.
Why is this important?
.
Back in the 1990s, Mr. Rezko's office was adorned with framed photos of candidates he viewed as up-and-comers. Among them was Barack Obama,a state legislator whose first campaign donations included $2,000 from Mr. Rezko's companies. As Mr. Obama built a career that carried him to the Senate in 2004, Mr. Rezko was there with him, holding fund-raisers and rallying support.
.
In 2007, Mr. Rezko was indicted on federal charges of business fraud and influence peddling involving the administration of Gov. Rod R.Blagojevich of Illinois, whose picture was also on Mr. Rezko's wall. Since then, Mr. Obama, a Democrat, has had to answer questions
about a land deal with Mr. Rezko's wife, Rita, and about other ties to him.
about a land deal with Mr. Rezko's wife, Rita, and about other ties to him.
.
Since early June 2007, Mr. Obama has given to charity more than $21,000 in donations that his Senate campaign had received from Rezko associates now linked to the federal inquiries. He gave away $11,500 from Mr.Rezko himself last fall.
.
Mr. Obama has said that he never did any favors for Mr. Rezko, who raised about$150,000 for his campaigns over the years and was once one of the most powerful men in Illinois.
Mr. Obama turned to Mr. Rezko for help at several important junctures.Records show that when Mr. Obama needed cash in the waning days of his losing 2000 Congressional campaign, Mr. Rezko rounded up thousands of dollars from business contacts. In 2003, Mr. Rezko helped Mr. Obama expand his fund-raising for the Senate primary by being host of a dinner at his Mediterranean-style home for 150 people, including some whose names have since come up in the influence scandal.
.
And when Mr. Obama and his wife, Michelle, bought a house in 2005, Mr.Rezko stepped in again. Even though his finances were deteriorating,Mr. Rezko arranged for his wife to buy an adjacent lot, and she later sold the Obamas a 10-foot-wide strip of land that expanded their yard.
