True identity of crooked Chicago immigration attorney’s co-conspirator revealed!
Ernie Souchak, Editor-in-Chief
Mrs. Dadeh and Dr. Adam Benjamin standing before the Chaldo-Assyrian Community Center in Skokie, IL.
On September 23, 2014 U.S. Attorney Zachary Fardon announced the arrest and indictment of Chicago immigration attorney Robert W. DeKelaita, 51, of Glenview, IL and contract interpreter Adam Benjamin, 61, of Skokie, IL.
Well, as it turns out, Benjamin is much more than just an interpreter who happens to speak Assyrian.
Adam Benjamin is in fact Dr. Adam Z. Benjamin, the former head of the Assyrian Democratic Movement (ADM) of North America.
But when the spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office, Randall Samborn, was asked to confirm the identity of the man Fardon had just indicted, Samborn's response was: "Why do you persist on asking me questions that you know I can't answer?"
Huh?
To put this in perspective:
The U.S. Attorney's Office apparently now believes that asking them to properly identify individuals that they have arrested, indicted, and named in their own press release is something that the media should know not to ask them to do.
Wow! Take a moment to ponder that bit of brilliance.
Moving on, now the question is: Why did the feds not want the public to know the true identity of Adam Benjamin?
Could it be because Benjamin had access to the White House?
Laura Bush & Dr. Adam Z. Benjamin,
Also keep in mind that the ADM political party that Benjamin was in charge of in America was lead by Yonadam Kanna overseas in Iraq.
U.S. administrator Paul Bremer, red tie, and Yonadam Kanna, right
That would be the same Yonadam Kanna who joined DeKelaita associate and Tony Rezko pal, Dr. Ronald Michael, in Iraq pre-invasion meetings at the State Department.
Maybe Chicago Tribune reporter John Chase can shed some light on this subject for us.
Does anyone know where Chase has disappeared to?
----- Forwarded Message -----
From: "John Chase" <[email protected]>
To: (redacted)
Cc: (redacted)
Sent: Friday, March 28, 2008 10:29:35 AM
Subject: RE: Assyrian Community-Robert Dekelaita
Thanks (name redacted). Yes, somebody else told me about Mr. Dekelaita. I will check into that.
John
From: (redacted)
Sent: Friday, March 28, 2008 11:29 AM
To: Chase, John
Cc: (redacted)
Subject: Assyrian Community-Robert Dekelaita
John
Robert Dekelaita is a immigration attorney that is a close associate of Dr. Michael and is very active in the Assyrian community.
Law office of Robert Dekelaita 6600 N. Lincoln Ave.
Suite 200 Lincolnwood, IL 60712
(name redacted)
Perhaps if Chase would come out of hiding, he could give some badly needed guidance to fellow Trib reporter Jason Meisner on the 'Chaldean-Assyrian Community Scandal'.
-----Original Message-----
From: (redacted)
To: Jason Meisner
Sent: October 4, 2014 at 6:30 PM
Subject: Feds knew about crooked Chicago Immigration Attorney in 2003
Jason
You missed a great deal of important facts in your reporting of the DeKelaita scandal.
Don't you think the people of Chicago deserve a better effort from you?
(name redacted)
Feds knew about crooked Chicago Immigration Attorney
Do you think Nadhmi Auchi figures into any of this?
Nadhmi Auchi and President Goerge H. W. Bush
Let's not forget that the Iraqi billionaire claims to be a Chaldean Christian.
Much more to come...
Feds knew about crooked Chicago Immigration Attorney in 2003
Ernie Souchak, Editor-in-Chief
Recently Chicago immigration attorney Robert W. DeKelaita was arrested for committing numerous felonies over the course of 11 years
Now, thanks to Barbara Hollingsworth of CNSNews.com we know that federal authorities have known for over a decade that DeKelaita was committing asylum fraud.
Hollingsworth uncovered documents that reveal that DeKelaita's acts of fraud were exposed in federal court in 2003.
http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-6th-circuit/1423352.html
Why wasn't he arrested then?
Immigration Lawyer Indicted 11 Years After Iraqi Client Admitted Asylum Fraud
By Barbara Hollingsworth
(CNSNews.com) – A prominent Chicago-area immigration lawyer was indicted last month for immigration fraud , 11 years after an illegal alien from Iraq who entered the U.S. via Mexico told federal authorities that he had advised his former client to lie on his asylum application.
Robert DeKelaita, of Glenview, Illinois, described in 2008 as one of a “handful of immigration lawyers who specialize in representing Iraqi Christians,” was accused of “submitting falsely created affidavits, baptismal certificates, [and] identity documents” on asylum forms he submitted to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) between 2000 and 2011.
He also allegedly coached his clients to lie about their past when they were interviewed by federal immigration officials.
The phony identity information included “false names, false religions, false dates of travel, false dates of entry into the United States, false dates of birth, and false family history,” according to the Sept. 23 indictment.
(See U.S. v DeKelaita & Benjamin.pdf)
DeKelaita also allegedly “wrote and created false asylum statements detailing non-existent accounts of purported religious persecution, including fictitious accounts of rape and murder, and attached these statements to the [CIS] Form I-589 he submitted on behalf of his clients,” the indictment further charged.
