Obama Straw Donor Testifies In Rezko Trial

An associate of Obama pal and corrupt political fixer Tony Rezko took the witness stand in Rezko's federal corruption trial today in Chicago. Elie Maloof testified that Rezko told him to ignore a grand jury subpoena he received in the federal investigation. He said Rezko told him that U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald would be canned by the Bush administration, and that the entire investigation would be shut down after then-House Speaker Dennis Hastert put his guy into Fitzgerald's spot. According to the Sun-Times, Maloof became tied to Sen. Barack Obama when he acted as a straw donor to Obama's Senate campaign at the behest of Rezko, although government documents simply referred to the donation Maloof made to Obama as "a political candidate." Obama later gave Maloof's $10,000 donation to charity, along with other money he received from Rezko, after Rezko was indicted. The Sun-Times said attorneys and the judge in the case were taking extra care to avoid mentioning Obama's name during Maloof's testimony.