Exposing Obama's Criminal Friends

Exposing Obama's Criminal Friends

Katie Pavlich
Katie Pavlich
News Editor, Townhall

Jul 16, 2012 08:06 AM EST

Get David Limbaugh's new book FREE!

President Obama's campaign team is still refusing to apologize to Mitt Romney after Obama Deputy Campaign Manager Stephanie Cutter charged Romney committed a felony last week when discussing the time when he left Bain Capital (to save the Olympics.) Cutter and Team Obama have desperately tried to paint Romney as misleading the country about when he officially left the company. Cutter's claims have been debunked by the Washington Post as "blowing smoke" and the New York Times says there is no evidence to back up Cutter's claims. So, given Team Obama's false accusation of Romney being a felon, why don't we take a look at some real criminal activity associated directly with President Obama.

Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was arrested for attempting to sell Obama’s vacated Senate seat in December 2008 and he was recently convicted on 17 of 20 counts of political corruption. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison.

“Federal agents arrest Blagojevich at 6 a.m. at his Ravenswood Manor home on Chicago’s Northwest Side. U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald releases the criminal complaint against Blagojevich, which says the governor was secretly recorded saying that the opportunity to appoint someone to fill the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by the election of President Barack Obama was ‘f---ing golden.’”


Then Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel “attempted to trade favors” with embattled Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

"President Barack Obama’s chief of staff, then a congressman in Illinois, apparently attempted to trade favors with embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich while he was in office, according to newly disclosed e-mails obtained by The Associated Press… Emanuel agreed to sign a letter to the Chicago Tribune supporting Blagojevich in the face of a scathing editorial by the newspaper that ridiculed the governor for self-promotion. Within hours, Emanuel’s own staff asked for a favor of its own: The release of a delayed $2 million grant to a school in his district.”


Emanuel and Senior White House Adviser Valerie Jarrett were subpoenaed in the Blagojevich trial.

"President Obama’s chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett were subpoenaed by the defense to testify in Rod Blagojevich’s upcoming trial, a Blagojevich attorney told the Chicago Sun-Times.”

Another close associate and friend of Obama convicted of corruption? Tony Rezko, a relationship the Obama campaign failed to fully explain in 2008 and refuses to explain now.

Tony Rezko, A Fundraiser And Friend Of Obama, Was Sentenced To Ten And A Half Years In Prison For Corruption And Attempting To Get $7 Million In Kickbacks. “Tony Rezko, former fundraiser and friend of President Barack Obama and former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, was sentenced on Tuesday to ten and a half years in prison for corruption. Rezko, 56, has already served about 44 months of the 126-month sentence on his 2008 conviction for corruption — including fraud, money laundering and attempting to get $7 million in kickbacks from companies seeking to win deals during Blagojevich’s tenure as governor — the Chicago Sun-Times reported.”


A witness in the Blagojevich trial said Tony Rezko asked them for a $10,000 check for the Obama campaign.

"The name of President Obama came into play this afternoon at the political corruption trial of former governor Rod Blagojevich as an associate of political fund-raiser Tony Rezko testified that Rezko asked him to write a $10,000 check to Friends of Obama… The allegation is the first time Obama has been linked to Rezko through first-hand sworn testimony at the corruption trial.”


And of course, President Obama profited from a house deal with Rezko.

“Obama also involved Rezko in a house deal after he was elected to the U.S. Senate, a move he later called ‘a boneheaded mistake,’ according to a 2008 report in ABC News. Obama wanted to purchase a home that the seller had a specific condition on: the adjacent empty lot to the house had to be purchased at the same time, ABC News reported. In the house deal, Rezko’s wife paid the full asking price for that parcel, $625,000. Obama shelled out $300,000 under the house’s asking price, paying $1.65 million, according to ABC News. Obama then purchased a part of Rezko’s lot for $104,500.”


Then, there's President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden's favorite former New Jersey Governor and "Wall Street guy" failure Jon Corzine, who not only lost $1.6 billion in private investor funds, but helped craft the $1 trillion failed stimulus. Corzine also played a central role in raising money for Team Obama in 2008 and was a top Obama fundraiser. Corzine is under FBI investigation.

