The Rezko scandal . . .

They are still looking for him.

Sneed is told the feds visited several offices Wednesday looking for the man they had just indicted: businessman Antoin "Tony" Rezko, a member of Gov. Blagojevich's inner circle, whose alleged kickback tactics threaten to boot Blago's re-election plans to kingdom come.

Sneed also hears Blagojevich, who had retained the law firm of Winston & Strawn for advice on campaign issues, is now seeking legal counsel from former Gov. Jim Thompson, the firm's standard bearer, due to the Rezko mess.

Rezko, a Syrian-born Christian who exemplified the all-American success story, has reportedly been doing business in the Middle East recently.

Sneed is told, however, Rezko was last heard from in Amman, Jordan, and his lawyer, Joseph Duffy, was still trying to contact him Wednesday in order to bring his client back for Friday's arraignment.

Is the fact the feds indicted Rezko, who is this/close to Blagojevich, a month before the election sending shockwaves through Blago's campaign?

You bet.

Blagojevich, whose wife, Patti, netted thousands in fees from real estate deals with Rezko, is desperately trying to distance himself from a man he now calls a traitor.

"There is no chivalry in politics," a Rezko source told Sneed.

There's more coming, folks. More indictments.

So, who is Tony Rezko?

He is quiet, soft-spoken and heavily wired in Republican and Democratic politics.

Rezko began his political life as a fund-raiser for Mayor Harold Washington when it looked as if Washington didn't have a chance. Ditto for the then-long-shot U.S. Senate campaign of Barack Obama. Sneed is told Rezko is hurt by Obama's lack of support since reports surfaced the feds were investigating him.

A private family man, Rezko lives on the North Shore with his wife and three children and counts Muhammad Ali as one of his closest friends.

A successful businessman and restaurant owner, Rezko used his tremendous contacts to raise a huge amount of money for former Cook County Board President John Stroger, as well as St. Jude's Hospital for Children.

"He's one of their biggest fund-raisers," a source said. "He is totally devoted to their cause."

Rezko also works both sides of the political fence. He co-chaired a megamillion-dollar fund-raiser for President Bush in 2003 and raised funds for former Gov. Jim Edgar.

But Rezko is reportedly closest with Blagojevich, whom he met in the early 1990s when Blago was in the state Legislature.

He's come a long way since leaving home for the first time to attend the Illinois Institute of Technology.

Now it looks as if Rezko's American Dream is turning into a nightmare.

Is there truth in a New York press report that Oprah shared her Doritos with Gayle King and Rosie O'Donnell while backstage at Barbra Streisand's New York concert Monday? Sneed spotters who see the talk queen at the East Bank Club claim she's a bit more carb-conscious than that.

Decorated New York Times global affairs columnist Thomas Friedman will keynote the Chicago Region of the American Committee for the Weizmann Institute on Science's annual gala Nov. 4 at Union Station. The dinner is honoring his friends, Christie Hefner and Bill Marovitz.

Today's birthdays: Luciano Pavarotti, 71; Margaret Harrington, 90; Hugh Jackman, 38, and Buddy Eggert, ageless.