LAWFUEL – The Law Newswire – Barack Obama has run into a little trouble on the campaign trail – first with an entrepreneur who faces fraud charges and with a ‘girl’ video – as reported in the New York Times.
First the girl – Racing around our e-mails and clocking up the views on YouTube is an incredibly racy, well, steamy new video “I Got a Crush … on Obama” by a student (Obama Girl) and a new Web site, barelypolitical write Kate Phillips at the Times.
Well, if you watch the video, you’ll understand. It not only has her doing pole-dancing on the subway (clothed, mind you), but mashing up her bikini-clad bod next to those pix of Senator Barack Obama shirtless in his trunks from his Hawaii vacation last year.
And the fraud linke?
Antoin Rezko, an entrepreneur of considerable charm who found riches in fast food and real estate, is known around Chicago as a collector of politicians.
Back in the 1990s, Mr. Rezko’s office was adorned with framed photos of candidates he viewed as up-and-comers. Among them was Barack Obama, a state legislator whose first campaign donations included $2,000 from Mr. Rezko’s companies. As Mr. Obama built a career that carried him to the Senate in 2004, Mr. Rezko was there with him, holding fund-raisers and rallying support.
Now, as Mr. Obama runs for president, the once-beneficial relationship with his old friend and patron has become problematic.
Last fall, Mr. Rezko was indicted on federal charges of business fraud and influence peddling involving the administration of Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich of Illinois, whose picture was also on Mr. Rezko’s wall. Since then, Mr. Obama, a Democrat, has had to answer questions about a land deal with Mr. Rezko’s wife, Rita, and about other ties to him.
Since early June, Mr. Obama has given to charity more than $21,000 in donations that his Senate campaign had received from Rezko associates now linked to the federal inquiries. He gave away $11,500 from Mr. Rezko himself last fall.