“His new legal troubles, sparked by the bankruptcy filing of his investment firm, MF Global, could complicate the president’s efforts to raise money from the financial community given Corzine’s central role in those efforts.”

“Jon Corzine, now the center of an FBI investigation into the handling of hundreds of millions of dollars invested in his securities firm, was one of the leading Wall Street fundraisers for President Obama’s campaign and suggested to investors that he might take a top administration post if the president were re-elected.”

And of course, Corzine has no clue "where the the money is."

“I simply do not know where the money is, or why the accounts have not been reconciled to date.”


Team Obama has a habit of getting their money from people accused of fraud. Corzine is one, Shervin Neman is another. Neman has visited the White House at least 8 times.

“The Obama campaign will return the donations of an accused Ponzi schemer who is facing an SEC investigation, a campaign official confirms. ‘With 1.8 million donors thus far, we constantly review those contributions for issues. In this particular case, we will be refunding the contributions and have placed the funds in escrow until a trusteeship or other appropriate place to return these funds is established given the interests of the investors,’ a campaign official told POLITICO. Shervin Neman, a hedge fund manager in Los Angeles, stands accused by the SEC of defrauding members of his California Persian-Jewish community, the conservative Washington Free Beacon reports.”



What exactly is Neman accused of?

“The Securities and Exchange Commission today obtained an emergency court order to halt an alleged ongoing $7.54 million Ponzi scheme that targeted members of the Persian-Jewish community in Los Angeles. The Commission alleges that for the past two years, Shervin Neman raised money from investors by claiming to be a hedge fund manager.”


Since 2011, Shervin Neman Has Donated $46,800 to Democratic Campaigns And Affiliates.

In 2011, Nemen Donated $30,800 To The DNC.
In 2011, Neman Donated $5,000 To Obama.


Another Obama bundler, Abake Assongba, is accused of defrauding a businessman out of $657,000. At this point, Assongba has raked in $50,000 for Obama's re-election campaign.

“Impersonating A Bank Official, And Dodging Creditors.” “But she is also trailed by some controversy, accused in court of defrauding a businessman out of $657,000, impersonating a bank official and dodging creditors. Assongba disputes the allegations, but the mysteries around her personal life highlight a challenge for Obama’s reelection effort and other presidential campaigns. The astronomical cost of running for the White House requires an army of bundlers, many of whom are strangers to the campaign. And as candidates quickly learn, it is no small task to woo — and vet — those citizen fundraisers.”


Team Obama has also taken, and returned, money from supporters related to Mexican fugitive Pepe Cardona.

“The Obama campaign will return more than $200,000 in campaign donations from the American relatives of a fugitive Mexican businessman and casino owner, a campaign official said Tuesday.”

The State Department has linked the fugitive Pepe Cardona to “attempted assassinations of business rivals and illegal political donations in Mexico,” and his family in Chicago are long time donors to Democrats.

Since 2011, Alberto Rojas Cardona has donated $30,800 to the DNC.

Since 2011, Alberto Rojas Cardona has donated $5,000 to Obama.

Since 2011, Carlos Rojas Cardona has donated $5,000 to Obama.


Moving along. Democratic fundraiser and Obama supporter Courtney Dupree was convicted of “engineering a $21 million bank fraud.”

“A Democratic fundraiser was found guilty Friday of engineering a $21 million bank fraud scheme. Courtney Dupree was convicted of vastly overstating the billings of his Long Island City-based lighting company GDC Acquisitions in order to fraudulently obtain a loan from Amalgamated Bank.”

“Dupree, who attended the elite Wharton School of Business, was a rainmaker in Democratic circles. In 2008, Dupree hosted a $1,000-a-ticket fund-raiser for Barack Obama at his Broad St. apartment that was attended by top aide Valerie Jarrett.”


There you have it folks. Team Obama refuses to apologize to Mitt Romney for falsley accusing him of being a felon, yet has a long history of palling around with criminals. This is what happens when you transplant Chicago politics into Washington D.C.


Exposing Obama's Criminal Friends - Katie Pavlich