U.S. Attorney Zachary Fardon of the Northern District of Illinois charged DeKelaita with one count of conspiracy to commit immigration and naturalization fraud, three counts of immigration fraud, and three counts of suborning perjury.
His translator, Adam Benjamin, was also indicted for allegedly “mistranslat[ing] answers given by the clients and add[ing] testimony not actually stated by the clients during the course of the asylum interviews.”
CNSNews.com asked Assistant U.S. Attorney for Public Information Randall Samborn whether any of DeKelaita’s clients who submitted falsified asylum applications have also been arrested or indicted for immigration fraud.
“Not to my knowledge, no,” he replied, adding that there were currently no plans to do so.
CNSNews.com asked Samborn if one of the individuals identified in the indictment only as “Y.L.” was Yousif Lazar, a native of Iraq and resident of Farmington Hills, Michigan, who entered the U.S. illegally via Mexico “on May 20, 1999 without being admitted or paroled by an immigration officer,” according to an August 14, 2007 ruling by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
“No comment,” he replied.
CNSNews.com asked why it took 11 years to arrest DeKelaita when, according to court documents, Lazar testified at his 2003 asylum hearing that “he lied upon the advice of his former counsel, DeKelaita.”
“You’re asking questions beyond the four corners of the indictment and I’m not going to comment on anything that’s not in the public record,” Samborn replied.
CNSNews.com asked if DeKelaita had been creating false identities for his clients.
“He used various false information, but did not specifically create false identities,” Samborn replied. “The indictment itself refers to individuals by initials on whose behalf he submitted false information, but not necessarily to create a fictitious person, as opposed to giving false information on actual individuals,” he explained.
Under federal law, foreigners seeking asylum in the United States must provide proof that they suffered persecution “on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group, or had a well-founded fear of persecution” if they returned to their home country. After asylum is granted, they are eligible to seek lawful permanent residency or naturalized U.S. citizenship.
In 2007, the appellate court denied Lazar’s petition to reverse a Board of Immigration Appeals’ decision that he was ineligible for asylum because he had falsely claimed he was detained and beaten by officials loyal to former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.
“What he did not know is the Government had evidence that would demonstrate that his application was fake, phony and fraudulent,” the appellate court noted.
Confronted by evidence that he had lied on his asylum application, Lazar admitted that “he was in Greece for at least a part of the period in which he claimed to have been in Baghdad,” where he applied for refugee status in 1992. He also admitted that upon advice of his former counsel, DeKelaita, he lied that he had been arrested and detained in Baghdad in 1997 to “improve his chances for obtaining asylum.”
Another client, identified only as “M.J.”, was also allegedly coached by DeKelaita to commit perjury during an asylum interview. She falsely told federal immigration officers that Islamic extremists had threatened to kidnap and kill her husband and daughter, according to the indictment.
“Client H.A.” also falsely claimed that his father had been executed, his house in Iraq had been burned down by Muslim extremists, and his brother’s name had been “put on an elimination list,” the government charged.
Each count carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The indictment also seeks an additional $60,000 forfeiture of attorney’s fees from DeKelaita if he is convicted.
Now that we know the feds were fully aware of DeKelaita's criminal activity way back in 2003, we have to ask:
Why did the feds allow DeKelaita to continue to break U.S. immigration laws?
Why arrest him now after turning a blind eye for 11 years?
And why are there "no plans" to arrest any of DeKelaita’s clients who submitted falsified asylum applications?
We hope to bring you the answers to those and many other related questions very soon.
Did I mention that Robert DeKelaita is a close associate of Tony Rezko's pal, Dr. Ronald Michael?
Rezko Update: Mystery man’s true identity revealed
More to come...
Chicago Tribune tells another blatant lie for U.S. Attorney
Ernie Souchak, Editor-in-Chief
The Chicago Tribune is at it again - reporting what it knows to be a blatant lie for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Chicago.
The lie this time involves the Tribune's reporting on habitual criminal and former Rezko mole John Thomas' most recent arrest for fraud. And the underreported story of the premature termination of his probation for a previous fraud conviction.
The Tribune was fully aware that in 2010, John Thomas was sentenced to three years probation for crimes he committed in New York. And the Trib also knew that in 2011, Thomas petitioned the court to terminate his probation after only one year.
Here's the catch: Thomas' probation was officially "terminated without objection".
In other words, the U.S. Attorney's Office was perfectly fine with Thomas being released from probation after serving only one year of his three-year sentence.
However, now the Tribune and the U.S. Attorney's Office want you to believe his probation "expired":
"Federal prosecutors alleged that Thomas began scheming in the Riverdale deal just months after his probation for the New York conviction expired." read more...
Really?
So after virtually ignoring the fact that Thomas was given a gift of three years probation instead of five years in prison for his crimes...
And then completely ignoring the fact that the feds gave Thomas another gift by allowing his probation to be "terminated without objection" after only one year...
Enabling the Village of Riverdale to gift Thomas hundreds of thousands of taxpayer's dollars...
