Obama has stated he does not recall meeting Saddam's "bagman" Auchi during his visit to the US in 2004. At first that denial related to a party at the Four Seasons Hotel in Chicago. Ultimately Obama was forced to admit he "stopped by" after that dinner, but could not recall meeting Auchi the wealthy European, who was the guest of honor and has already been convicted of fraud by French courts.
Yesterday, during the Corruption trial against Obama prime sponsor Syrian-born Tony Rezko, a witness emerged to place Obama at Rezko's house for a separate event, also honoring Auchi
This latest news requires Senator Obama to deny talking with the guest of honor who had flown in from Europe, despite the fact that Obama, then a State Senator, attended two separate functions on his behalf. That strains credibility. And if Obama is lying, enquiring minds want to know why is he so desperate to avoid admitting he spent time talking with Auchi.
Could it be because Auchi is on the record a year later as having sent $3,500,000 via a Panamanian company, which somehow Rezko forgot to mention to his Trial Judge and which arrived less than 3 weeks before a then pennyless Rezko decided through his equally penniless wife to buy a piece of land next to Obama's mansion. Ultimately, as is well documented, Obama got a sweetheart deal on his house while Rezko paid full boat for the land...the best bit of which Obama purchased off Rezko six months later, depsite knowing full well that Rezko was already in a world of legal hurt for a long list of dodgy deals.
It doesn't get any sleazier than this. And everyday the Obamas must pray that more facts will not come out to further undermine the Senatoe's rapidly crumbling pretense of naivite, "boneheadness" as Obama called it, in financial matters.
Levine: Obama a guest at '04 party for tycoon Witness says Rezko threw party to help developmentJust weeks after winning the Democratic U.S. Senate primary in 2004, Barack Obama was the guest of developer Antoin "Tony" Rezko at a party for a controversial British billionaire whom Rezko was trying to lure into an investment, a witness testified Monday at Rezko's corruption trial.
Stuart Levine, the government's star witness, said Obama and his wife, Michelle, were among the guests at Rezko's home on April 3, 2004, for the party honoring Nadhmi Auchi, an Iraqi-born tycoon currently appealing a fraud conviction in France.
As he campaigns for president, Obama has acknowledged social and political ties to Rezko, as well as a real estate deal between the two that involved Obama's South Side home. But Obama has not disclosed his presence at the Auchi party, which Rezko threw as part of a campaign to persuade Auchi to pour money into a financially troubled 62-acre development in the South Loop.
Though not flatly disputing Levine's assertion, Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt repeated what the senator has said: "Sen. Obama does not recall meeting Nadhmi Auchi at any time or on any occasion, and this includes any event that may have been held for Mr. Auchi," LaBolt said.
Obama's past ties to Rezko have caused political headaches on the campaign trail, and a spokesman for Democratic rival Hillary Clinton was quick Monday to highlight Levine's latest allegations for political reporters in case they missed it.
In an interview with Tribune editors and reporters last month, Obama described the evolution of a relationship with Rezko that dates back to the early 1990s. He described Rezko as a political backer and not too close friend who in 2003 used his Wilmette home for a fundraising event for Obama's then fledgling U.S. Senate campaign.
Otherwise, Obama said he and Rezko met for breakfast or lunch infrequently, dined once in Chicago with their spouses, and got together another time with their wives in Lake Geneva, Wis., where Rezko owned a home. Aside from the fundraiser, no mention was made of any other get-together at Rezko's home.
Levine testified that he was at the Auchi party and saw the Obamas there as well as other political luminaries, including Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn and various cabinet officials in the Blagojevich administration. The governor was not in attendance, Levine said.
Monday's testimony from Levine was not the first time it has been suggested that Rezko may have tried to capitalize on Obama's growing celebrity in 2004 to impress potential investors in the Roosevelt Road project.
A published report last year highlighted a small private dinner Rezko hosted in February of that year at Chicago's Four Seasons Hotel for two bankers from Qatar. Obama, then in the thick of his Democratic primary race for the Senate, took a brief detour from the campaign to pop in on the event.
"It was a very innocuous, almost serendipitous, ad hoc thing," Chicago real estate lawyer Anthony Licata, who was also there, told the Tribune. "Barack happened to be in the same building at a campaign event that night, and he stopped by to say hello. I'm not even sure he knew who those guys were."
But if Levine's contention is correct, Obama was back at another Rezko event tied to the Roosevelt Road investment a few weeks later, this time as the freshly minted Democratic Senate nominee riding a crest of national publicity.
Auchi came to the rescue as Rezko's business ventures began to crumble and his legal troubles mounted in recent years. Auchi, who heads General Mediterranean Holding SA, bought about 15 Wisconsin pizzerias from Rezko, court records show. He also took a stake in Rezko's South Loop development at Roosevelt Road and Clark Street.
But help from Auchi ultimately landed Rezko in jail. Rezko had remained free on bond after his indictment in 2006 by convincing U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve that he was nearly broke and had no access to overseas funds.
Then $3.5 million from an Auchi-related company was wired from Beirut to Rezko's lawyers, who argued it was a loan to pay legal fees and family expenses. St. Eve didn't buy it and in January revoked Rezko's bond
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