Obama Admits More Extensive Rezko Ties

CHICAGO — Presidential candidate Barack Obama said Friday that he got more political money from indicted Chicago businessman Antoin "Tony" Rezko than he has previously acknowledged.

Rezko helped raise up to $250,000 for his various political races, Obama's campaign said. The campaign had previously put the figure at $150,000 but now says that amount was only for his 2004 Senate race.

And in interviews with two Chicago newspapers, the Democrat again said it was a mistake to involve Rezko in his purchase of a new home _ not just because Rezko was under federal investigation but because he was a contributor and political activist.

Still, Obama said he did nothing unethical.

"He never once asked me for any favors, or ever did any favors for me," the Illinois senator said in an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times. "He never gave me any gifts or gave me any indication he was setting me up to ask for any favors in the future."

Obama met Friday with the editorial boards of the Chicago Tribune and Sun-Times in an effort to resolve nagging questions about his relationship with Rezko, a Chicago businessman and major fundraiser in Illinois politics.

Rezko is on trial on charges including mail fraud and attempted extortion. Federal prosecutors say he tried to use his connections to Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to demand kickbacks from companies wanting to do business with state government.

Obama is not accused of any wrongdoing.

Story continues below

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But his long friendship with Rezko has hampered his efforts to campaign as a new-style politician who abhors backroom deals and insider favors.

Rezko has not contributed to Obama's presidential campaign, but he did raise money for Obama's bids for other offices.

His staff said Friday evening that Rezko raised about $160,000 for Obama's successful run for U.S. Senate in 2004 and $60,000 to $90,000 for his state Senate campaigns and a failed bid for Congress in 2000.

Previously, his presidential campaign said Rezko was connected to about $150,000, all of which was later donated to charity.

"We reviewed our records for any contributions we believe could reasonably be credited to Mr. Rezko's political support and that is the generous estimate we concluded upon," spokesman Ben LaBolt said in an e-mail.

Rezko advised Obama on buying a new Chicago home in 2005 and his wife bought a vacant lot next to the Obamas' house. Rezko's wife, Rita, later sold part of the lot to Obama so they would have a bigger side yard.

Obama said he got no price break on his new house because Rezko was buying the lot next door from the same sellers. And he said it was Rezko's idea, not his, to buy the lot.

"He said, 'Well, I might be interested in purchasing the lot.' And my response was, 'That would be fine,'" Obama said. "This is an area where I can see sort of a lapse in judgment, where I could have said 'No, I'm not sure that's a good idea.'"

Comments

[fredamae]

"Back in January, after Clinton attacked him on Rezko, Obama started to donate money to charity to make up on the money Rezko donated to his political campaigns."

how can you believe this to be an Attack" by clinton? was it not more like "exposed" since he admitted to ties with rezko?

If the "excuses are "OK" for Obama, then why not for HRC?

Why did he wait until he got caught? if he didn't know, shouldn't he have? Hes asking us to hire him to be President of the United States!

hes getting caught on things he "should have known or been reasonably expected to know" especially for a person who is supposed to have the skills needed to be president.

undecided, i am

[Lori411]

From what I saw, HRC did attack him on it in a debate. Not that she has room to talk. I would be interested in listening though if she would actually talk about HER business affairs: tax returns, earmarks, you know, she refuses to be a bit more transparent. I am amazed and impressed that Obama released his. McCain, even more impressive on this subject, has none. Hillary, hmm, only God knows.

[Thinkerrr]

Can we grow up and act like educated voters? Mr. Obama has refused to answer Rezko and "preacher" questions because he is calculated and wasn't going to answer ANY questions Of For And By the people until he felt like he had enough delegates in the bag so that is was TOO late to do anything about it. Cripe. It's so freaking obvious! Hillary has nothing to do with this. She has been asking hims questions the press has been asking him FOREVER. He REFUSED to answer. He refused to answer when he was in CHICAGO!!! Here - go see. Can every one just get off this Hillary Hate Parade their on? Can we EVER look at Mr. Obama's really dirty dishes without somehow trying to blame Hillary Clinton for them? HE'S RESPONSIBLE for his actions - his affliations - his friends - his bank rollers. Just get a brain! This man is a dangerous liar. Here - this is the Chicago press chasing him down for answers - but he drove away. He has never intended to answer for his past until he had enough delegates to win this thing. Now it's too freaking late!
Unless Michigan and Florida are re-voted. And he's fighting that tooth and nail. And I'm voting for McCain. I will NEVER vote for this snake.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDHsHM0laT8&feature=related

[kcal2000]

What if Rezco is found not guilty?

