Documents Uncovered by Judicial Watch Shed Light on Barack and Michelle Obama’s Chicago Connections

Obama served as Chairman of the Annenberg Challenge, a school program designed by William Ayers, a known domestic terrorist, for eight years (1995-2002). The documents include a fundraising letter signed by Obama requesting a $22,500 grant noting, “we [meaning the Annenberg Challenge] are launched.” Ayers is reported to have been the power running this group and Obama needs to better explain his contacts with him.

Documents showing Barack Obama supported a housing development project known as Cottage View Terrace, which yielded $900,000 in developers’ fees for convicted felon Antoin “Tony” Rezko and Obama’s employer, lawyer Allison Davis. Rezko, who was involved in Obama’s home purchase, was recently convicted on 16 counts of fraud and money laundering, has personally donated at least $21,000 to Obama’s campaigns, and raised over two hundred thousand dollars in additional support.

Documents that raise questions about Michelle Obama and the Rezko land deal as well. One document that lists the number of community institutions involved with the Cottage View Terrace project includes The University of Chicago. In 1998, Michelle Obama was working for the University of Chicago as Associate Dean of Student Services. She was also in charge of developing the University’s Community Service Center. The University wrote three letters in which it “enthusiastically supports” the project.

Other documents we found show that another close associate of Obama, Valerie Jarrett, whom CBS News once called “the other side of Barack Obama’s brain,” is also connected to Rezko. She served on the Board of Directors for the Fund for Community Redevelopment and Revitalization, an organization that worked with Rezko and Davis, and also voiced her support for other Rezko projects.