Obama claims that his administration would be “open” and “transparent.” To prove the point, his campaign released e-mails his Senate office exchanged with U.S. officials on behalf of a man imprisoned in Iraq. The intervention had the potential to cause trouble for Obama because the man, Aiham Al-Sammarae, was a business associate of Antoin (Tony) Rezko, the political fund-raiser now on trial for corruption in Chicago. Obama has taken heat for his murky relationship with Rezko, a political fixer who had a part in Obama’s purchase of a house. (Obama now calls that transaction “boneheaded” and says he has given Rezko-related campaign donations to charity.) Conservative bloggers have played up the Al-Sammarae connection as a key to the Rezko story. Despite requests from NEWSWEEK, the Obama camp initially declined to release the e-mails. Late last week they did, and the e-mail exchange appears routine.
On Oct. 16, 2006, Obama’s Senate office received a faxed plea from Al-Sammarae’s son. A onetime Iraqi exile, Al-Sammarae returned to Iraq after Saddam’s fall to serve as Iraq’s Electricity minister but was sentenced to two years in prison for corruption. Al-Sammarae’s son claimed in the fax that his father was railroaded for exposing Iraqi government incompetence, and feared his life was in danger in prison. (Neither Al-Sammarae nor his family responded to requests for comment.) Obama’s office sent an inquiry to the U.S. consul in Iraq expressing the Al-Sammarae family’s concern and requesting “an update on the status of this case.” The consul responded with an e-mail explaining that the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad had monitored the case to ensure that Al-Sammarae was “being treated in a humane manner.” Obama spokesman Bill Burton says the inquiry about Al-Sammarae “was based on a request from a constituent.” Obama’s office marked the file “no further action.” Al-Sammarae escaped from prison and reportedly headed back to Chicago.
