About the London Times and Rezko
Dear CNN, MSNBC and Faux News: Before you all go crazy this morning with the London Times’ story reaching farther than the New York Times did with the McCain “Affair”, please visit Factcheck.org to see what they have to say about Obama’s purchase of his home in Chicago.
As with the “McCain Affair”, this story is a weak and cheap attempt on the part of the London Times to link up a “Saddam Hussein supporter”, Naudmi Auchi with Barack Obama. The problem is this: one and one and one make…two.
Rezko’s alleged relationship with this Iraqi financier is Rezko’s problem. Even more problematic? The connection that Auchi has with Orascom, an international telephone company which was awarded a contract by the UK and US to set up mobile phone networks in Iraq. The very same mobile phone networks the Bush Administration claims carry ‘terrorist communications’ today.
In more strange linkage, the US Attorney in charge of the Rezko case is Patrick Fitzgerald of Scooter Libby fame, and one whose name was once considered for the US Attorney firing list.
Under questioning by Dick Durbin, Kyle Sampson testified to the following:
“On one occasion in 2006, in discussing the removal of U.S. attorneys… that I was speaking with Harriet Miers and Bill Kelley and I raised Pat Fitzgerald, and immediately after I did it, I regretted it. I thought, I knew it was the wrong thing to do, I knew it was inappropriate. And I remember at the time that Harriet Miers and Bill Kelley just looked at me…. I said, “Patrick Fitzgerald could be added to this list.”… They just looked at me.”
Scooter Libby was pardoned on 12/23/2005. Kyle Sampson’s testimony to the Senate took place in 2006, after an attempt by the GOP Senators to cut off the hearing by enforcing the “2-hour rule”. The US Attorneys scandal broke wide open in early 2007.
Now that I’ve taken you through that, with dates and facts and all that, have you noticed anything?
There’s absolutely no linkage between Patrick Fitzgerald’s mention by Kyle Sampson and his prosecution of Tony Rezko. Similarly, there is absolutely no linkage between Naudmi Auchi and Barack Obama’s purchase of his garden plot from Mrs. Rezko.
If the London Times piece is journalism like the New York Times piece is journalism, we have a real problem, folks, because once again, there isn’t anything here that makes logical sense. You cannot connect the dots and conclude that there was anything linking Barack Obama to Auchi, which leads me back to the beginning of this post, where I point out that Factcheck.org is an excellent resource for actual…facts.
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