Republican National Committee Release - 06 13 2007 Research

June 13, 2007

YOU’VE GOT MAIL Obama Wrote Letters On Behalf Of Disgraced Political Patron Despite Claiming He Had “Never Done Any Favors For Him” __________________________________________________________

Today’s Chicago Sun-Times Reports That Obama Provided Political Favors To Tony Rezko: “As A State Senator, Barack Obama Wrote Letters To City And State Officials Supporting His Political Patron Tony Rezko’s Successful Bid To Get More Than $14 Million From Taxpayers To Build Apartments For Senior Citizens.” (Tim Novak, “Obama’s Letters For Rezko,” Chicago Sun-Times, 6/13/07)

The Letters Show That Obama Did Do A Political Favor For Rezko Who Was Indicted On Federal Charges Last Fall. “Obama’s letters, written nearly nine years ago, for the first time show the Democratic presidential hopeful did a political favor for Rezko -- a longtime friend, campaign fund-raiser and client of the law firm where Obama worked -- who was indicted last fall on federal charges that accuse him of demanding kickbacks from companies seeking state business under Gov. Blagojevich.” (Tim Novak, “Obama’s Letters For Rezko,” Chicago Sun-Times, 6/13/07)

Last Year, Obama Said He Had “Never Done Any Favors For Him”: “The Letters Appear To Contradict A Statement Last December From Obama, Who Told The Chicago Tribune That, In All The Years He’s Known Rezko, ‘I’ve Never Done Any Favors For Him.’” (Tim Novak, “Obama’s Letters For Rezko,” Chicago SunTimes, 6/13/07)

NOTE: Obama Gave The Son Of A Rezko Business Associate An Internship In His Senate Office. “In addition to a land deal, Sen. Barack Obama’s ties to indicted dealmaker Antoin ‘Tony’ Rezko include an internship the Senator provided the son of a contributor at the request of Rezko, an Obama spokesman confirmed ...” (Frank Main, “Internship Also Links Obama, Rezko,” Chicago Sun-Times, 12/24/06)

PAST OBAMA EXAGGERATIONS In The Past, Obama Has Had “A Penchant For Exaggeration”: “Obama Also Sometimes Appears Tired And Testy And Has A Penchant For Exaggeration.” (Albert R. Hunt, “Baptism Of Fire Shows Obama Can Take The Heat,” Bloomberg, 5/27/07)

The Washington Post’s Richard Cohen: “This Tendency To Manipulate Facts May Bear Watching In Obama. (After All, We Hardly Know Him.)” (Richard Cohen, Op-Ed, “Obama’s Back Story,” The Washington Post, 3/27/07) Obama “Has Also Shown A Tendency Toward Seemingly Minor Contradictions And Rhetorical Slips That Serve As Reminders That He Is Still A Newcomer To National Politics.” (Mike Allen, “Rookie Mistakes Plague Obama,” The Politico, 3/27/07) Exaggeration: Obama Was A Constitutional Law Professor: At A Recent Fundraiser, Obama Claimed He Was A “Constitutional Law Professor.” “‘I was a constitutional law professor, which means unlike the current president I actually respect the Constitution,’ Obama told an audience at a campaign fundraiser.” (Brendan Farrington, “Obama: Bush Fails To Respect The Constitution,” The Associated Press, 3/30/07) •

On The University Of Chicago Law School Website, Obama Is Listed As A “Senior Lecturer In Law (On Leave Of Absence).” (University Of Chicago Law School Website, http://www.law.uchicago.edu/faculty/obama, Accessed 3/30/07) Paid for by the Republican National Committee. 310 First Street SE - Washington, D.C. 20003 – (202) 863-8500 - www.gop.com Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.

Exaggeration: Obama’s Parents “Got Together” Because Of The 1965 Selma March: In His Selma Speech, Obama Said His Parents “Got Together” And He Was Born As A Result Of The Selma March. Obama: “Because some folks were willing to march across a bridge. So they got together and Barack Obama, Jr. was born. So don’t tell me I don’t have a claim on Selma, Alabama.” (Senator Barack Obama, Remarks At Brown Chapel AME Church, Selma, AL, 3/4/07) •

“Earlier In The Day At A Prayer Breakfast, The Illinois Democrat Said: ‘If It Hadn’t Been For Selma, I Wouldn’t Be Here.’” (Anne E. Kornblut and Peter Whoriskey, “Clinton, Obama Link Selma March To Present,” The Washington Post, 3/5/07)

But Obama Was Born In 1961, 4 YEARS BEFORE The 1965 Selma March. “Barack Obama was born in Hawaii on August 4th, 1961.” (Obama For America Website, www.barackobama.com, Accessed 3/6/07; Anne E. Kornblut and Peter Whoriskey, “Clinton, Obama Link Selma March To Present,” The Washington Post, 3/5/07)

Exaggeration: Obama Mistakenly Received A Letter From A Company In Which He Owned Stock: "[O]bama Revealed That He Terminated A ‘Quasi-Blind’ Trust He Created For The Stock Purchases -- Called The ‘Freedom Trust’ -- After Realizing That It Wasn’t Blind After All." (Lynn Sweet, "Stock Answers," Chicago Sun-Times, 3/8/07) •

“Obama Said At Some Point In Fall 2005 He Got A Stockholder Letter. He Said He Believes It Was From AVI Or Skyterra, But He Couldn’t Remember Which Company.” (Nedra Pickler, “Obama Unaware Of Investment Conflicts,” The Associated Press, 3/7/07)

