#rsrh Giannoulias bank lent to Rezko.

Before we go any further, let us never forget: Alexi Giannoulias (D CAND, IL-SEN) made his political career all about his experience in working in his family’s bank.

So it’s kind of fascinating to hear the state treasurer of Illinois claim he knows nothing, nothing! about the almost twenty-three million dollars that his family bank lent a notorious Blagojevich crony who was under federal investigation at the time.

Through a spokeswoman, Giannoulias says he knew nothing about the $22.75 million loan to Riverside District Development until reporters contacted him.

“Alexi left daily operations of the bank in September of 2005, months before this loan was made,” says Kathleen Strand of his campaign staff. “He had no knowledge of it, and his name is not on any documents related to the loan…

The bolding is mine, because there’s a crucial point here that has to be addressed. You seek, Tony Rezko had successfully gone to Broadway Bank before for a loan involving a condo development. A bad loan: one that had been bad when Broadway Bank entered into the new loan in February 2006. Even though Giannoulias left the bank the previous year, he was still a stakeholder in it – so why didn’t Alexi know about the loan until reporters contacted him?  Shouldn’t he have been told about it when the loan was proposed?  Shouldn’t he have been told about it when the property associated with the first loan was sold in Bankruptcy Court in July of 2006?  Shouldn’t he have been told about it, oh, at any time in the last four years, once it became clear that Tony Rezko was involved in a large number of activities that might adversely affect the bank that Alexi Giannoulias was involved in?

I mean, seriously: “Giannoulias says he knew nothing about the $22.75 million loan to Riverside District Development until reporters contacted him”?  Is the man really trying to suggest that a business that he partially owned did not do due diligence* on its operations?  Or that if they did, but they kept a stakeholder out of the loop?

Riiiiiiiiiight.

Moe Lane

PS: Mark Kirk for Senate.  Fingers not in ears, mouth not saying “lalala.”

*Insert knife chord here.