Campaign '08

CHICAGO (CBS) ― Jury selection began Monday in the federal fraud trial of businessman Antoin "Tony" Rezko, a former fundraiser for Sen. Barack Obama who is charged with buying power and influence by bombarding Illinois political leaders with campaign money.

CBS station WBBM-TV reports that Rezko's federal trial will focus on allegations of corruption, but everyone will be listening for references to some of the biggest names in Illinois politics.

Politicians around the country are watching the trial because Rezko, a 52-year-old Chicago real estate developer, poured cash into Obama's campaigns when Obama was getting his political start.

Obama has sent some $85,000 in Rezko-related contributions to charity.

But Rezko pumped even more money into the campaigns of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and prosecutors say that's what touched off corruption. "Rezko parlayed his success in raising significant sums of money for Gov. Blagojevich into power," they said in court papers.

While Blagojevich has been accused of no wrongdoing, the case has put him in an embarrassing spotlight.

Rezko is charged with multiple corruption charges, including money laundering, attempted extortion, fraud and aiding bribery.

U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve was questioning potential jurors Monday, spending about five to seven minutes with each one, asking them cordial questions like what they watch on TV and career-related questions.

Federal prosecutors allege that the Syrian-born business tycoon ran in big power circles in Springfield because of all the money he's raised for Blagojevich.

Blagojevich has not been charged with wrongdoing. But two members of his inner circle are under indictment and U.S. District Judge Amy J. St. Eve has publicly outed the governor as the anonymous "Public Official A" who appears in court papers as a beneficiary of the alleged scheme.

The feds will try to prove that Rezko was at the top of a pay-to-play scenario, conducting illegal shakedowns and kickback schemes, in part to benefit the governor's campaign fund, in return for state jobs and other favors. 

WBBM-TV Legal Analyst Irv Miller said, "Primarily, it's about going against the governor, but don't forget Tony Rezko's accused of doing a lot of bad things; taking thousands and thousands of dollars out of what should be taxpayer money that went to his pockets, went to his buddies' pockets, and went into the political contribution funds of various political candidates. So, leaving Gov. Blagojevich aside, I think it's fair to go against Tony Rezko."

Among the dizzying array of unidentified "co-schemers" and "individuals" in the scam is Christopher Kelly, the governor's chief fundraiser who has been indicted on charges of filing false tax returns.

The government's star witness is expected to be Stuart Levine, who sat on several state boards and allegedly concocted the shakedown scheme with Rezko.

Rezko's attorneys will likely call Levine's credibility into question; they are expected to detail stories of Levine's extensive drug use.

Witnesses have already made it clear that Levine was a heavy drug user -- cocaine, marijuana, crystal methamphetamine and ketamine (Special K). Secretaries heard snorting sounds coming from his office and saw him with bloody tissues and blood dripping from his nostrils. A wiretap picked up Levine asking over the telephone if his caller got "the stuff."

"It's a lot of ammunition for the defense. But you have to keep in mind a lot of what Stuart Levine has to say is corroborated by other witnesses and it's, more importantly, corroborated by telephone calls that were recorded by the government," Miller said.

Miller says Rezko is just a means to an end for the feds; the end being the governor. "This is a way to get to the governor's office, whether it's the governor or other high-ranking officials, by using somebody who's on the inner circle and trying to get that person to talk and that's exactly what's going on with this case," Miller said.

Miller noted that federal prosecutors secured the conviction of former Gov. George Ryan by first prosecuting his former chief of staff, Scott Fawell, and getting him to cooperate against Ryan.

"I think the governor's biggest problem is not the fact that Stuart Levine is going to testify, but the question as to whether or not Tony Rezko will eventually testify, whether or not he will cut a deal like Scott Fawell did in the George Ryan case. That's the governor's biggest concern," Miller said.

Prosecutors say Levine once sat on a private plane with Blagojevich and was told by the governor: "You stick with us and you will do very well for yourself."

Levine was a member of both the two state boards involved in the Rezko case, each of which is empowered to make decisions involving hundreds of millions of dollars.

The Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board's permission is needed for any construction involving hospitals. The Teachers Retirement System is the $30 billion nest egg that pays the pensions of thousands of retired teachers.

Prosecutors say the scheme got under way five years ago when Rezko, with the help of Levine, pocketed $250,000 -- the bulk of a finder's fee paid by a firm that received $50 million to invest for the pension fund.

Before it was over, they say, Rezko and Levine were plotting to shake down seven such firms, including one allegedly told it had to pay a mysterious consultant $50,000 and fax the signed contract to a sun-splashed Caribbean tax haven by the end of the day -- or lose the deal.

Hollywood producer Thomas Rosenberg was allegedly told that he had to make a $2 million payoff or a $1.5 million contribution to "Public Official A's" campaign fund or his Capri Capital firm would be frozen out.

Rosenberg balked, prosecutors say, and the schemers backed off.

Asked what kind of jurors the two sides will be looking for, Miller said, "The government is looking for jurors that are fed up with the system, that are tired of reading everyday about corruption, reading everyday about budgetary problems, about corrupt politicians doing this on a daily basis."

"The defense is looking for people who will be able to look a witness in the eye and say 'Hey, is that guy telling the truth? Is Stuart Levine telling the truth?' They're looking more for that type of person than the usual scenario of 'Is he a Democrat or Republican?' I don't think that makes a difference. Blue collar or white collar, I don't think that makes any difference. Are they fed up with the government? That's what both sides are looking at as far as the jury in this case," Miller added.

Rezko's Fundraising Fueled His Rise To Governor's Inner Circle

Prosecutors say Rezko got power in state government because he "raised hundreds of thousands of dollars" for Blagojevich.

Judge St. Eve recently revealed in court that Blagojevich is the "Public Official A" to whom prosecutors in the Rezko case have referred, and who allegedly benefited from corrupt schemes involving state jobs and pension fund investments.

Blagojevich has declined to discuss the issues and has denied that he is "Public Official A."

Rezko also once raised thousands of dollars for Obama's campaign for the U.S. Senate. Rezko has not raised any money for Obama's campaign for president and Obama's campaign has donated to charity the money Rezko raised for his Senate campaign.

Obama, a former state lawmaker now in his first term in the U.S. Senate, once backed a proposal to grant public money to a company formed by Rezko, and the purchase of his home got tangled up with Rezko -- something he called a "boneheaded" mistake.

While Obama's name may come up during testimony, the focus of the case is alleged corruption on two state boards appointed by former Gov. George Ryan, a Republican, and subsequently by Blagojevich.

Rezko has resolutely insisted that he will not plead guilty and make a deal with prosecutors to tell whatever he might now about state politics.

Prosecutors would plainly like to have a friendly talk with him.

"A lot of Illinois politicians would like to shoot him out of the sky the way they shot down that satellite recently," Roosevelt University political scientist Paul Green said. "Because Tony Rezko knows a lot. He really knows a lot."

Rezko has little to look forward to. Even if he escapes a long sentence in this case, he faces another court ordeal. He is charged separately with swindling the General Electrical Capital Corp. out of $10 million in the sale of a chain of pizza parlors.

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)