[fredamae]

a "not guilty" verdict is not the same as an "innocent" verdict.

[gappedtoothgodwarrior]

That that's just exceedingly moist for Obama and rather embarrassing for anyone who has brought this up.

My guess is though that nobody is going to be pleased with the outcome, except Rezko himself because he'll probably get some punishment without have the book thrown at him.

[bish66]

Back in January, after Clinton attacked him on Rezko, Obama started to donate money to charity to make up on the money Rezko donated to his political campaigns.

At the beginning, he donated $70.000. Then at the end of January, he added another $70.000-odd to the total sum of $150.000. On January 29th, Spokesman Bill Burton announced: "By refunding these donations, the campaign has returned any and all funds that could be reasonably credited to Mr. Rezko's political support." (http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008Jan29/0,4670,ObamaRezkoMoney,00.html)

ANY----ALL---- REASONABLY

And here is a quote from the Washington Post from the 27th of January: "The L.A. Times estimated Rezko affiliates provided Obama more than $200,000 in donations since 1995.

Obama spokesman Bill Burton said he believes those reviews "cast too wide a net," capturing contributions from people who had only glancing contact with Rezko, and who were already strong supporters of Obama in their own right."

CAST TOO WIDE A NET

Now we are no longer talking $200.000, we moved on to $250.000 and I have the feeling that the number will grow.

To cut a long story short, Obama is kneedeep in Rezko's pockets and it does not make sense that a guy who stands trial for unlawful dealings never asked Obama for help in return for the large sum of money he donated.
There is nothing new and shiny anymore about Obama, he is just as fishy as all politicians. The only difference between the old and the new politicians is that the older ones are better at covering their tracks...

[nachtengel]

This is BS. Obama has been fairly transparent through most of this, and continues to be today. The 250k number is quoted to be a generous number, likely to account for the idea that it will not in any way meet or exceed 250k.

If people are starting to compare Obama's ethics to the rets of these candidates, it's like comparing a high school president to Dick Cheney or the Bushs/Clintons. Somethings are like stupid things yo do when your young, and something things are straight up cold and calculated.

If anyone thinks this is even minutely close to the Clintons deals, which were clearly and completly claculated, also with Rezco, or swindling people out of their homes in Whitewater, or swindling the elderly with Gupta/InfoUSA, or destorying the environment with LaFarge, or investing in blood diamonds with DeBeers, you are grossly unable to understand comparing apples to apples.

[abot]

Here is info about Clinton's ties to Rezko.

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/NBC_confronts_Hillary_with_slum_lord_0125.html

and

http://www.margieburns.com/blog/_archives/2008/2/2/3501879.html

and

http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/2008/03/clintons-tied-to-rezko.php

The Chicago news media has begun to notice that Hillary Clinton has no standards when it comes to raising campaign money. Chris Fusco from the Chicago Sun-Times points out she not only takes money from Democratic lawyer/fundraiser Myron "Mike" Cherry, "Individual H" in the Rezko indictment, she put him on the host committee of a big fundraiser tonight here. And she takes it from a suburban Chicago company Cherry represents that is being sued by the federal government in a massive sexual harassment case, is under fraud investigation by the Illinois Attorney General's office, and whose founder is a convicted criminal.

Since the name of Chicago defendant Rezko has come up in national debate, it seems fair to look at donations from other defendants in Chicago's Operation Board Games. Of the other five defendants, three have donated to the Clintons or to Clinton supporters, three have donated mostly to Republicans, and at least two have donated to Obama?s political opponents. None have donated to Obama...

[bish66]

Like "I did not have business relations with this man, Mr. Rezko".

[thatsNotWhatIHeard]

So lemme get this straight, Obama *knows* a guy that tried extorting a governor for kickbacks. Obama did not take part in this extortion. This same guy, contributed money to Obama's campaign, and bought a lot next to Obama's house.

