called degrees of seperation, not always a smoking gun pointing to wrong doing.

If a moose farts, you'll say that Obama made the moose do that because they were at a dinner party and Obama served the moose beans.

I wouldn't trust any of them. We are well aware of the ongoing corruption in IL. I have no doubt it played a part in Obama getting where he has.....beginning early in his political career (if you want to call it that as he hasn't spent much time doing his job). I still contend there is a LOT we don't know about Obama. Denial. Denial. Denial. What is the actual truth? We may find out the hard way.

December 09, 2008
Categories: Barack Obama

Aide: Ax 'misspoke'

An Obama aide, speaking on the condition of anonymity, took back David Axelrod's remark last month that Barack Obama and Rod Blagojevich had spoken recently.

"What the president-elect said today is correct, David Axelrod misspoke," the aide said.

Obama said today the men had not spoken.

An open question: When they last spoke.

UPDATE: Axelrod says the same in a statement:



I was mistaken when I told an interviewer last month that the President-elect has spoken directly to Governor Blagojevich about the Senate vacancy. They did not then or at any time discuss the subject.

The statement doesn't answer a question that I've asked, so far fruitlessly, of the transition, which is when Obama and Blagojevich last spoke on any subject, and what about.

i am not a conspiracy nut

I'm pretty sure Blagojevich was born in Kenya.

@ Voice of Reason: You said "I am not a conspiracy nut." With regard to this matter, technically, you are right. A conspiracy by definition an agreement by two or more people to commit a crime. There must be a "meeting of the minds" to engage in criminal conduct. You wanna find something to whomever or whatever he has, or has not, come into contact with. Just the "meet." Never the potatoes. Obama is not a part or co-conspirator by any federal investigation of any crime. There is absolutely no evidence of that. However, looking for something, when there is nothing (with regard to Obama), is simply delusional and not knowing the definition of conspiracy. Sadly, you were one of the folks whining about the baloney controversy of the birth certificate. With that, you lose any credibility forever. You play Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon with malice towards Obama.

It will be interesting to see how this "Mistake" get's "explained" away.

Yeah - jsut another example of this "President Elect" distancing himself from his past.... C'Mon people - don't be herded like cattle. Use your MINDS and INTELLECT - does this smell right?

20 years at the same church, being molded, moderated and guided by a belief, UNTIL that doesn't fit the immediate purpose?!?! This guys is a sham, I for one am not walking to slaughter like an uneducated lamb. I DO have a brain - unlike most of the Obama supporters I have encountered.

Hey Kickbox.... Who withdrew their "candidacy" this week.... Hmmm... How DUMB can you be?!?!?!? Does it enter your simple mind that she is "person 1" menitioned???? C'Mon - go sit on the toilet and s h it out your brain for goodness sake!

"Obama is not related to the corruption pattern in Chicago," said political scientist Dick Simpson of the University of Illinois in Chicago. "He has not been pressing for any person to replace him in his Senate seat."

U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, announcing the charges, also said Obama was in no way implicated.

I didn't vote for Obama so this crap all exploding in Illinois is something I can sit back and laugh my butt off over. Illinois has been a corrupt political machine since the day it got statehood. To assume Obama, a product of that political machine, is any different is about as safe a bet as Oprah staying thin. The man attracts scum and that's going to be his legacy in the White House.

The Federal Government will probably build a special wing on a Federal Prison, just for Illinois Governors.