Rezko Deal Violates Ethics Rules Says Conservative Group

Amanda Carpenter | October 30, 2008 11:52 AM

The American Conservative Union has filed a formal complaint with the Senate Ethics Committee over the land Barack Obama purchased at a discount from convicted felon Tony Rezko.

The ACU believes the transaction violates the Senate's ban on gifts.

ACU Chairman David Keene wrote, "sufficient information exists to demonstrate that Senator Obama solicited, received, and accepted a gift greater than $50 from Mr. and Mrs. Rezko, and Senator Obama failed to disclose this gift."

The ACU's full letter is available HERE in PDF format.

"The Obama-Rezko relationship has not been one-sided in terms of favors, and on a number of occasions Senator Obama has acted in a way that could reasonably be construed as favors for Mr. Rezko or his interests," the complaint said. " In 1998, as an Illinois state senator, Obama wrote multiple letters on official letterhead supporting Mr. Rezko’s bid to receive $14 million of taxpayer money to fund the development of an apartment building.Throughout his state legislative career, Senator Obama supported a policy of providing taxpayer dollars to private developers of low-income housing, like Mr. Rezko. More specifically, Senator Obama was the sponsor or co-sponsor of at least eight bills in the Illinois State Legislature that could have benefited Mr. Rezko’s development efforts through public financing."