The Tribune now wants to sell us the blatant lie that Thomas' probation "expired".
Wow! That's brass.
And let's not forget that the U.S. Attorney's Office and the Tribune have a well documented history of telling lies when it comes to John Thomas.
----- Forwarded Message -----
From: <redacted>
To: "jskass" <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, December 18, 2009 6:42:03 PM
Subject: Chicago Tribune - John Thomas
To whom it may concern
John Thomas was a mole for the FBI in the case in Illinois against Tony Rezko and others. The Chicago Tribune was aware of the fact and chose not to write a story about him at the behest of Patrick Fitzgerald (U.S Attorney Northern Dist IL). The Tribune eventually wrote a story about John Thomas, however the story they wrote was not accurate. My source at the Chicago Tribune claims that when Patrick Fiztgerald asked the Chicago Tribune to sit on the Thomas story, claiming it could put his life in danger, the Chicago Tribune refused. The Chicago Tribune told Mr Fitzgerald that they were going to run the story anyway. It was only when Patrick Fitzgerald told the Chicago Tribune that if they ran the story that it would affect the Presidential election did the Chicago Tribune agree not to run the story. My source at the Chicago Tribune confirmed this meant Obama. My source also informed me of other information that would be of interest to the people of Illinois that was not being reported in the Chicago Tribune.
The source at the Tribune referred to in the email has since been revealed to have been John Chase.
Truth is - the Tribune and the U.S. Attorney's Office are working their own con.
Was giving “FBI informant” John Thomas TIF money legal?
Ernie Souchak, Editor-in-Chief
We all know that giving convicted felon and "FBI informant" John Thomas tax increment financing (TIF) funds was a colossally stupid thing to do.
But the real question is: was it legal?
John Thomas, who is best known for wearing a wire for the feds in the cases against Tony Rezko and Ald. Ike Carothers, is in federal custody for stealing 370K of TIF money from the village of Riverdale IL.
Chicago Sun-Times
Feds arrest former mole in Rezko, Carothers cases
BY NATASHA KORECKI AND KIM JANSSEN Staff Reporters April 18, 20
Smooth-talking felon John Thomas once said the thing he loved about Chicago was, it was “the most forgiving” place for a convicted crook.
He’d better hope so.
The 51-year-old real estate developer — who got a second chance at life and dodged a prison term by wearing a wire against disgraced political fundraiser Tony Rezko as well as former Ald. Ike Carothers — has been up to his old tricks, federal prosecutors say.
Arrested at dawn on Good Friday at his downtown condo, Thomas stole $370,000 from the south suburban village of Riverdale that was meant for the development of Riverdale Marina, a federal indictment alleges.
Continue reading .... Feds arrest former mole in Rezko, Carothers cases
OK. It's no real surprise that a habitual criminal like Thomas would steal a pile of money put right in front of him.
But who in their right mind would put a pile of taxpayer money in front of a convicted felon knowing full well that he would steal it?
That kind of stupidity can't be legal!
After initially pleading not guilty to all charges against him, Thomas has abruptly changed his mind and will plead guilty on May 16.
So what's up? Did Thomas make another deal with the feds? Are there more arrests to follow in the Riverdale Marina scam?
But when feds were asked these questions, they refused to comment.
The U.S. Attorney's office also refuses to explain why it allowed John Thomas' three-year probation from his previous felony conviction to be terminated after only one year.
Is it just a coincidence that Thomas had his probation terminated two years early, which allowed him the opportunity to steal taxpayer money in the Riverdale Marina deal?
Why would the feds allow this?
One thing is for sure. If Thomas' sentence of probation was not prematurely terminated in 2011, his problems today would be exponentially greater.
To start, he would be facing much longer prison time.
Clearly there is more going on here than meets the eye....
Illinois U.S. Attorney’s Office caught lying
Ernie Souchak, Editor-in-Chief
Shared Ethics in Government Breakfast Meeting- March 14, 2013
On May 6, 2013, veteran reporter Barbara Hollingsworth, who now writes for CNS News, reported that Chicago Tribune reporters John Chase and Jeff Coen revealed that the feds were their source for the sealed Blagojevich wiretap tapes and transcripts the reporters refer to in their book "Golden."
Following that story, IP2P has just learned this:
Months before Chase and Coen's source was revealed, Randall Samborn, spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office, insisted that the government did not give Chase and Coen access to the Blago tapes or transcripts. That claim was documented in the email below.
From: [email protected]
To: < redacted >
Sent: Wed Dec 5 07:28:01 UTC 2012
Subject: RE: Media inquiry re USA v Blagojevich
Let me be clear, the government did not provide the authors access to any non-public materials and I reject your assertion. As I said, we are done with this.
From: < redacted >
Sent: Wednesday, December 05, 2012 1:25 PM
To: Samborn, Randall (USAILN)
Subject: Re: Media inquiry re USA v Blagojevich
Randall
Are you refusing to give me the same access that was given to John Chase and Jeff Coen?
