Witnesses tout T.R.'s clout
REZKO | They say fund-raiser met weekly with key gov aide, got people on boards
For those seeking positions on state boards or commissions in Gov. Blagojevich's administration, nothing helped like two initials: "T.R."
That stands for Tony Rezko.
(AP/Sun-Times files)
If "T.R." accompanied the names of people being considered for board and commission seats, they stood a good chance of being appointed by the governor, according to former Blagojevich administration employees who testified Monday during Rezko's corruption trial.
The testimony also revealed that Rezko had direct access to Blagojevich's patronage chief, who met in Rezko's office every Monday morning to discuss appointments and job vacancies.
Rezko's lawyers, however, downplayed their client's reach into the governor's office, noting that dozens of politicians -- including Mayor Daley, state Senate President Emil Jones (D-Chicago) and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) -- also pushed to have people they knew appointed to state boards. Rezko, they suggested, did not have extraordinary influence over Blagojevich, let alone the ability to scheme and defraud taxpayers as prosecutors allege.
With the trial in its second day, Jennifer Thomas -- who once worked for Joe Cini, Blagojevich's patronage chief -- said she and Cini met in Rezko's office at 8 a.m. every Monday.
Jill Hayden, Blagojevich's director of boards and commissions, testified that Rezko held powerful sway over who landed on state boards. Rezko, Blagojevich adviser and fund-raiser Chris Kelly and others close to the governor had the most success in getting their people appointed, she said.
When she had to relay appointment requests from Rezko to her boss, Blagojevich chief of staff Lon Monk, "Generally, they were approved," she said.
Prosecutors showed several documents with a list of candidates for posts. Those with the initials "T.R." by their names often ended up on the boards.
Hayden, who oversaw appointments to 300 boards and 1,500 positions, recalled Rezko phoning her in May 2004 about Stuart Levine's reappointment to the board of the state Teachers' Retirement System, which invests pension funds for suburban and Downstate educators.
Hayden said Rezko told her she needed to "move on Stuart Levine."
When Hayden told Rezko she had to first check with Monk, she said Rezko laughed.
What did the laugh mean?
"That I could go ahead and ask him, but it was already a done deal," Hayden said.
When she called Monk, he told her to move forward, and Levine was reappointed.
It was around that time that Rezko and Levine were scheming to make millions of dollars on deals involving TRS, prosecutors say. Rezko, 52, of Wilmette, allegedly used his influence as a Blagojevich fund-raiser to stack boards and then pocket money from deals decided by them.
Levine served as a member of both TRS and the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board. He's pleaded guilty and is expected to be the government's chief witness against Rezko.
On cross-examination, defense lawyer William Ziegelmueller noted that positions on the boards under question in the case were not paid posts. His cross examination also showed that dozens of politicians push for their people.
In addition, Ziegelmueller delved into Levine's background, noting Levine lied on a planning-board questionnaire when he denied having conflicts of interest that would interfere with his board duties.
Also Monday, Sen. Barack Obama's name again surfaced in the trial as Obama was mentioned in a memo about legislation that downsized the planning board in 2003. Rezko's lawyers sought to show that others besides Rezko were recommending candidates for the planning board, but the memo's reference to Obama focused solely on Obama's role in crafting the legislation.
Rezko once was a fund-raiser for Obama, who is not implicated in any of Rezko's alleged wrongdoing.
Contributing: Chris Fusco
