Levine: Gov had Rezko keep score
FEDERAL COURT | Star witness says Blagojevich wanted to know what state business ex-campaign chair sought
The key witness in the Tony Rezko corruption trial testified Wednesday that Gov. Blagojevich asked Rezko to keep track of how much business his former campaign chairman was getting from the state.
Stuart Levine, who sat on two state boards, testified that Rezko wanted to keep tabs on business sought by David Wilhelm and would decide "whether or not he felt Mr. Wilhelm was deserving of whatever help he was seeking," Levine said.
(Keith Hale/Sun-Times)
Wilhelm, now a businessman and superdelegate to this summer's Democratic National Convention, is a former national chairman of the party.
"Mr. Rezko told me that Gov. Blagojevich and Mr. Rezko wanted to keep track of what clients Mr. Wilhelm had before various boards in the state of Illinois," Levine said. "And they wanted to keep track of what success he had and what success he did not have."
Wilhelm's clients should not win business, Levine testified, "unless I was specifically told by Mr. Rezko that he wanted him to be successful."
Rezko, 52, of Wilmette, is accused of scheming with Levine to split kickbacks from multimillion-dollar deals that came before two boards on which Levine sat. Levine has pleaded guilty.
On Wednesday, Rezko lawyer Joseph Duffy tried, in questioning Levine, to minimize Rezko's influence, maintaining there's no proof of Levine's contention about the Wilhelm orders.
It was Levine's 12th day on the stand and his fifth day under defense questioning.
Rezko and the governor allegedly wanted "to assess the value of Mr. Wilhelm's contribution to helping Gov. Blagojevich," Levine said.
After Wilhelm left the governor's campaign, he worked as a consultant to Naperville's Edward Hospital, which sought state board approval for a new hospital.
Edward Hospital didn't get it.
Duffy asked if Levine could name any proposal that Wilhelm brought before the board that was killed. Levine could only cite Edward Hospital, but he said other factors went into that decision.
Wilhelm spokesman Dave Lundy said afterward: "This whole thing is news to David."