(Name redacted)
Imagine Samborn's surprise when he learned that Chase and Coen "burned" their source by revealing that it was, in fact, the U.S. Attorney’s office that gave them access to the court sealed documents they refer to in their book. Below is Samborn's response when asked about the new development.
From: Randall Samborn (USAILN)
To: < redacted >
Sent: 2013-05-14 18:01:35 +0000
Subject: RE: Media inquiry (Tribune reporters)
No comment
From: < redacted >
Sent: Tuesday, May 14, 2013 12:49 PM
To: Samborn, Randall (USAILN)
Subject: Media inquiry (Tribune reporters)
Mr. Randall Samborn
Tribune reporters John Chase and Jeff Coen have revealed that the federal government was the source that provided them with the Blagojevich wiretap tapes and transcripts that were under court seal and never made public.
What is your response to Chase and Coen exposing the Federal Government as their source?
(Name redacted)
Chicago Tribune reporters work for Federal Government
https://illinoispaytoplay.com/2013/05/06/chicago-tribune-reporters-work-for-federal-government/
So, after the feds insisted they did not provide access to the Tribune reporters, and Chase and Coen revealed that the feds did, the federal government has now changed its position to "No Comment."
It’s obvious that the feds gave Chase and Coen access to sealed material, and then lied about it. And that begs this question: Why the lie?
The Tribune won’t ask that question because they’re part of the lie. And the Sun Times won’t ask because they’re complicit in the lie. So we ask it here. Why the lie?
As well as: What other lies during the Blago saga were told by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and advanced by the Tribune?
Developing story......
How many Public Officials attended drug/sex parties at the Purple Hotel?
Hugo Floriani, Investigative Reporter
It's a matter of public record that Stuart Levine, who was the governments star witness in the Tony Rezko, Bill Cellini and, to some extent, Rod Blagojevich trials, often hosted sex parties where illegal drugs were consumed by attendees.
Remember, Stuart Levine became infamous for his kick-back schemes during U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald's Operation Board Games.
Levine could get you an invitation to the White House Christmas party, and he was a major player in an ongoing pay-to-play scheme that placed government contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars in the hands of those he, and his criminal public official partners, deemed worthy.
Levine was the kind of man who would fly friends, like Rod Blagojevich, on a private jet to New York for fundraisers.
Now, knowing Stuart Levine, and knowing that he hosted drug and sex parties for years, ask yourself this: How many public officials do you suppose the Department of Justice can tell what to do, and what to think, because they know of their attendance at those parties?
You see, the old slogan in Chicago was: "It's not what you know; it's who you know." The new slogan is, "It's not who you know; it's what you know about who you know."
IP2P would like to know these things:
(1.) Who attended these parties with Levine?
(2.) Are any of them still holding public office where they make decisions about our future?
(3.) Is anyone being blackmailed for having been at those parties?
And lastly, (4.) "Why does the Department of Justice refuse to release any information about those parties?
Meanwhile, the Chicago media maintains its silence and refuses to ask the obvious question: "Who attended the illegal drug parties with Stuart Levine, while he was spending millions of dollars of teachers' retirement money?" Or, perhaps several key reporters know who was there, and are, for one reason or another, unwilling to report what they know.
Hey, Karen Lewis! Maybe, you should ask.
Contact: Randall Samborn, Assistant US Attorney, Public Information Officer
Direct: (312) 353-5318, Cell: (312) 613-6700
Hey, Chicago Tribune: Why are you helping Rod Blagojevich blackmail the Feds?
Ernie Souchak, Editor-in-Chief
A proven reliable source reports that Rod Blagojevich is attempting to blackmail his way out of prison.
And, there are indications that the feds are in the process of capitulating to Blago’s demands, aided by the collaborative assistance of the ChicagoTribune, in what amounts to a cover-up of a crime.
(Read this email thread from bottom to top)
Top
-----Original Message-----
From: <redacted>
To: Len Goodman
Sent: 2013-05-24 17:24:37 +0000
Subject: Is it a real appeal?
Mr. Len Goodman
It has come to my attention, that there is a strong possibility your client Rod Blagojevich is blackmailing former U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald and the federal government.
Are you familiar with the interview Rod Blagojevich did with Brian Ross?
(Sender redacted here and below when not otherwise indicated)
----- Forwarded Message -----
From: <redacted>
To: "Kimberly Nerheim" <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, March 12, 2011 1:08:10 PM
Subject: Fwd: Brian Ross 8-26-2010 Blago threatens
Kimberly
Please contact me about these very important matters.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
----- Forwarded Message -----
From:<redacted>
To: "Randall Samborn" <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, March 12, 2011 1:00:28 PM
Subject: Fwd: Brian Ross 8-26-2010 Blago threatens
Randall Samborn
Looks like Rod Blagojevich's decision to go the route of extortion might be working for him? . In plain site on ABC.
Do you think if he does not get the deal he wants Rod Blagojevich will tell the public the information Patrick Fitzgerald supposedly wanted the morning he arrested Blago.
More important does Patrick Fitzgerald want information about corruption at the level that Blago speaks of in this interview.
Blago say's some very telling things in this interview with Brian Ross that will help expose the truth. Simple questions, who told John Chase that the feds had a wire on Blagojevich and that John Wyma was cooperating with U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald.
