January 13, 2009
Robert Cooley, a Chicago Police Officer turned mob lawyer turned federal informant says blago was corrupt decades ago. Cooley was involved in Operation Gambat in the late 80's - early 90's, which resulted in the prosecution of 24 corrupt politicians, lawyers, judges and police officers.
He alleges that before blago got into politics he was a bookie. That he was running a sports gambling operation in the Western Suburbs and paying street tax to the Mob via Robert "Bobby the Boxer" Abbinanti. Name right out of central casting. He was convicted as was his boss, Marco "The Mover" D'Amico (check out the pix 2:00).
Cooley said he predicted 5 years ago that blago would sell whatever position he could.
He evidently told this to ABC 7 (Chicago) and they didn't run with it because Cooley didn't want to be identified and of course Gov Rod denied it.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRh8IMNhndI]
courtesy of saluki420
COOLEY: The biggest problem you have ,and the reason the city can never be cleaned up, is when the people in power have the money and have the ability to silence the media so the media will not report it. As long as that goes on, it will never change.
blago's lawyer, Ed Genson's response via Chuck Goudie (ABC7):
If Robert Cooley wants to Springfield tomorrow to testify, I would be delighted to cross examine him on these outfit gambling allegations.
The next day 1-9-09
Bobby the Boxer denies any involvement with Blago. Note: Cooley said he used to represented Abbinanti when he was still a mob lawyer. And Abbinanti spent 6 yrs in prison for running illegal gambling operations. He talked with Chuck Goudie by phone and said he is now a legitimate businessman and owns a window company.
My name is Bob Abbinanti. You did a report yesterday with Robert Cooley pertaining to Mr. Blagojevich stating that I was a bookmaker and that I took a street tax from him in the late 80's.I don't know what Rod Blagojevich did or has done but I do know one thing. I never met the man. I never spoke to the man. I never had any business - personal or in any way with him and you know what, it's just an injustice to myself being put in that position because Mr Cooley wants to get back and write another book or get back on TV.
And then Goudie adds:
It should be noted that Mr. Blagojevich's former campaign manager, top fundraiser and close friend Chris Kelly has just decided to plead guilty to tax fraud. Kelly will admit next month that he failed to report $1.3 million in income from sports betting.
There's a lot more to Chris Kelly than that. He was involved in Rezko's trial as Individual B. Blago was individual A and barry was "unnamed politician" allegedly involved with Individual D - Aramanda, whose son worked as an intern (on the recommendation of Rezko) in barry's senate office. It's not worth finding the links from the old blogs because no one cared about it before so why would they now?
Kelly and Blago from Chicago Trib's COEN & CHASE:
The two men, both from working-class backgrounds, became fast friends after meeting outside a fundraiser in the 1990s. After Blagojevich decided to run for governor, Kelly took on a significant role in the campaign as an aide and eventually became Blagojevich's campaign finance chairman.
After Blagojevich was elected, Kelly became chairman of the governor's campaign fund as it raised millions of dollars for the governor's re-election bid. Even after stepping down from that post in August 2005, Kelly remained close to Blagojevich and continued to act as a right-hand man for the governor's fundraising operation.
And here's what blago said about Kelly back in June 2008:
Chris Kelly is my friend. I am saddened to hear these allegations about Chris' personal life. I know the pain it must be causing him and his family. . . . In fairness to Chris, I believe it is important to let the legal process play out and not rush to judgment.
Is Kelly saying this about Rod or is he talking like Rezko?
Anyway Kelly's charges - tax fraud - (a tad more than Geithner)
Prosecutors and officials from the Internal Revenue Service and the FBI said Kelly, a former adviser to the Blagojevich administration on gambling issues, cheated on his taxes to pay gambling debts, under-reporting his income between 2000 and 2005 by more than $1 million. He is also accused of causing two corporations he directed to under-report their income by $300,000. Kelly wagered millions of dollars with one undisclosed bookie and additional millions of dollars at Las Vegas casinos, according to the indictment.
And his gambling buddy? Rezko. Rezko knows more about politics in Illinois than probably anyone because he has had a hand in all of it: City of Chicago, Cook County and State of Illinois. And the folks he got the money from were Arab Americans - many from Palestine. From Sun Times' KORECKI & FUSCO:
Rezko gambled in Las Vegas with business associates and people he met in political circles, including Christopher G. Kelly, a fellow top fund-raiser for Gov. Blagojevich, sources said. A lawyer for Kelly, who is facing federal tax charges tied to gambling, declined to comment. Rezko allegedly accumulated $450,000 in debts to Caesars Palace and Bally's Hotel Casino between March and July 2006. He passed nine bad checks and got hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash or gaming chips in return, Roger said. The bad checks, written on Rezko's Broadway Bank account, were for amounts ranging from $15,000 to $120,000. Bellagio LLC won a civil judgment against Rezko for failing to repay $331,000 in gambling markers.
barry -> Rezko -> Kelly -> Blago -> barry.
But barry knows nothing...he just made a boneheaded mistake...he managed to navigate Chicago politics without being tainted...he's only guilty by association...Folks y'all are in serious need of a reality check.
How long before barry says he didn't know about Holder and blago?
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