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.

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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

[enoughalready]

WHITEWATER!

One reason Hillary will stay far away from this one!

[PhDcommonsense]

Well at least Obama has finally tried to get this in front of him. When will Hillary come clean about her tax returns, and other things. I don't think the Clinton Campaign can hide in their glass house either.

[MNmommy]

Senator Obama has had a very bad week.

[LAJonathan]

Why are we still talking about this? There is no new information here. Reporters in Chicago have been trying to find something FOR YEARS, as well as Chicago prosecutors, and nada, nothing. This is a non story. Reporters should spend there time, at the very least, exposing, one, ONE of Hillary' 7,000 shady dealings. Haven't heard much about anything. Hmmm, I wonder why.

[KatieBeGood]

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

----------------------------

But, there is no accusation that Rezko ever did any favors for Obama other than to sell him a strip of land at fair market value.

Perhaps it's time to resurrect the sleazy guy (I forget his name) that Clinton took huge contributions from and then gave back. What's good for the goose....

[ApolloniaCreed]

Title is misleading...

[veracal]

So he received $100,000 more than previously reported. This is definitely not a good thing, but it doesn't seem to indicate more extensive ties.

Rezko is a problem for Obama.

Wright is a problem for Obama.

Denying both or either is just plain stupid.

[Erdgeist]

It was probably Clinton who, playing the role of a Republican, raised the issue of Rezko. Hillary, in fact, described Rezko as a "slum landlord". Hillary, subsequently closed her yap when a 1990s picture surfaced showing her with "slum landlord" Rezko and President Bill Clinton. So far, Obama has returned around $85,000 in campaign contributions from Rezko.

[Erdgeist]

It was probably Clinton who, playing the role of a Republican, raised the issue of Rezko, She, in fact, described as a "slum landlord". Hillary, subsequently closed her trap when a 1990s picture surfaced showing her with "slum landloard" Rezko and President Bill Clinton. So far, Obama has returned around $85,000 in campaign contributions from Rezko.

[Shaddup]

Hillary's Donor Scandals:
Hsu, Grand Theft Felon--$850,000
Marc Rich, Fugitive, Racketeering--$70,000
Aaron Tonken, Stealing from charities, felon, 1,000,000
Sant Chatwal, Tax evasion, bank fraud--5,000,000
I.P.A. Sexual Harassment--135,000

I'll vote for whoever gets the nomination because the repubs are always more crooked.
But please, look at the records.

[Kundera]

BHO! BHO! (not this time)

[munster]

I am beginning to question this man's judgement!!!

[Oldtt]

Obama's worst campaign mistake was becoming the frontrunner, which eventually had to inspire a few members of the media to look beyond the audacity of hype toward the candidate himself. Hillary is not beloved by the press, so the instant she faltered they switched to Barack, but now Obama is rapidly using up his built-in advantage (think Ferraro) and will soon be on the hotseat for every little secret in his political life before Washington. Let's see how well he explains himself before coronating him. If only John McCain had been tripped up by the NYT "sex scandal" article and replaced by Alan Keyes, Barack wouldn't have to answer any of these questions, but in the absence of no credible opponent he may have to favor us with some sort of response beyond "I made a boneheaded mistake, gee what else can I say" or " If you take offense at any of Jeremiah Wright's statements, well then I reject those particular statements." Those are fairly ambiguous responses, like the familiar "To the extent that anyone is unhappy about ( X ) then I regret doing ( Y )." They used to accuse Hillary of being too calculating - triangulation, remember - but what are Obama's responses to these issues other than calculated?

[Mollye]

I'm interested in knowing more about Nadmi Auchi. How does he fit into all of this? I'm glad to see the press finally doing it's job...after how many primaries? I would be so ticked off if I had voted for him and then heard this information about Rev. Wright and Rezko.

[itsbushstupid]

note: the huffpo censors are obama supporters.
i have been trying to express my discomfort toward the
obamaniacs for months and it seems only that the
censors only allow hatehillary comments.

wow, huffpo has really shown its colors.