Who,what,why,when and where was the decision made to warn Blago ?
Why is no one asking ? That last question was rhetorical, I know why no one is asking.
Randall, lets not forget our discussions about these matters. Maybe this is one of those times that calls for a Special Counsel to be appointed.
Trial or not, there are a lot of questions that need to be answered starting with the ones John Chase has never answered.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Bottom
----- Forwarded Message -----
From: <redacted>
To: <redacted>
Sent: Monday, March 7, 2011 9:54:37 AM
Subject: Brian Ross 8-26-2010 Blago
Pertinent memory refresher.
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/video/rod-blagojevich-reveals-jail-activity-11493201
Pop quiz:
Question. Why did the feds give the Blago wiretap tapes and transcripts to the Chicago Tribune and only the Tribune?
Answer. So the Tribune could lie and tell the public that there is nothing on the tapes that Rod Blagojevich could use to blackmail the Feds.
Question. Why are the Chicago Tribune and their reporters John Chase and Jeff Coen refusing to report what is on the tapes and transcripts?
Answer. They are part of the criminal cover-up dubbed "Chicagogate"
Question. Why are the Blagojevich brothers reevaluating whether or not the public should hear the tapes or read the transcripts that they and their attorneys would not shut-up about in the past?
(Read this email thread from bottom to top)
Top
-----Original Message-----
From: Robert Blagojevich
To: <redacted>
Sent: 2013-05-09 19:10:09 +0000
Subject: Re: Inquiry (your statement)
<Name redacted>
Understand this; everything I've either written to you or said is off the record.
Please respect my position.
Rob Blagojevich
Sent from my iPhone
------------------------
On May 9, 2013, at 1:33 PM, <redacted> wrote:
Robert
If you cannot go on the record stating that it is unacceptable for the Feds to give Tribune reporters and only Trib reporters John Chase and Jeff Coen copies of sealed tapes and transcripts, tapes and transcripts that yourself and Rod were not allowed to keep.
You are making a statement.
Are you sure this is the statement you want to make?
----- Forwarded Message -----
From: <redacted>
To: Robert Blagojevich
Sent:Thu May 9 02:55:54 UTC 2013
Subject: Fwd: Inquiry
Robert
How does Rod's appeal have anything to do with whether you believe the tapes should be made available to others in the Media?
The Feds gave access to the tapes to the Chicago Tribune, and only the Trib.
And, according to John Chase and Jeff Coen, the Tribune can grant Rod and yourself your wish, and publish the transcripts.
All I am asking is: Do you still believe that all the wiretap tapes should be played?
----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Robert Blagojevich
To: <redacted>
Sent:Thu May 9 02:38:16 UTC 2013
Subject: Re: Inquiry
To clarify and be specific, I don't want to say anything publically until my brother's appeal has been heard.
At that point I will reevaluate.
Sorry about the confusion of my previous email. Rereading it, it confused me as well.
Robert
------------------------
On May 9, 2013, at 9:22 AM, <redacted> wrote:
Robert
I do not understand. You and Rod have repeatedly expressed your desire for the public to hear all the wiretap tape recordings.
Help me understand.
Do you still believe the wiretap tapes should be played for the public?
What has changed?
----- Original Message -----
From: Robert Blagojevich
To: <redacted>
Sent:Thu May 9 11:40:36 UTC 2013
Subject: Re: Inquiry
(Name redacted)
At this point what I believe Chase and Coen should do has to remain with me until Rod's appeal is completed.
I hope you can understand my position.
Robert
---------------------
On May 8, 2013, at 2:51 PM, <redacted> wrote:
Robert
Do you believe Tribune reporters John Chase and Jeff Coen should publish the wiretap transcripts they received from the Feds that were never made public?
Bottom
-----Original Message-----
From: <redacted>
To: Robert Blagojevich
Sent: 2013-05-07 15:03:50 +0000
Subject: Tapes and Transcripts
Robert
John Chase and Jeff Coen had this to say "no legal ban on us publishing" when asked about the wiretap tapes and transcripts that were never made public.
Tapes and transcripts that they received from the Feds.
Don't you think it's time for people to publicly insist that they do publish them?
Perhaps, if you ask.
Conclusion: If the Feds keep their word and release Blago from jail, the Blagojevich brothers will never reveal what’s on the wiretap tapes that the feds don’t want you to know.
Here's a question: Should you trust the Tribune Company?
Particularly now that it’s becoming clear that it works for the federal government.
Answer. I think not!
BREAKING NEWS: Blagojevich Attorney calls out Chicago Tribune reporters
Ernie Souchak, Editor-in-Chief
Kudos to the Chicago Daily Observer for their relentless pursuit of the truth. (Unlike the Tribune Co., which is largely responsible for the prostitution of the dead-tree "Fourth Estate" in Chicago.)
Today, at the Chicago Daily Observer, you’ll find an example of legitimate journalism displayed by Barbara Hollingsworth, as we learn that one of the Blagojevich attorneys has gone on-record stating that Chicago Tribune reporters Jeff Coen and John Chase are lying about having had access to the federal wiretap tapes and transcripts – material that was never made public.