Thats the gist, yeah? Is that what the media's so worked up about?

[handyallen1]

i smell another whitewater type investigation if he wins calling ken starr

[dkewyne]

This is why we need to vote for Hillary. Obama and his wife are anti American liars. Hillary cares deeply for our country, and will do the job right. Obama and his cronies will destroy this country.

[Lori411]

Hillary cares deeply for her bank account and your vote to help her do it. She and Bill have ties with Middle Eastern countries that smells like... $131 million from an Emir of Dubai! She wants to sell us out! She is not trustworthy.

[samson24]

Obama is done. There is a month until the next primary, and more of Obama's past relationships with
sleazy people will continue to be exposed. What's he going to say? He didn't know? It's unbelievable
that he doesn't know anything about his good friends of 20 years. So, stay tuned for the slow death of the Obama campaign.

[huffposeur]

"His staff said Friday evening that Rezko raised about ... $60,000 to $90,000 for his state Senate campaigns and a failed bid for Congress in 2000."

Um, this is more than a little disturbing. This guy rezko "raised" 60-90K for his state senate races? Anyone know if these were contested primary races? Anyone know how much is spent normally in winning -and then holding onto- a seat in the Illinois state senate?

What percentage of the overall funds obama raised in those races does this represent? It seems to me that obama probably did very little "fundraising" in those campaigns and relied upon rezko to fill his coffers so he wouldn't have to get his hands dirty.

Baaaaaarrrrrrry.... you got some splainin to do!

[dragonfly142]

Obama and his Rezko ties
DAY ONE OF TWO

April 23, 2007
BY TIM NOVAK Staff Reporter/t­novak@sunt­imes.com
For more than five weeks during the brutal winter of 1997, tenants shivered without heat in a government­-subsidize­d apartment building on Chicago's

South Side.

It was just four years after the landlords -- Antoin "Tony'' Rezko and his partner Daniel Mahru -- had rehabbed the 31-unit building in Englewood with

a loan from Chicago taxpayers.

It was just four years after the landlords -- Antoin "Tony'' Rezko and his partner Daniel Mahru -- had rehabbed the 31-unit building in Englewood with

a loan from Chicago taxpayers.

Rezko and Mahru couldn't find money to get the heat back on.

» Click to enlarge image

"Senator Obama does not remember having conversations with Tony Rezko (inset) about properties that he owned" — Obama’s campaign staff on

Sunday.
(Sun-Times/AP)



RELATED STORIES
Sun-Times' questions: Obama campaign's answers

Map: Rezmar Corp.'s low-income projects

Top recipients of campaign cash

Obama's ex-boss a Rezko partner

Troutman dad got rehab deal

Rezmar deals involving Davis Miner law firm

Sweet blog: Obama's donor courtship

Obama: Election chance for change


ABOUT THIS SERIES
Staff reporter Tim Novak examines previously unreported government-funded, low-income housing deals involving Antoin "Tony" Rezko, the indicted

political fund-raiser.
TODAY | Rezmar kept getting city and state funding, even as earlier projects fell into disrepair and financial troubles.
Rezko and Mahru couldn't find money to get the heat back on.

But their company, Rezmar Corp., did come up with $1,000 to give to the political campaign fund of Barack Obama, the newly elected state senator

whose district included the unheated building.

Obama has been friends with Rezko for 17 years. Rezko has been a political patron to Obama and many others, helping to raise millions of dollars for

them through his own contributions and by hosting fund-raisers in his home.

Obama, who has worked as a lawyer and a legislator to improve living conditions for the poor, took campaign donations from Rezko even as Rezko's

low-income housing empire was collapsing, leaving many African-American families in buildings riddled with problems -- including squalid living

conditions, vacant apartments, lack of heat, squatters and drug dealers.

The building in Englewood was one of 30 Rezmar rehabbed in a series of troubled deals largely financed by taxpayers. Every project ran into financial

difficulty. More than half went into foreclosure, a Chicago Sun-Times investigation has found.

"Their buildings were falling apart,'' said a former city official. "They just didn't pay attention to the condition of these buildings.''