But, According To SEC Records, SkyTerra Did Not Send Investors Its SEC Proxy Forms In Fall 2005. “The origin of the shareholder update Obama referred to remains unclear. SkyTerra, like many public companies, sends investors copies of its Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proxy forms, also known as 14As, but none were issued during the fall of 2005, according to SEC records.” (Elana Schor, “2008 And Counting: Sen. Obama Pivots After Bad Press,” The Hill, 3/8/07) AVI Investor-Relations Director: “It Doesn’t Sound Like Anything We Would Have Sent Out.” “AVI generally sends mailings to shareholders or institutional investors that proactively request them or sign up for e-mail lists, said Michael Hubbard, AVI’s investor-relations director. ‘It doesn’t sound like anything we would have sent out,’ Hubbard said.” (Elana Schor, “2008 And Counting: Sen. Obama Pivots After Bad Press,” The Hill, 3/8/07)

Exaggeration: Seeing A Photograph In Life Or Ebony Magazine Changed Obama’s Life: The Life Magazine Article And Photograph Obama Discusses “Doesn’t Exist.” “Then there’s the copy of Life magazine that Obama presents as his racial awakening at age 9. In it, he wrote, was an article and two accompanying photographs of an African-American man physically and mentally scarred by his efforts to lighten his skin. In fact, the Life article and the photographs don’t exist, say the magazine’s own historians.” (Kirsten Scharnberg and Kim Barker, “The Not-So-Simple Story Of Barack Obama’s Youth,” Chicago Tribune, 3/25/07)

Obama Volunteered It May Have Been Ebony Magazine, But No Such Ebony Article Matched Obama’s Description. “When asked about the discrepancy, Obama said in a recent interview, ‘It might have been an Ebony or it might have been ... who knows what it was?’ (At the request of the Tribune, archivists at Ebony searched their catalogue of past articles, none of which matched what Obama recalled.)” (Kirsten Scharnberg and Kim Barker, “The Not-So-Simple Story Of Barack Obama’s Youth,” Chicago Tribune, 3/25/07)

Exaggeration: Obama Had A “Strategy” With Fellow Illinois State Senate Democrats To Vote “Present” On Controversial Legislation: Obama Claimed He “Worked Out An Arrangement” With Fellow Democrats In The State Senate To Vote “Present” On Controversial Legislation. “Obama said he sought compromise with abortion opponents, but they balked. As a fallback, he said he worked out an arrangement with abortion-rights advocates to encourage Democrats to vote ‘present’ on some bills if they feared a ‘no’ would look insensitive and endanger their re-election.” (Rick Pearson and Ray Long, “Careful Steps, Looking Ahead,” Chicago Tribune, 5/3/07) 2 Paid for by the Republican National Committee. 310 First Street SE - Washington, D.C. 20003 – (202) 863-8500 - www.gop.com Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.

“But Few Of The Other [Illinois Senate] Democrats Who Voted ‘Present’ On Abortion Bills Recall Such A Strategy.” (Rick Pearson and Ray Long, “Careful Steps, Looking Ahead,” Chicago Tribune, 5/3/07)

Exaggeration: Obama’s Campaign Claimed His High School Friend Tried To Extort Money From Them: “According To The Obama Campaign, [Obama’s Punahou Classmate Keith] Kakugawa Explicitly Raised The Possibility That He Could Make Up False Stories About Obama, Implying He Would Do So If The Campaign Did Not Give Him Money.” (Maurice Possley, Kirsten Scharnberg and Ray Gibson, “An Old Friend’s Troublesome Return,” Chicago Tribune, 3/25/07) Kakugawa Was “Infuriated” By The Charge And Flatly Denied It. “That allegation infuriated Kakugawa, prompting him to speak to the Tribune after repeatedly refusing to do so. ‘You must understand, I am not an extortionist,’ he said in a telephone interview from Los Angeles, where he is living out of a car with an acquaintance after being released from a California prison on March 10. ‘Listen, I’m homeless. ... I ask everyone I know for money.’” (Maurice Possley, et al, “An Old Friend’s Troublesome Return,” Chicago Tribune, 3/25/07)

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“Kakugawa Wouldn’t Discuss His School Days With Obama Other Than To Say He Considered The Senator ‘A Brother’ And ‘Wouldn’t Do A Damn Thing To Ever Hurt His Campaign.’” (Maurice Possley, et al, “An Old Friend’s Troublesome Return,” Chicago Tribune, 3/25/07)

Exaggeration: Obama Had Heated Discussions With A High School Friend Named “Ray” About Racial Issues: Although Obama Recounts “Heated Conversations About Racism” With A Character He Calls “Ray,” The Real “Ray” Says It Never Happened. “In his best-selling autobiography, ‘Dreams from My Father,’ Obama describes having heated conversations about racism with another black student, ‘Ray.’ The real Ray, Keith Kakugawa . . . said he does recall long, soulful talks with the young Obama and that his friend confided his longing and loneliness. But those talks, Kakugawa said, were not about race. ‘Not even close’ …” (Kirsten Scharnberg and Kim Barker, “The Not-So-Simple Story Of Barack Obama’s Youth,” Chicago Tribune, 3/25/07)

Obama Did Not Participate In Discussions On Race With His Fellow Black Classmates In High School. “The handful of black students who attended Punahou School in Hawaii, for instance, say they struggled mightily with issues of race and racism there. But absent from those discussions, they say, was another student then known as Barry Obama.” (Kirsten Scharnberg and Kim Barker, “The Not-So-Simple Story Of Barack Obama’s Youth,” Chicago Tribune, 3/25/07)

3 Paid for by the Republican National Committee. 310 First Street SE - Washington, D.C. 20003 – (202) 863-8500 - www.gop.com Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.