And, furthermore, that the U.S. Attorney's Office was so concerned about the contents of the tapes being leaked, they insisted that the Blagojevich's and their attorneys return all copies of tapes and transcripts back to the government.
Excerpt:
Michael Ettinger, one of the defense attorneys for Blagojevich’s brother, Robert, was even blunter: “If Jeff Coen said he listened to the 500 hours of tapes, he's a liar," Ettinger told me in a recent email. “The government wanted all tapes, copies and transcripts returned before [Robert’s case] was dismissed out.” Ettinger added in a follow-up phone conversation with me that, “Rod’s team had to give them back, too. No one kept them.”
Read more of Hollingsworth's article here: Just How Did those “Sealed” Blagojevich Tapes Get to the Tribune Reporters?
Hats off to Barbara Hollingsworth and the Chicago Daily Observer. An honest Fourth Estate is essential to fight corruption and remain a free people.
When will the Chicago Sun Times get their copies of the Blagojevich tapes and transcripts?
Thomas Barton, Investigative Reporter
When is the Department of Justice going to give other news outlets access to the Blago tapes and transcripts-startng with the Chicago Sun Times? They deserve a copy, don't they?
After all, the feds gave copies to John Chase and Jeff Coen of the Chicago Tribune.
In-fact, according to an article published by the Indiana University School of Journalism, Jeff Coen revealed that the Tribune had access to wiretap tapes and transcripts before Blagojevich's second trial in 2011. Quoting from that journal:
"Even though they were working on the book outside their day jobs, the two said the Tribune required that if any information surfaced that could be considered breaking news, they had an obligation to bring it before the newspaper first. For example, as current Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel was running for office, the pair’s editors wanted to know the two had turned up anything about Emanuel as they researched their book.
'We got all the tapes for this project now, but even before that, I had to go get Rahm-specific tapes to try to make sure we wouldn’t get beat on something,’ Coen said. ‘We were kind of working both jobs at the same time.' "
So far, ILP2P has not succeeded in securing our copies. But it’s is only a matter of time; the feds wouldn't just give them to only the Trib - would they?
We wonder – are other news outlets around the country, and in Chicago, experiencing trouble getting their copies, too?
They must be, or we’d be reading the transcripts in their newspapers, or be hearing the tapes on their local or national TV and radio programs.
There’s nothing stopping the Chicago Tribune from making the tapes, and transcripts, available to the public. At least, nothing legally preventing that from happening.
So why is the Trib stashing the Blago tapes in a vault like the Tribune owned LATimes did with the Rashid Khalidi tape?
Why don’t you ask Tribune Editor Gerould Kern: Email [email protected] Tel 312-222-5555
Those concerned about preserving the fourth estate should demand the same access to the Blago files that the feds granted Chase and Coen.
If you believe that, tell it to the spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago: Samborn contact info here: Email [email protected] Tel 312-353-5318 Cell 312 613-6700
And, ask Congressman Darrell Issa’s office if it’s even legal for the feds to only give access to the tapes & transcripts to the Trib:
Email [email protected]
Ca 760-599-5000
Wash 202-225-3906
All they can say is…nothing. And that alone will tell you something.
U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald gives the United States of America it’s first Tin-Pot Dictator “Barack Hussein Obama”
Ernie Souchak, Editor-in-Chief, Illinois PayToPlay
The communications posted below are just one example of how Patrick Fitzgerald and the Chicago Tribune worked together to insure that Barack Hussein Obama, aka "The Chosen One" would win the 2008 Presidential election. Illinois PayToPlay will have more on this soon.
All questions and or information related to this criminal activity should be directed to :
Congressman Darrell Issa [email protected]
Dale Neugebauer [email protected]
Chief-of-Staff
Washington, DC (202) 225-3906
California (760) 599-5000
From: (redacted)
To: "David Young" <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, June 3, 2011 8:58:46 AM
Subject: Fwd: My Source (TIP)
Mr David Young
Please see that Senator Charles Grassley receives a copy of this.
(name redacted)
----- Forwarded Message -----
From: (redacted)
To: "Glenn Selig" <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, June 2, 2011 9:17:04 PM
Subject: Fwd: My Source (TIP)
Glenn,
As we discussed, The fact that Rod Blagojevich is not making John Chase and the Chicago Tribune an issue in this case is very telling. What will be most interesting is. To what extent is Darrell Issa going to ignore what is happening before he is forced to step up ?
http://media.apps.chicagotribune.com/blago/5231-session-1423-blagojevich-home.html
----- Forwarded Message -----
From: (redacted)
To:
Sent: Thursday, June 2, 2011 12:59:49 PM
Subject: Fwd: My Source (TIP)
----- Forwarded Message -----
From: (redacted)
To: "Glenn Selig" <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, June 1, 2011 10:43:11 PM
Subject: My Source
Glenn,
I think this speaks for itself.