Eleven of Rezko's buildings were in Obama's state Senate district.

Obama, now a U.S. senator running for president, has come under fire over his friendship with Rezko, who was charged last fall with demanding

kickbacks on state business deals under Gov. Blagojevich.

Much of the criticism has centered on two real estate deals involving Obama's South Side mansion. In the first, Obama paid $300,000 less than the

asking price for a doctor's home, while Rezko's wife paid the doctor full price for the vacant lot next door. Then -- a few months before Rezko was

indicted -- Obama bought part of that lot from Rezko's wife.

But Obama's ties with Rezko go beyond those two real estate sales and the political support, the Sun-Times found. Obama was an attorney with a

small Chicago law firm -- Davis Miner Barnhill & Galland -- that helped Rezmar get more than $43 million in government funding to rehab 15 of their 30

apartment buildings for the poor.

Obama role unclear
Just what legal work -- and how much -- Obama did on those deals is unknown. His campaign staff acknowledges he worked on some of them. But

the Rezmar-related work amounted to just five hours over the six years it said Obama was affiliated with the law firm, the staff said in an e-mail in

February.
Obama, however, was associated with the firm for more than nine years, his staff acknowledged Sunday in an e-mail response to questions

submitted March 14 by the Sun-Times. They didn't say what deals he worked on -- or how much work he did.

"The senator, relatively inexperienced in this kind of work, was assigned to tasks appropriate for a junior lawyer,'' according to an e-mail from Obama

spokesman Robert Gibbs. "These tasks would have included reviewing documents, collecting corporate organizational documents, and drafting

corporate resolutions.''

In fact, Gibbs wrote, "Senator Obama does not remember having conversations with Tony Rezko about properties that he owned or any specific

issues related to those properties.''

Rezko and Mahru had no construction experience when they created Rezmar in 1989 to rehabilitate apartments for the poor under the Daley

administration. Between 1989 and 1998, Rezmar made deals to rehab 30 buildings, a total of 1,025 apartments. The last 15 buildings involved Davis

Miner Barnhill & Galland during Obama's time with the firm.

Rezko and Mahru also managed the buildings, which were supposed to provide homes for poor people for 30 years. Every one of the projects ran into

trouble:

• Seventeen buildings -- many beset with code violations, including a lack of heat -- ended up in foreclosure.

• Six buildings are currently boarded up.

• Hundreds of the apartments are vacant, in need of major repairs.

• Taxpayers have been stuck with millions in unpaid loans.

• At least a dozen times, the city of Chicago sued Rezmar for failure to heat buildings.

For five weeks, the Sun-Times sought to interview Obama about Rezko and the housing deals. His staff wanted written questions. It responded

Sunday but left many questions unanswered. Other answers didn't directly address the question.

Among these: When did Obama learn of Rezmar's financial problems? "The senator had no special knowledge of any financial problems,'' Gibbs wrote.

Did the senator ever complain to anyone -- government officials, Rezmar or Rezko -- about the conditions of Rezmar's buildings? "Senator Obama did

follow up on constituency complaints about housing as [a] matter of routine,'' Gibbs wrote.

Did the senator ever discuss Rezmar's financial problems with anyone at his law firm? "The firm advises us that it [is] unaware of any such

conversations,'' Gibbs wrote.

Turns down Rezmar job
Obama's friendship with Rezko began with a telephone call.
It was 17 years ago. Obama had just become the first black president of the Harvard Law Review. Newspapers wrote about him. One story caught

the eye of David Brint, a vice president of Rezmar, a new company that had become the Daley administration's favored developer of low-income

housing.

"I just cold-called him," Brint said in an interview.

Brint said he wanted to know if Obama would come work for Rezmar, developing housing for the poor -- something Obama had expressed interest in,

according to the story Brint had read. Brint arranged for Obama to meet Rezko, but Obama didn't take the job.

Obama, who has a law degree from Harvard, subsequently returned to Chicago to lead a voter-registration drive in 1992.

The next year, Obama joined Davis Miner Barnhill & Galland, a 12-lawyer firm that specialized in helping develop low-income housing. The firm's top

partner, Allison S. Davis, was, and is, a member of the Chicago Plan Commission, appointed by Mayor Daley. Davis was also a friend of Rezko. Davis

and Rezko would eventually go into business together, developing homes.

