In the third installment of what promises to be a long series, John Batchelor's Rezko Connections: More Reasons Obama Should Worry published March 6, 2008, by Human Events poses some troubling questions for 2008 presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) Today, as the prosecution and defense offer their opening statements in the fraud trial of Obama's patron, indicted political fixer Antoin "Tony" Rezko, Obama's worries are piling up.
Batchelor wrote: "Why does Barack Obama need to worry about a previously unknown court filing that revealed, on the second day of jury selection in the trial of Antoin 'Tony' Rezko, that a prosecution witness accuses Mr. Rezko to have bribed the Iraqi Coalition Provisional Authority Minister of Electricity Aiham Alsammarae with $1.5 million for a bogus contract in 2005?"
Why should Obama worry? The $50 million contract for Companion Security "turns up in Iraqi government court documents in the pursuit of $650 million stolen from the CPA between 2003 and 2006 by Mr. Alsammarae" and it is connected to both Obama and Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
RezkoWatch has written a number of articles about Rezko's Companion Security, which was to be used by Rezko and his partners to train Iraqi guards for Rezko's proposed power plant in Iraq.Alsammarae-Rezko Rezko and Alsammarae: Corruption in Iraq Rezko's power plant in Iraq Obama, Rezko and the Iraqi power plant contract Rezko's power plant—bribe allegation
Batchelor wrote that one reason Obama should worry is Rezko accuser Daniel Mahru "is not only a government witness in this present Rezko trial, but also was the lawyer for the original Companion Security deal and is reported to have pushed another Rezko partner in Companion Security, Daniel T. Frawley, to revive the Companion contract in the spring and summer of 2006 in conversation with both Governor Rod Blagojevich’s office and Senator Barack Obama’s office."
Another reason? Batchelor wrote that, "according to the same court filing," Mahru—Rezko's partner in real estate development for 16 years—has been "cooperating" since December 2005 with the Federal investigation of Rezko, which was "ten months before Rezko was indicted." Afterwards, Mahru "became partners with John Thomas in a troubled Miami real estate deal; and it is well established that Mr. Thomas has been a cooperating federal witness who wore a wire as a mole for the FBI in 2004 and 2005, including in many visits to Mr. Rezko’s offices, where frequent callers included Governor Blagojevich and State Senator Barack Obama." However, the "government states that Mr. Thomas did not record the governor or the state senator."
Why else should Obama worry? Mahru's accusation means federal prosecutors have been "watching" what Rezko was doing, including the 2003 62-acre Chicago land deal between Rezko and Iraqi-British billionaire businessman Nahdmi Auchi, the 2004 Rezko-Auchi-Aiham Alsammarae power plant deal in Iraq, the 2005 Rezko-Daniel T. Frawley-Mahru-Alsammarae Companion Security deal, and, all the while, Rezko was "fundraising" for Obama "in his successful campaign for the U.S. Senate in 2004 and then into Mr. Obama’s first term."
Why else should Obama worry? There is now an alleged "direct link, the bribe," between Rezko, Alsammarae, the 2005 Companion Security deal, a 2006 attempt to revive the contract by involving Blagojevich and Obama. Batchelor wrote that there are "large holes in the narrative, and some inconsistencies."
Another worry? The "tangled criminal allegations against" Rezko, who was "detained by federal prosecutors as a flight risk [when] it was revealed that he tried to deceive the court about $3.7 million dollars paid to him by his Rezmar business partner," Auchi. Adding to the worries is, as Batchelor recently ascertained through his own numerous efforts, Alsammarae, "the alleged recipient of the Companion Security bribe" is "not available and may be 'overseas.'"
Alsammarae has not only been "alleged in a federal court filing in the Northern District of Illinois to have taken a bribe for a U.S. firm's contract with the Iraqi CPA," but he is also a "convicted thief in Iraq with a nine year sentence pending, from which he has been a fugitive since December 2006," as indicated in an Interpol warrant online for his arrest and return to Iraq. Meanwhile, the list of unanswered questions grows—as do the reasons why Obama, Blagojevich, Mahru, and Rezko should be worried.
Batchelor wrote that Alsammarae has "information vital to clearing the suspicions, or deepening them, about Chicago political actors involved in a presidential campaign." Additionally, as Batchelor points out, Obama is not accused or alleged of any wrongdoing, but "there is an unsavory tale of how the Chicago political machine works for its friends and supporters, stretching from the South Side of Chicago all the way to Baghdad."
Also see related RezkoWatch articles
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