The Obama trail

I have to write in a hurry, which means that I won't be able to arrange my thoughts properly. If you want a quick-n-easy bottom line, I can't help you -- not right now.

If what you are about to read seems a bit disjointed or odd, consider this post a mere teaser -- a hint of things to come.

I've been looking into Evelyn Pringle's stories about the Illinois "Combine," a criminal/political cartel which includes Barack Obama, along with many other noteworthy figures in Chicago. The links on the left hand side of the page go to her introductory pieces. Her most recent investigations are compiled in a series called "Curtain Time For Barack Obama," which you can find in various places. Rezko Watch is serializing it.

Warning: You'll probably be frustrated with her work. Her purpose is not so much to "get Obama" but to deliver a Cinemascope picture of corruption in Illinois. Obama is part of that widescreen image, though only a part; the close-ups don't make sense without the establishing shots.

If you really must have a bottom line, try this:

Tony Rezko's partner in corruption was Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich. Patrick Fitzgerald calls their criminal conspiracy "Operation Board Games" because the Rezko/Blagojevich Combine got control of two important boards -- one in control of health services, the other in control of a teacher's pension fund. With the boards in hand, the two mobsters were free to loot and pillage.

The name of their game was "pay-to-play": If you wanted a state or city contract, you needed to pay off certain politicians. One of those pols was Barack Obama, who routinely got between one-tenth to one-third the amounts given to Blagojevich. (Blago was Rezko's first choice to become POTUS. That plan was scuttled when the Combine got into legal trouble.) Obama, listed as "a political candidate" in Fitz's indictment, received $10,000 from the teacher's fund.

How did the Combine get control of the health services board? Through a law created and guided by State Senator Barack Obama.

There was no need for this law. It's sole purpose was to reduce the number of supervisors and to place the board completely in the hands of Blago's creatures. Afterward, Barack Obama got a piece of the action with nearly every crooked transaction.

We'll have more to say about all that later.

Right now, I want to note that I've been looking into various subsidiary aspects of the Illinois Combine scandal -- and I've found that certain names have cropped up in previous stories.

Ask yourself: Just how did Obama become so fantastically well-funded so quickly, once he announced for President?

Seven of the Obama campaign’s top 14 donors consisted of officers and employees of the same Wall Street firms charged time and again with looting the public and newly implicated in originating and/or bundling fraudulently made mortgages. These latest frauds have left thousands of children in some of our largest minority communities coming home from school to see eviction notices and foreclosure signs nailed to their front doors. Those scars will last a lifetime.

These seven Wall Street firms are (in order of money given): Goldman Sachs, UBS AG, Lehman Brothers, JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse. There is also a large hedge fund, Citadel Investment Group, which is a major source of fee income to Wall Street.

We've all heard of the most of those names. For some of you, Citadel will be unfamiliar. The name had previously cropped up in the course of our research in the Gus Boulis scandal.

Boulis, you will recall, was the casino boat owner who was forced to sell to Jack Abramoff. Boulis sold but was not paid. He protested -- and got himself killed, ambushed in traffic. As you will recall, 9/11 hijacker Mohammed Atta was on one of those casino ships shortly before the Big Wedding. In the past, I've theorized that the ships could have been used for drug transactions.

Jack Abramoff coveted Gus Boulis’ casino business in the worst possible way. So he "supposedly” duped an otherwise savvy Chicago hedge fund named Citadel Investment into lending him $32 million to purchase Boulis’ fleet of a dozen unlicensed offshore gambling vessels.

Then, in relatively short order, having been paid no more than a mere pittance of the agreed-upon sale price, Gus Boulis was dead.

Citidel seems to have been awfully understanding, considering the sum of money involved. The fund is run by the secretive billionaire (and noted art collector) Kenneth Griffen, who is all of 40 years old.

Again: I've given you just a teaser. There will be much more to come. Stay tuned.