Another firm partner, Judson Miner, ran the city Law Department under Mayor Harold Washington, one of Obama's political idols.

Asked what Rezko cases Obama worked on, Miner told the Sun-Times, "We'll put together a list of the cases he worked on involving Rezko/Rezmar in

the next day or two.''

That was March 13. He never provided the information.

While at the law firm, Obama spent much of his time working on issues that would help improve conditions in poor neighborhoods, according to his

first book, Dreams from My Father, published in 1996.

"In my legal practice, I work mostly with churches and community groups, men and women who quietly build grocery stores and health clinics in the

inner city, and housing for the poor,'' Obama wrote in the book.

Three community groups represented by Davis Miner Barnhill & Galland were partners with Rezmar in the troubled housing deals.

Rezko offers Obama support
Obama had been at the firm for two years when he began his political career, running to replace state Sen. Alice Palmer.
Rezko became Obama's political patron. Obama got his first campaign contributions on July 31, 1995: $300 from a Loop lawyer, a $5,000 loan from a

car dealer, and $2,000 from two food companies owned by Rezko.

Around that time, Rezmar began developing low-income apartments in partnerships with the Chicago Urban League and two other not-for-profit

community groups, both founded and run by Bishop Arthur Brazier, pastor of the Apostolic Church of God and a powerful ally of the mayor -- the

Woodlawn Preservation and Investment Corp., known as WPIC, and the Fund for Community Redevelopment and Revitalization.

All three community groups were clients of the Davis law firm. Davis himself was treasurer of WPIC when it went into business with Rezmar.

Why go into business with Rezmar? "We thought they were successful,'' Davis said, noting that little development was taking place in Woodlawn.

At the time, Rezmar had been in business for six years and had become one of City Hall's favored developers of low-income housing, managing 600

apartments in 15 buildings it rehabbed with government funding. Teaming now with community development groups, Rezmar rehabbed another 15

buildings, with 400 apartments, between 1995 and 1998. Each deal involved a mix of public and private financing -- loans from the city or state,

federal low-income-housing tax credits and bank loans.

By the time Rezmar started working with those community groups, at least two of its earlier buildings were falling into disrepair -- including the

Englewood apartment building at 7000 S. Sangamon where the tenants were without heat for five weeks.

The tenants there had no heat from Dec. 27, 1996, until at least Feb. 3, 1997, when the city of Chicago sued to turn the heat on. The case was

settled later that month with a $100 fine.

It was during that time that the area's new state senator, Barack Obama, got a $1,000 campaign donation from Rezmar. The date: Jan. 14, 1997.

Obama works on Rezmar deals
Obama spent the next eight years serving in the Illinois Senate and continued to work for the Davis law firm.
Through its partnerships, Rezmar remained a client of the firm, according to ethics statements Obama filed while a state senator.

Davis said he didn't remember Obama working on the Rezmar projects.

"I don't recall Barack having any involvement in real estate transactions,'' Davis said. "Barack was a litigator. His area of focus was litigation,

class-action suits.''

But Obama did legal work on real estate deals while at Davis' firm, according to biographical information he submitted to the Sun-Times in 1998.

Obama specialized "in civil rights litigation, real estate financing, acquisition, construction and/or redevelopment of low-and moderate income

housing,'' according to his "biographical sketch."

And he did legal work on Rezko's deals, according to an e-mail his presidential campaign staff sent the Sun-Times on Feb. 16, in response to earlier

inquiries. The staff didn't specify which Rezmar projects Obama worked on, or his role. But it drew a distinction between working for Rezko and

working on projects involving his company.

"Senator Obama did not directly represent Mr. Rezko or his firms. He did represent on a very limited basis ventures in which Mr. Rezko's entities

participated along with others,'' according to the e-mail from Obama's staff.

Obama buys Rezko land
Over the years, Rezko, Mahru, their wives and businesses have given more than $50,000 to Obama's campaign funds, records show. And Rezko has

helped raise millions more.
Rezko was among the people Obama appointed to serve on his U.S. Senate campaign finance committee, the Sun-Times reported in 2003. The

committee raised more than $14 million, according to Federal Election Commission records, helping send Obama to Washington in 2004.

