Frank Burns of the Illinois Blogosphere swings and misses:
Seals Campaigns with Blagojevich Treasurer Despite Ties to Mob and Illegal Gun Ring
Frank tries to call Giannoulias as a part of Blagojevich’s administration. For those not familiar with Illinois politics-the State Treasurer is an independently elected office. Unless we are now calling Judy Barr Topinka as part of the first Blagojevich Adminstration. I wouldn’t put it past Frank, but I tend to concort with a bit smarter class of readers.
Then, it’s also important to note, Blagojevich doesn’t like Alexi and Alexi doesn’t like Rod. That’s beyond dispute so I have no idea how he qualifies as Blagojevich’s Treasurer anymore than he qualifies as Frank Burn’s Treasurer.
Of course, the loan to the Yildiz didn’t appear to involve Alexi and as with most of the crap Madigan dumped on Alexi, it isn’t clear how loaning money for a legal business is shocking especially when Alexi wasn’t doing the lending at the time. Then again Frank doesn’t appear to understand the difference between home lending and commercial lending so perhaps it hurts to much to think about it.
Steve Patterson wrote one of the better stories explaining the transactions in another case often cited to “prove” mob ties:
A lawsuit filed this week in Cook County Circuit Court demands that Broadway Bank — run by the Giannoulias family — not hold Loren Billings responsible for the loan and interest.
Billings, who for years has run the Museum of Holography on the Near West Side, was duped by three Ukrainian businesspeople who convinced her to take out the loan in order to purchase shares in their own holography company, the lawsuit says.
Billings’ attorney says Giannoulias ignored her mental state and the histories of those with her and awarded her the loan in 2002.
Giannoulias campaign spokesman Scott Burnham called those allegations “groundless.”
“There was no indication whatsoever that she was mentally impaired at the time,” he said. “There was a concern about her involvement with these individuals.”
Because of that concern, Burnham said, the bank would not allow Maria Chychula, Igor Anatsko and Vitaliy Baka to be listed as co-borrowers, as they desired.
Additionally, Giannoulias wrote a letter to Billings, expressing his concern to her about their history, recommending she hire an attorney to help review the documents.
However, attorney Peter King, representing Billings’ estate, which filed the suit against Broadway, called that “a self-serving letter written simply to cover his own behind.”
Most importantly, Alexi has done a great job as Treasurer. Only someone completely ignorant about Illinois politics would try and make him into a Blagojevich ally. One could, however, point out his closest political ally is Barack Obama and we know that Mark Kirk thinks the Obama agenda is a horrible. So why not argue on those merits?
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