Blago: Obama More Tony'd Up Than Me

It's a futile point to make to members of the mainstream media, but the fact remains that convicted political fixer Tony Rezko had much stronger ties to Barack Obama than former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. It was Obama who gave Rezko a front-row seat in the corrupt administration of Blagojevich. Yet it is Blagojevich who is on trial alone for those corrupt ties. Members of the news media have largely ignored damning statements Blagojevich made about Obama that were caught on tape by the FBI and are being replayed in Blagojevich's corruption trial. Blagojevich's frustration with this reality is evident in this taped conversation:

I thin-, you know, it’s really, I get that I’m a big boy and I can handle that, but it’s really f***ing galling, this guy is more Tony’d up than I am. And it’s almost like they f***ing conspi-, made a concerted effort and they got the Chicago media to f***ing make me wear Rezko more. To f***ing dilute it from him.

The same is true with Obama's role in Blagojevich's failed attempt to sell Obama's senate seat. It was Obama who first initiated a phone call to SEIU President Tom Balanoff to urge him to contact Blagojevich and tell him that he wanted Valerie Jarrett appointed to the senate seat on the eve of his historic election as president. At least that's what Balanoff testified to under oath at Blagojevich's trial. Obama's transition team produced a whitewashed report that gave the impression nothing transpired on his end other than a list of preferred candidates for the open seat being communicated through Rahm Emanuel. The government maintains in its corruption trial of Blagojevich that there was an ongoing conspiracy to sell the senate seat from Oct. 22, 2008 to December 9, 2008. According to Blagojevich's defense team in a subpoena request filed with the court, he had a phone conversation with Obama on December 1, 2008 while Obama was in Philadelphia, another claim that completely contradicts the report issued by Obama's transition team on the matter. Judge Zagel has so far blocked attempts by Blagojevich's lawyers to call Obama as a witness.

The media ignored another possible Rezko-Obama link. In a filing with the Court, Blagojevich's lawyers referenced a letter the government proferred concerning information Rezko funished to the proseuction:

In a recent in camera proceeding, the government tendered a three paragraph letter indicating that Rezko “has stated in interviews with the government that he engaged in election law violations by personally contributing a large sum of cash to the campaign of a public official who is not Rod Blagojevich. … Further, the public official denies being aware of cash contributions to his campaign by Rezko or others and denies having conversations with Rezko related to cash contributions. … Rezko has also stated in interviews with the government that he believed he transmitted a quid pro quo offer from a lobbyist to the public official, whereby the lobbyist would hold a fundraiser for the official in exchange for favorable official action, but that the public official rejected the offer. The public official denies any such conversation. In addition, Rezko has stated to the government that he and the public official had certain conversations about gaming legislation and administration, which the public official denies having had.

Blagojevich's lawyers believe the public official referenced in the letter is Obama. His attorneys also believe that a supporter of Obama's suggested a quid pro quo in exchange for appointing Jarrett to the Senate seat in a recorded phone conversation from November 3, 2008. When you look at the facts objectively, it does appear the government has been doing somersaults to protect Obama from his corrupt ties to this entire sordid mess in Illinois.