As a U.S. senator, Obama grew closer to Rezko.

Two years ago, Obama bought a mansion on the South Side, in the Kenwood neighborhood, from a doctor. On the same day, Rezko's wife, Rita

Rezko, bought the vacant lot next door from the same seller. The doctor had listed the properties for sale together. He sold the house to Obama for

$300,000 below the asking price. The doctor got his asking price on the lot from Rezko's wife.

Last year, Rita Rezko sold a strip of that vacant lot to Obama for $104,500 -- a deal Obama later apologized for, acknowledging that people might

think he got a favor from Rezko. Obama called the episode "boneheaded'' and a "mistake.''

At the time Obama bought that strip of land, it had been reported that Rezko was under federal investigation for influence-peddling involving the

administration of Blagojevich, whose campaign also received Rezko's financial support.

Rezko has since been indicted for allegedly demanding kickbacks from companies seeking state business under Blagojevich. Rezko's trial has been

postponed while investigators sort through his finances.

'Disenchanted with Rezmar'
Rezmar's final low-income housing deals involving the Davis law firm went bad quickly.
Those deals were supposed to provide affordable housing for at least 25 years. But the first deal Rezmar struck with the Woodlawn Preservation and

Investment Corp. collapsed in just six and a half years, when the state sued for foreclosure. WPIC and its sister agency, the Fund for Community

Redevelopment and Revitalization, ultimately forced Rezmar to give up control of all 12 buildings they rehabbed together, citing financial troubles and

deteriorating conditions of the buildings.

The state foreclosure suit came because Rezmar had stopped making monthly mortgage payments in March 2001 on a state loan to help turn an old

nursing home into low-income apartments at 6140 S. Drexel, in Obama's state Senate district.

"WPIC became disenchanted with Rezmar and wanted to get rid of them,'' Brazier said. "They thought the buildings weren't being kept up properly.

There were some financial problems.''

Rezmar and WPIC cut all ties last October, when the Chicago City Council agreed to let Rezmar out of a city loan. Rezmar transferred its interest to

The Wolcott Group, a management company run by business partners of David Brint -- the man who had introduced Rezko to Obama.

[Lori411]

Thanks for the Long List on Obama and Rezko.

Now, if you can give me information on Hillary's tax returns, donors, earmarks, land deals, etc. I would be very very appreciative.

[sej100]

Sorry this is getting to be much. Obama calls Hillary every name in the book for her supporters, for statements of anyone and he claims to be CHANGE. Well, he isnt change, he lies, he takes money from the same criminals, he took personal assistance and his pastor and spirital advisor is so questionable one has to wonder who this man really is. He sure isnt change.

Im for Hillary, she has been vetted and we know all about her and she actually talks about solutions not themes. Add to that the economy is a mess. we need someone who can deal with that.

[Lori411]

Can you tell me what names Obama has called Hillary? Not his supporters, but him. Thank you very much.

[dragonfly142]

Rezko and Mahru had no construction experience when they created Rezmar in 1989 to rehabilitate apartments for the poor under the Daley administration. Between 1989 and 1998, Rezmar made deals to rehab 30 buildings, a total of 1,025 apartments. The last 15 buildings involved Davis Miner Barnhill & Galland during Obama's time with the firm.

Rezko and Mahru also managed the buildings, which were supposed to provide homes for poor people for 30 years. Every one of the projects ran into trouble:

• Seventeen buildings -- many beset with code violations, including a lack of heat -- ended up in foreclosure.

• Six buildings are currently boarded up.

• Hundreds of the apartments are vacant, in need of major repairs.

• Taxpayers have been stuck with millions in unpaid loans.

• At least a dozen times, the city of Chicago sued Rezmar for failure to heat buildings.

For five weeks, the Sun-Times sought to interview Obama about Rezko and the housing deals. His staff wanted written questions. It responded Sunday but left many questions unanswered. Other answers didn't directly address the question.

Among these: When did Obama learn of Rezmar's financial problems? "The senator had no special knowledge of any financial problems,'' Gibbs wrote.