----- Forwarded Message -----
From:
To:
Sent: Wednesday, May 25, 2011 8:07:17 AM
Subject: Fwd: Or maybe
----- Forwarded Message -----
From:
To: "Rod Blagojevich" <[email protected]>
Cc: "Sheldon Sorosky" <[email protected]>, "Aaron Goldstein" <[email protected]>, "Randall Samborn" <[email protected]>, "Kimberly Nerheim" <[email protected]>, "ca49interndo" <[email protected]>, "Dale Neugebauer" <[email protected]>, "Justin Roth" <[email protected]>, "Gerould Kern" <[email protected]>, "John Kass" <[email protected]>, "Jeff Coen" <[email protected]>, "Donald Hayner" <[email protected]>, "Chris Fusco" <[email protected]>, "Tim Novak" <[email protected]>, "Dave McKinney" <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, May 24, 2011 9:15:23 AM
Subject: Fwd: Or maybe
Ladies and gentleman,
My source at the Chicago Tribune (referred to below) is John Chase. The same John Chase that warned Rod Blagojevich that the feds had a wiretap on him.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Concerned citizen
----- Forwarded Message -----
From:
To: "Chris Fusco" <[email protected]>, "Tim Novak" <[email protected]>, "Carol Marin" <[email protected]>, "Dave McKinney" <[email protected]>
Cc: "Donald Hayner" <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, April 29, 2011 7:52:38 AM
Subject: Fwd: Or maybe
What about the folks at the Sun-Times ?
----- Forwarded Message -----
From:
To: "Rod Blagojevich" <[email protected]>
Cc: "Sheldon Sorosky" <[email protected]>, "Aaron Goldstein" <[email protected]>, "Glenn Selig" <[email protected]>, "Dale Neugebauer" <[email protected]>, "Justin Roth" <[email protected]>, "ca49interndo" <[email protected]>, "Cheyenne steel" <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, April 27, 2011 9:12:10 PM
Subject: Or maybe
Or maybe, no one wants the truth to get out ?
Does anyone want to know who in the Chicago Tribune organization informed me that the Tribune was sitting on the John Thomas (FBI mole) story to protect Barack Obama, at the behest of Patrick Fitzgerald ? Surely Rod Blagojevich and his lawyers will want to know or will they ? Why wouldn't they want to know ?
----- Forwarded Message -----
From:
To: "Glenn Selig" <[email protected]>
Cc: "Sheldon Sorosky" <[email protected]>, "Aaron Goldstein" <[email protected]>, "Rod Blagojevich" <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, April 25, 2011 8:42:04 PM
Subject: Maybe everyone is inept ?
Glenn
To date, not a single person that has received this string of emails has asked me the simple and obvious question, who is your source at the Chicago Tribune. Remember what we discussed.
xxxxxxxxxxxx
Concerned citizen
----- Forwarded Message -----
From:
To: "Glenn Selig" <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, April 18, 2011 8:23:27 AM
Subject: Fwd: FBI director Fitzgerald ?
Glenn
I appreciate that you are talking to Rod Blagojevich about what we have discussed, however in the mean time, has Sheldon shared this email with you ?
xxxxxxx
----- Forwarded Message -----
From:
To: "John Kass" <[email protected]>
Cc: "Chris Fusco" <[email protected]>, "Eric Zorn" <[email protected]>, "Gerould Kern" <[email protected]>, "Donald Hayner" <[email protected]>, "Dale Neugebauer" <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, March 19, 2011 9:44:29 AM
Subject: Fwd: FBI director Fitzgerald ?
John
You continue to be an outspoken fan of U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald despite the fact you have been given evidence that should concern you deeply.
Perhaps since you and the Chicago Tribune feel so strongly about the virtues of Patrick Fitzgerald you can ask him a few questions that need answering.
1 Who leaked sealed information about the wire tap on Rod Blagojevich to John Chase, and have they been charged for that crime ?
2 Who leaked the information to John Chase that John Wyma was cooperating with the U.S Attorneys office ?
3 Why are the John Thomas files sealed ?
4 Etc.,
5 Etc.,
6 Etc.,
Get answers to these and you will be on your way to recovery.
FBI director Patrick Fitzgerald ? Pay-to-Play on steroids, he should know. You should talk to John Chase about this, as you know I have !
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
----- Forwarded Message -----
From:
To: "jskass" <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, December 18, 2009 6:42:03 PM
Subject: Chicago Tribune - John Thomas
To whom it may concern
John Thomas was a mole for the FBI in the case in Illinois against Tony Rezko and others. The Chicago Tribune was aware of the fact and chose not to write a story about him at the behest of Patrick Fitzgerald (U.S Attorney Northern Dist IL). The Tribune eventually wrote a story about John Thomas, however the story they wrote was not accurate. My source at the Chicago Tribune claims that when Patrick Fiztgerald asked the Chicago Tribune to sit on the Thomas story, claiming it could put his life in danger, the Chicago Tribune refused. The Chicago Tribune told Mr Fitzgerald that they were going to run the story anyway. It was only when Patrick Fitzgerald told the Chicago Tribune that if they ran the story that it would affect the Presidential election did the Chicago Tribune agree not to run the story. My source at the Chicago Tribune confirmed this meant Obama. My source also informed me of other information that would be of interest to the people of Illinois that was not being reported in the Chicago Tribune.
