Here we go again revisiting the Rezko mess. I guess, the sad reality is that no matter how we try, the Obama-Rezko connection keeps rearing its ugly head. Enter the new twist…. According to the Chicago Sun Times Sen. Joseph Biden, his newly named vice presidential running mate, evidently has ties to Tony Rezko as well. Biden has described himself as a 30-year friend of a key figure in the Rezko trial who’s pleaded guilty to a federal extortion charge in Chicago and is awaiting sentencing. Joseph Cari Jr., who took part in an $850,000 kickback scheme, was Joe Biden’s Midwest field director. So, I am sure Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and many other right wing conservatives will be foaming at the mouth over this one.
According to the Sun Times, when Biden began contemplating his own 2008 presidential run, he initially was helped by Chicago lawyer Joseph Cari Jr., who also served as Biden’s Midwest field director in his failed 1988 bid for president.In 2005, Cari admitted to taking part in an $850,000 kickback scheme that prosecutors say was part of a larger political fund-raising operation for Gov. Blagojevich overseen by Rezko, who was convicted in June of wide-ranging corruption involving state deals.
Another nugget from the Sun Times, on the day Cari’s name first surfaced in the federal probe of the state Teachers Retirement System, the former finance chairman for the Democratic National Committee and for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee was to have hosted a Biden fund-raiser in Chicago. Cari was a no-show at that July 25, 2005, event.
Of course, not knowing that this friendship would come back to bite him in the ass, Biden, offering Cari a vote of confidence at the time said, “All I know is Joe Cari is a friend, and he’s an honorable guy, but I don’t know anything beyond that.”
Biden took $2,000 in campaign contributions from Cari in the early and mid-1990s, federal campaign-finance records show. He needs to give that money back. Additionally, the Sun Times is reporting that two other donors whose names surfaced in the Rezko case — Chicago lawyers Myron “Mike” Cherry and Anthony Licata — donated to Biden’s U.S. Senate campaign, as well. Cherry has given Biden $5,900, while Licata gave $1,000. Neither Cherry nor Licata has been accused of any criminal wrongdoing. Again, rather than running the risk of being totally blindsided by the Republicans, Biden needs to be proactive and give the money back.
The Obama campaign downplayed the significance of Cari’s contributions to Biden, noting that Cari was a prolific donor to an array of other politicians, from Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) to Illinois’ other Democratic senator, Dick Durbin. No matter what happens, Tony Rezko will be an issue in this campaign and we will be reminded of this repeatedly.
Filed under: Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Joseph Cari Jr., Tony Rezko
Black Political Thought 