Auchi was in Wilmette at Rezko's

Another bombshell. Well, well, well. Up until now we had only heard that Obama happened to drop in at a Four Seasons do where Rezko was hosting Nadhmi Auchi:

An aide to Mr Obama said he did attend an event at the Four Seasons at which Mr Rezko was present but does not remember meeting Mr Auchi. "He shook a lot of hands and met a lot of people," the aide said. "We do not remember individual people."

Prosecutors say that, after Mr Auchi was unable to enter the United States in 2005, Mr Rezko approached the US State Department to get him a visa and apparently asked "certain Illinois government officials to do the same." Mr Obama denies he was approached. Mr Auchi's lawyer has emphasised to The Times that it would be entirely false to imply that money had been lent by GMH to Mr Rezko in return for Mr Rezko seeking to assist Mr Auchi to obtain a visa.

Now we find out from Stuart Levine that Auchi and Obama were at a fundraiser Rezko hosted in his Wilmette home on April 3, 2004. The Swamp:

The Rezko party in 2004 was designed to induce Auchi to pour money into the South Loop investment. Obama's presence at the party was not previously known. At the time, Obama was fresh off a surprise win in the Illinois Democratic primary for U.S. Senate and was riding a crest of national publicity.

(I find mention of this fundraiser in Wilmette on an earlier date, June 27th, 2003:

When Obama ran for the U.S. Senate, Rezko held a June 27, 2003, cocktail party in Rezko’s Wilmette mansion, picking up the tab for the lavish event. Obama’s campaign staff has said it has no records to show who attended that party, or how much it cost.

Presumably Auchi was the guest of honor on April 3rd...or at least one of them. But gee, why did we have to learn about this from Stuart Levine? Was Barack Obama somehow not at his own fundraiser? Too busy keeping the bitter hoi-polloi at bay? [OK, it wasn't a fundraiser for him, it was a party held by his fundraiser.]

(That song in my head getting louder.)

UPDATE: Final page of the Tribune interview of March 16th, 2008. Transcript:

Tribune: It's been 16 months since we first suggested you deal forthrightly and truthfully with Rezko and put it behind you. And we've suggested it several times since then. Should we have been having this conversation a long time ago, and may I ask why we haven't.

Obama: You know, look, I'll be honest with you. I sort of had, felt like we—I'm not saying we were right, but we're part of what happened—was we had a fairly extensive and thorough press conference around this issue. I talked to your reporters, Sun-Times reporters, gave them a lot of information. I talked to the Washington Post, appeared on all the Sunday shows.

And the fact is my answers really haven't changed much...

UPDATE: Detail page 5:

Tribune: Do you know at this point how many fundraisers Mr. Rezko threw for you?

Obama: The only fundraiser that he held for me in the U.S. Senate race was the one he threw at his home, which I think we've already talked to the Tribune about previously.

Tribune: Prior to that, do you know whether there were other fundraisers?

Obama: He never hosted anything at his home and frankly, I don't recall him—I can't say it never happened because we're talking about over the course of 10 years, essentially—but I don't recall him hosting a fundraiser in which was at his home or in his office in that way. He would typically participate as part of a larger group.

Tribune: The June 2003 fundraiser that you have told us a lot about—we can't figure out about who paid the expenses for that, such as catering, valet parking, etc. Can you help us with that?

Obama: You know, I can try to find out more, but typically what would happen would be that our campaign would offset costs that were attributable to our fundraising, subject to a rule that there are a certain portion that can be contributed by the host, above and beyond what they've already contributed financially.

Tribune: Would that have been reported?

Obama: That should be reported.

UPDATE: AP story:

CHICAGO (AP) — The government's star witness at the fraud trial of Antoin "Tony" Rezko testified Monday that Sen. Barack Obama and his wife attended a party four years ago at the home of the indicted political fundraiser.

Stuart Levine said the party took place in April 2004 and was held to honor Iraqi-born Nadhmi Auchi, a London-based billionaire who was visiting the United States at the time. [snip]

Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt said Monday that the senator "does not recall meeting Nadhmi Auchi at any time or on any occasion," and that Obama and his wife do not remember attending the party.

Auchi's attorney, Alasdair Pepper, has said his client doesn't remember meeting Obama.

It's the Hillary dragon lady defense, "I don't recall". Blagojevich was a no-show, so we can't ask Governor Big Guy. But Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn was there.

UPDATE: The party that Obama doesn't recall attending was held the same day of the Four Seasons event, Kankakee Daily Journal. Hitting the Indiana media, Terre Haute "Star witness at Rezko trial says Obama attended party":

A spokesman for Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama says the Illinois senator doesn't recall meeting a British billionaire at a party at indicted political fundraiser Tony Rezko's home.

Another billionaire.

UPDATE: In case you missed it, Washington Post story on the trial from yesterday's Sunday paper:

Entering its second month, the Rezko trial is an Illinois politics junkie's dream, full of inside looks at patronage in a state infamous for the conveniently placed ally and the greased palm. The voices of witnesses, some in the courtroom, others clandestinely taped by the FBI, tell of well-worn paths to influence and prosperity in Springfield, the state capital.

The spoils of political influence were so expected, according to one witness, that Chicago Alderman Richard F. Mell -- Blagojevich's father-in-law and political mentor -- was frustrated that he was not profiting from the new governor's tenure. Levine, meanwhile, testified that he joined a bribery scheme with former alderman Edward Vrdolyak, a former Cook County Democratic Party chair who is awaiting trial.

The trial's most memorable insider is Levine.

"I have never been in a better position than I am right now," Levine boasted in one taped conversation, referring to Rezko. "Part of the reason is because there's never been such tight control of the central apparatus. This guy is making decisions . . . and can get anything done that he wants done."

The Post stated yesterday, "Obama has no connection to the case".

Related posts: Polar Bears and Public Spirit