Did the senator ever complain to anyone -- government officials, Rezmar or Rezko -- about the conditions of Rezmar's buildings? "Senator Obama did follow up on constituency complaints about housing as [a] matter of routine,'' Gibbs wrote.

Did the senator ever discuss Rezmar's financial problems with anyone at his law firm? "The firm advises us that it [is] unaware of any such conversations,'' Gibbs wrote.

Turns down Rezmar job
Obama's friendship with Rezko began with a telephone call.
It was 17 years ago. Obama had just become the first black president of the Harvard Law Review. Newspapers wrote about him. One story caught the eye of David Brint, a vice president of Rezmar, a new company that had become the Daley administration's favored developer of low-income housing.

"I just cold-called him," Brint said in an interview.

Brint said he wanted to know if Obama would come work for Rezmar, developing housing for the poor -- something Obama had expressed interest in, according to the story Brint had read. Brint arranged for Obama to meet Rezko, but Obama didn't take the job.

Obama, who has a law degree from Harvard, subsequently returned to Chicago to lead a voter-registration drive in 1992.

The next year, Obama joined Davis Miner Barnhill & Galland, a 12-lawyer firm that specialized in helping develop low-income housing. The firm's top partner, Allison S. Davis, was, and is, a member of the Chicago Plan Commission, appointed by Mayor Daley. Davis was also a friend of Rezko. Davis and Rezko would eventually go into business together, developing homes.

Another firm partner, Judson Miner, ran the city Law Department under Mayor Harold Washington, one of Obama's political idols.

Asked what Rezko cases Obama worked on, Miner told the Sun-Times, "We'll put together a list of the cases he worked on involving Rezko/Rezmar in the next day or two.''

That was March 13. He never provided the information.

While at the law firm, Obama spent much of his time working on issues that would help improve conditions in poor neighborhoods, according to his first book, Dreams from My Father, published in 1996.

"In my legal practice, I work mostly with churches and community groups, men and women who quietly build grocery stores and health clinics in the inner city, and housing for the poor,'' Obama wrote in the book.

Three community groups represented by Davis Miner Barnhill & Galland were partners with Rezmar in the troubled housing deals.

Rezko offers Obama support
Obama had been at the firm for two years when he began his political career, running to replace state Sen. Alice Palmer.
Rezko became Obama's political patron. Obama got his first campaign contributions on July 31, 1995: $300 from a Loop lawyer, a $5,000 loan from a car dealer, and $2,000 from two food companies owned by Rezko.

Around that time, Rezmar began developing low-income apartments in partnerships with the Chicago Urban League and two other not-for-profit community groups, both founded and run by Bishop Arthur Brazier, pastor of the Apostolic Church of God and a powerful ally of the mayor -- the Woodlawn Preservation and Investment Corp., known as WPIC, and the Fund for Community Redevelopment and Revitalization.

All three community groups were clients of the Davis law firm. Davis himself was treasurer of WPIC when it went into business with Rezmar.

Why go into business with Rezmar? "We thought they were successful,'' Davis said, noting that little development was taking place in Woodlawn.

At the time, Rezmar had been in business for six years and had become one of City Hall's favored developers of low-income housing, managing 600 apartments in 15 buildings it rehabbed with government funding. Teaming now with community development groups, Rezmar rehabbed another 15 buildings, with 400 apartments, between 1995 and 1998. Each deal involved a mix of public and private financing -- loans from the city or state, federal low-income-housing tax credits and bank loans.

By the time Rezmar started working with those community groups, at least two of its earlier buildings were falling into disrepair -- including the Englewood apartment building at 7000 S. Sangamon where the tenants were without heat for five weeks.

The tenants there had no heat from Dec. 27, 1996, until at least Feb. 3, 1997, when the city of Chicago sued to turn the heat on. The case was settled later that month with a $100 fine.

It was during that time that the area's new state senator, Barack Obama, got a $1,000 campaign donation from Rezmar. The date: Jan. 14, 1997.

Obama works on Rezmar deals
Obama spent the next eight years serving in the Illinois Senate and continued to work for the Davis law firm.
Through its partnerships, Rezmar remained a client of the firm, according to ethics statements Obama filed while a state senator.