----- Forwarded Message -----
From:
To:
Sent: Thursday, March 17, 2011 8:03:33 AM
Subject: FBI director Fitzgerald ?
I have known about this for a while, however I do find the timing of this interesting?
Could make for interesting confirmation hearings.
www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/ct-met-kass-0317-20110317,0,5332476.column
chicagotribune.com
If Fitzgerald goes to Washington, will political cockroaches like Blagojevich multiply?
John Kass
March 17, 2011
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Rod Blagojevich awoke after a night of uneasy dreams to find that he had been transformed:
Not into just another Illinois political cockroach — one more former governor awaiting a federal criminal trial — but as a WLS-AM morning radio talk show host shamelessly sucking up to his potential jury pool.
So as WLS invited former Gov. Dead Meat to use the federally licensed airwaves to politic to the jury and claim his innocence, he dropped the name of famed writer Franz Kafka.
And his co-host, wife Patti, chimed in, saying those federal prosecutors in Chicago were really unfair.
"The whole thing, it's a story out of Kafka," said Dead Meat. "You know he wrote this novel 'The Trial,' which is just an unbelievable thing about how somebody can be falsely accused of things, and then they just drop a big thing on you, and create a firestorm and before you have a chance to catch your breath, you've been defined a certain way."
Dead Meat was referring Kafka's story of Josef K., a young bank official who is arrested by federal agents and tried, though neither he nor the reader ever learn the exact nature of the crime.
It's a crazy reference, because Dead Meat knows the charges against him — like trying to sell that "(bleeping) golden" U.S. Senate seat once held by President Barack Obama.
And both he and Patti know the names of all the prosecutors and FBI agents, including U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald.
"My point is, it's a selective prosecution," Patti told the audience.
And she mentioned the story of her husband's replacement, Gov. Patrick Quinn, and his appointment of former state Rep. Careen Gordon, a Democrat from Morris.
During her campaign, Gordon opposed a tax increase but lost anyway. Then in January, Quinn needed her vote to pass his 67 percent income tax hike. He offered her an $86,000-a-year job on the state prison review board. As a potentially interesting confirmation hearing neared, Gordon withdrew her name from consideration Wednesday.
Quinn and Gordon insisted there was no quid pro quo, but anyone who believed that is a chumbolone.
"Why is it OK for Quinn and Careen Gordon to act this way?" whined Patti. "But we're sitting in a situation where you're going to go to trial again for the second time, for something far less concrete, than what they actually did."
What Quinn did is contemptible, but at least Quinn didn't have his fingerprints all over Obama's Senate seat.
On Wednesday, Patti was less (bleeping) Lady Macbeth and more like a 5-year-old, wondering why she and Rod got caught when everybody else gets to do it.
The last time I'd heard her speak was on a TV reality show, "I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!"
She'd just eaten a plateful of live jungle bugs, perhaps Costa Rican cockroaches, and she was using the tip of her tongue to work them out of her teeth, the way you work celery out of your molars, when she began blubbering about Rod's innocence.
It was difficult to watch back then, but she got through it, and enough potential jurors must have seen it, too, because Dead Meat was convicted on only one federal count — lying to the FBI.
The retrial is scheduled to start April 20, and Fitzgerald has his prosecution team streamlining the case.
And now Fitzgerald might be making a move, to Washington. He's on the short list to replace Robert Muller as director of the FBI.
Whether he gets the job or not is something else again. I think Fitzgerald would like the post. Friends of his have been talking about it for years. He's obviously qualified, and he has hunted crooked Democrats and crooked Republicans with equal gusto.
But would the Chicago Way White House — with mayoral brother Billy Daley as chief of staff to the president — want an uncontrollable Fitzgerald running the FBI for the next 10 years?
Who knows? Billy Daley is approving the short list being leaked out to the media, with Fitz's name on it.
"He's clearly the best qualified candidate for the FBI director's post in the country, bar none," said former U.S. Sen. Peter Fitzgerald, no relation, who defied the Illinois Combine by installing the independent Fitzgerald in the job.
It made them so angry that Sen. Fitzgerald was run out of Illinois politics as a result.
"It would be Chicago's loss if Patrick Fitzgerald became director of the FBI," the former senator said. "All sorts of characters in Chicago would be delighted if Patrick were promoted out of town. As FBI director, his responsibilities would be focused on a broad spectrum and he wouldn't have time to focus just on Chicago."
Blagojevich was consistent throughout his shameless morning talk show rant.
He was the wronged man. His enemies wanted his hide. He was the one who fought on behalf of the people against all those schemers, liars and knaves.
But he got the Kafka reference wrong. It wasn't "The Trial" he should have been thinking of, but "The Metamorphosis," which Kafka would have begun this way, if he were covering the trial.
"As Rod Blagojevich awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect. … His numerous legs, which were pitifully thin compared to the rest of his bulk, waved helplessly before his eyes."
If the best exterminator leaves town, what will happen to all those political cockroaches?
They'll multiply. As in the old days.
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