Alexi the Greek Draft Dodger vs. Kirk New Chicago Jewish Endorsements

Let's just stipulate Alexi the Greek draft dodger is a fair-weather friend. He ducked debates downstate, he ducked a forum on Israel, he stiffs the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.

And what about his bank's loans (in red with Alexi as senior loan officer) to Nadhmi Auchi? Nobody's talking about that now, are they. Why the hell not?! (more on Auchi below)

Nadhmi Auchi

Name Amount Date

Riverside District Development LLC $22,750,000 2/14/2006

Broadway Bank Total: $22,750,000

Alexi Giannoulias Total: $22,750,000

You can't trust Alexi when it counts.

And it's not just dirty politics, it's that he's an habitual liar--and he makes inexcusably irresponsible statements.

From Kirk for Senate, two more key endorsements:

For U.S. Senator: Kirk

Chicago Jewish Star

When the campaign for U.S. Senate began, it was easy to be initially enthusiastic about the candidacy of Mark Kirk. A moderate Republican, we have long respected his independence, his work in congress, and his strong support for Israel…

…On the other hand, there is not much in the record of Alexi Giannoulias to make us prefer the unproven to the proven. Mr. Giannoulias’ well-known, cloudy activities at his family’s Broadway Bank, and his apparent lock-step thinking with President Obama and Democratic policies, are not what we believe Illinois or the country need at this time…

… [Kirk’s] record and his approach to issues is sound. We support Kirk…

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ICYMI: Jewish Chicago Endorses Kirk for Senate

“…Giannoulias was the chief loan officer who approved large loans to alleged members of Chicago organized crime. Given how thoroughly banks investigate any loan, let alone a large one, there is no way he didn’t know what he was doing.”

***

“To his credit, Kirk has a terrific record on Israel and the Middle East and has shown repeatedly he is a true friend of Israel.”

***

“ Jewish Chicago strongly endorses Cong. Mark Kirk for election to the United States Senate.”

Who is Nadhmi Auchi?

Giannoulias Dodges Simple Question about Bank Loan to Nadhmi Auchi

Watch Alexi on Fox Chicago last night

Reporter: “Is it true or not true about the bank loaning money to him?”

Giannoulias: “Come on, again, that’s political smokescreens, trying to link me to Saddam Hussein. It’s a Washington, DC guilt by association game.”

But Broadway Bank did loan money to Nadhmi Auchi: “On Feb. 14, 2006, newly obtained records show, the bank made a $22.75 million loan to a company called Riverside District Development LLC, whose owners, it turns out, included Rezko… Rezko's lawyers said his main partner in Riverside was General Mediterranean Holding, a Luxembourg company controlled by Iraq-born billionaire Nadhmi Auchi.” (Chicago Sun-Times, 8/2/10)

Get the Facts about Nadhmi Auchi:

• In 1996, Belgium's Ambassador to Luxembourg claimed that the Banque Continentale du Luxembourg, which was jointly controlled by Auchi and BNP Paribas until 1994, had handled the personal bank accounts of Saddam Hussein. (“Iraqi-Born Billionaire Has Stake in Bank That Holds Oil-for-Food Funds,” New York Times, April 30, 2003)

• In 1993, Pierfrancesco Battaglia, an Italian banker, swore in a statement that Auchi had bribed members of the Hussein government in order to secure the rights to build an oil pipeline from Iraq to Saudi Arabia. (“Iraqi-Born Billionaire Has Stake in Bank That Holds Oil-for-Food Funds,” New York Times, April 30, 2003) For this service, Auchi was paid "millions of dollars" in commissions, according to Battaglia. (“A tycoon, a Minister and Interpol,” The Observer, May 27, 2001) Battaglia called Auchi "one of the most important intermediaries in the affairs of Middle Eastern countries." (“Iraqi-Born Billionaire Has Big Stake in Bank That Holds Baghdad's Oil-for-Food Funds,” New York Times, April 30, 2003)

• In 1980, Auchi was the middleman in a billion dollar sale of Italian naval warships to Saddam Hussein's Iraq. Auchi received a $23 million commission on the sale. (“A tycoon, a Minister and Interpol,” The Observer, May 27, 2001)

• Auchi is barred from entering the United States and is deemed an undesirable alien by the State Department. (“Miracle in Philadelphia?,” New York Sun, April 16, 2008) Rezko attempted to intercede on Auchi's behalf in November of 2005. According to federal prosecutors, "Rezko directly appealed to the State Department and, it appears, asked certain Illinois government officials to do the same." (“Mysterious London-based billionaire in the background at political fundraiser Tony Rezko's trial,” Associated Press, April 14, 2008) He was ultimately unsuccessful. (“Obama's name in Rezko trial,” Sun Times, April 15, 2008

• In 2003, Nadhmi Auchi was convicted in France on counts of fraud and bribery in connection to the Elf Aquitane scandal. Executives of Elf-Aquitane, a French state-owned oil company, were found to have looted the company for hundreds of millions of dollars. (“Elf trial reveals moral vacuum,” BBC News, April 24, 2003)