Davis said he didn't remember Obama working on the Rezmar projects.

"I don't recall Barack having any involvement in real estate transactions,'' Davis said. "Barack was a litigator. His area of focus was litigation, class-action suits.''

But Obama did legal work on real estate deals while at Davis' firm, according to biographical information he submitted to the Sun-Times in 1998. Obama specialized "in civil rights litigation, real estate financing, acquisition, construction and/or redevelopment of low-and moderate income housing,'' according to his "biographical sketch."

And he did legal work on Rezko's deals, according to an e-mail his presidential campaign staff sent the Sun-Times on Feb. 16, in response to earlier inquiries. The staff didn't specify which Rezmar projects Obama worked on, or his role. But it drew a distinction between working for Rezko and working on projects involving his company.

"Senator Obama did not directly represent Mr. Rezko or his firms. He did represent on a very limited basis ventures in which Mr. Rezko's entities participated along with others,'' according to the e-mail from Obama's staff.

Obama buys Rezko land
Over the years, Rezko, Mahru, their wives and businesses have given more than $50,000 to Obama's campaign funds, records show. And Rezko has helped raise millions more.
Rezko was among the people Obama appointed to serve on his U.S. Senate campaign finance committee, the Sun-Times reported in 2003. The committee raised more than $14 million, according to Federal Election Commission records, helping send Obama to Washington in 2004.

As a U.S. senator, Obama grew closer to Rezko.

Two years ago, Obama bought a mansion on the South Side, in the Kenwood neighborhood, from a doctor. On the same day, Rezko's wife, Rita Rezko, bought the vacant lot next door from the same seller. The doctor had listed the properties for sale together. He sold the house to Obama for $300,000 below the asking price. The doctor got his asking price on the lot from Rezko's wife.

Last year, Rita Rezko sold a strip of that vacant lot to Obama for $104,500 -- a deal Obama later apologized for, acknowledging that people might think he got a favor from Rezko. Obama called the episode "boneheaded'' and a "mistake.''

At the time Obama bought that strip of land, it had been reported that Rezko was under federal investigation for influence-peddling involving the administration of Blagojevich, whose campaign also received Rezko's financial support.

Rezko has since been indicted for allegedly demanding kickbacks from companies seeking state business under Blagojevich. Rezko's trial has been postponed while investigators sort through his finances.

'Disenchanted with Rezmar'
Rezmar's final low-income housing deals involving the Davis law firm went bad quickly.
Those deals were supposed to provide affordable housing for at least 25 years. But the first deal Rezmar struck with the Woodlawn Preservation and Investment Corp. collapsed in just six and a half years, when the state sued for foreclosure. WPIC and its sister agency, the Fund for Community Redevelopment and Revitalization, ultimately forced Rezmar to give up control of all 12 buildings they rehabbed together, citing financial troubles and deteriorating conditions of the buildings.

The state foreclosure suit came because Rezmar had stopped making monthly mortgage payments in March 2001 on a state loan to help turn an old nursing home into low-income apartments at 6140 S. Drexel, in Obama's state Senate district.

"WPIC became disenchanted with Rezmar and wanted to get rid of them,'' Brazier said. "They thought the buildings weren't being kept up properly. There were some financial problems.''

Rezmar and WPIC cut all ties last October, when the Chicago City Council agreed to let Rezmar out of a city loan. Rezmar transferred its interest to The Wolcott Group, a management company run by business partners of David Brint -- the man who had introduced Rezko to Obama.

[AreYouFibbing]

Shouldn't this article be on the front page? It's pretty important stuff.

[Borignal]

Whatever???? No wrongdoing....no criminal investigat­ions......­no sex scandals........ Still much better than what we actually do "know" about the Clintons! Now, just for the sake of honesty and transparency, I would like to see "Hillary's" tax returns , "HIllary's" earmark requests, "Hillary's" White House records, the Clinton Library Donor list w/ related contributions . We actually "know" Bill Clinton while in office will easily lie to the American people..........if they have nothing to hide, why the delay??? Is Hillary guilty by association or is that standard only applied to Sen. Obama? Sen. Obama voluntarily supplied this new informatio­n....shoul­d we expect any less of the former first lady?