Clinton aide hits Rezko-Obama link

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Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign questioned her rival's ties to a Chicago developer whose federal corruption trial begins this week, prompting Sen. Barack Obama's campaign to make its most direct reference to the Whitewater scandal that plagued the Clintons in the 1990s.

Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson, appearing yesterday with Obama adviser David Axelrod on ABC's "This Week," demanded that the senator from Illinois release any records related to his dealings with Tony Rezko.

Mr. Wolfson challenged Mr. Axelrod to "put out all of the information regarding that real estate transaction, all of the e-mails, all of the correspondence, all of the letters, every single piece of information so that the public can really look at this."

Mr. Wolfson demanded answers to how many meetings Mr. Obama attended with Rezko associates and the "full details" of the senator's 2005 home purchase, which he called "this very unusual real estate transaction with somebody who's about to go on trial on Monday."

"With all due respect, I would think that the Clinton campaign would be the last person to be wanting to characterize any real estate transaction as unusual," Mr. Axelrod retorted, apparently referring to Whitewater.

Mr. Axelrod said 255 news stories, including an Associated Press analysis, about the Rezko-Obama connection have been released, and "there has been not one bit of evidence of any wrongdoing on the part of Senator Obama in this or any other matter."

"All these questions have been asked. All these questions have been answered," he said, accusing Mr. Wolfson of turning the dialogue negative in an attempt to salvage the campaign of the senator from New York.

The Obama campaign has not been as forthcoming with information as Mr. Axelrod suggested. The campaign told reporters last month that the senator toured his South Side home in 2005 with Mr. Rezko, who was his friend at the time. Mr. Obama received a discount for purchasing the home, and Mr. Rezko bought the lot next door.

The Chicago Tribune reported that the two men "entered a series of personal financial arrangements to redivide and improve the lots."

"Senator Obama was buying this house, and he wanted ... Rezko's opinion on whether ... it was a good deal," Mr. Axelrod said yesterday.