The Old Chicago Gang back together again

by Eric Dondero

High political drama coming out of Chicago this week. It's almost like something straight out of an HBO series.

The Democrats appear to be on the verge of nominating a Tony Rezko (photo w/Obama) friend and confidante as their Senate nominee in Illinois. Alexi Giannoulias (photo - right) is a snazzy guy. A consumate back-slapper, he's well-liked and popular among the Chicago set. The Democrat machine is pleased cause he's got a proven ability to raise the big bucks. But he's also got a decidedly shady past, stemming from questionable land deals, loans, and past associations with convicted criminals.

From the Washington Post, Jan. 31:

CHICAGO -- Not a good week for the Democrats here trying to hang on to President Obama's old Senate seat.

The party's leading contender -- state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias -- has spent these last precious days before Tuesday's primary scrambling to explain why regulators have targeted his struggling family bank for greater oversight. Giannoulias, once a senior lending officer at Broadway Bank, is being pressed relentlessly by his Democratic rivals and the media about his role in the bank's woes.

In an interview, Giannoulias played down the impact the bank's problems could have on his campaign, noting that "these are challenging times for community banks, and my family is not immune." But the news lands on an electorate highly suspicious of banks, and in a state yet to recover from former Democratic governor Rod Blagojevich's indictment on charges he tried to sell this very Senate seat to political contributors after Obama was elected president. He finally appointed Roland Burris, who will not run for the seat
Giannoulias said he hasn't worked at the bank in four years. Still, both Kirk and Democratic rivals have pointed out that large loans were made to people with questionable reputations on his watch, including convicted felon Tony Rezko.

Back in October of 2008, long before any thoughts of a Giannoulias candidacy for US Senate, reporter Rick Moran did some investigating. From American Thinker, Oct. 11, 2008:

Rezko is not necessarily a problem for Obama. But one of the convicted fraudster's cronies might be:

It is the Giannoulias family and their ownership of The Broadway Bank. Specifically, the bank's vice president and chief loan officer Alexi Giannoulias who has, to put it mildly, a rather checkered history:

A man who has long been dogged by charges that the bank his family owns helped finance a Chicago crime figure will host a Windy City fund-raiser tonight for Sen. Barack Obama.

Alexi Giannoulias, who became Illinois state treasurer last year after Obama vouched for him, has pledged to raise $100,000 for the senator's Oval Office bid.

Before he promised to raise funds for Obama, Giannoulias bankrolled Michael "Jaws" Giorango, a Chicagoan twice convicted of bookmaking and promoting prostitution.

Giannoulias is so tainted by reputed mob links that several top Illinois Dems, including the state's speaker of the House and party chairman, refused to endorse him even after he won the Democratic nomination with Obama's help.

And this from the Chicago Tribune via Citizen Wells:

In the 2006 Democratic primary, for example, Obama endorsed first-time candidate Alexi Giannoulias for state treasurer despite reports about loans Giannoulias’ family-owned Broadway Bank made to crime figures. Records show Giannoulias and his family had given more than $10,000 to Obama’s campaign, which banked at Broadway.”

Back to the Post:

Republicans are relishing that the trial of the ever-colorful Blagojevich is expected to start in June and could create an unwelcome circus for Democrats.

Should Giannoulias win on Tuesday, the corruption issue will certainly become front and center in the Illinois Senate race, and could virtually hand the seat to Mark Kirk and the GOP. But the ramifications stretch far wider. With Giannoulias as a poster boy Democrat Senate nominee in a major state right in the middle of America's Heartland, Republicans could make hay of the corruption issue in Senate races nationwide.