An event Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) headlined last week has prompted head-scratching among Illinois ethics experts and drawn sharp rebuke from Republicans because one of the main organizers participated in Antoin “Tony” Rezko’s old fundraising network.

John W. Rogers Jr., the chairman of Ariel Investments who gave $22,500 in contributions to Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) through Rezko, hosted a top-dollar special reception with Obama Thursday to raise money for the Democratic White House Victory Fund.

Rogers gave contributions of $10,000, $7,500 and $5,000 to Blagojevich through Rezko, according to a chart of contributions the Department of Justice (DoJ) presented as part of its case.

In an interview on Tuesday, Rogers said he never had a one-on-one meeting with Rezko and did not know why his name appeared on the Rezko donation chart compiled by the DoJ.

“I have no relationship with Tony Rezko,” he said. Rogers, who describes himself as a big Democratic supporter, said he had often “run into” Rezko at political and public events but added: “I’ve never been to his office, I’ve never been to his home, I’ve never talked to him about my business.”

Nevertheless, Rogers’s link to Rezko in federal evidence poses problems for Obama.

Kent Redfield, an ethics expert and political science professor at the University of Illinois, said Obama is taking a political risk by letting Rogers play a prominent role in raising money for his race.

Redfield said Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) presidential campaign officials and other Republicans would attempt to use Rezko’s former fundraising associates against Obama.

“From Obama’s standpoint, he’s got to bend over backwards to avoid the appearance that he is just another Chicago politician that’s connected to the underbelly of corruption in Illinois politics,” said Redfield, who also runs the Sunshine Project, a campaign finance research project. “If I were advising him, I would tell him, ‘You have to be very careful to avoid situations where people will be tempted to connect the dots.’ ”

Obama’s wife, Michelle, met Rogers at Princeton University and has known him for years.

“The Obamas have known John Rogers for years — Rezko has never been responsible for a dime of Rogers’s contributions to the Obama campaign,” said Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt.

Rogers said he gives money to Democratic causes to “help those who are less fortunate,” referring to Democratic policies intended to help the poor and working class.

“We’re known for social[ly] responsible investing,” said Rogers. “We teach kids about saving and investing. We’re committed to helping those less fortunate in society.”

Obama has set a high ethical standard for his campaign. In recent weeks has repeatedly raised the ante in his contest with McCain over who is the reform candidate.

After clinching the nomination, Obama directed the Democratic National Committee to eschew contributions from lobbyists and political action committees. He pushed James Johnson to resign from his vice presidential selection team after Johnson garnered criticism for receiving special mortgages deals and serving on corporate compensation committees.

Rogers’s involvement with Rezko has drawn scrutiny because Rogers had hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of business with the Illinois Teacher Retirement System.

Federal prosecutors accused Rezko of using his ties to Blagojevich to improperly influence a state board that handled a $40 billion pension fund for Illinois teachers.

Mellody Hobson, Ariel’s president, said the Illinois teachers’ fund hired the firm to manage a $100 million account before Blagojevich took office. The account grew dramatically in the following years.

Ariel managed $462 million worth of the pension fund’s assets by July of 2005.

Hobson said Ariel has experience working with public pension funds. She said the firm manages a $673 million account for the California State Teachers Retirement System.

Jay Stewart, executive director of the Chicago Better Government Association, said it might be wiser of Obama to keep his distance from the Chicago political finance scene, especially in light of his record-breaking fundraising this year.  

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.). Photo by Benjamin J. Myers

Rogers’s fundraising role for Obama has also attracted criticism because Rogers gave money to the governor through Rezko at a time when Ariel had a significant business interest with the state and Rezko was found to be influencing state contracts.

There is no direct evidence, however, that Ariel received a greater share of the state’s business because of Rogers’s political giving.

The fund ended its relationship with Ariel in 2006 after the federal investigation of Rezko became public. Rogers said the fund decided to do so because of poor performance numbers.

Stewart said many business executives with state contracts gave thousands to politicians who controlled those contracts.

“He’s one of many who had state contracts who gave money,” said Stewart. “Rogers is a player in the Illinois political system, which has been plagued by pay-to-play.”

But Stewart said it was hard to know whether Rogers gave money to secure state business or whether Rezko targeted Rogers for a political contribution because of his business ties.

Cynthia Canary, director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, said Rogers is part of a new generation of African-American business leaders in Chicago. She said Rogers’s donation to Blagojevich is not surprising but questioned why he gave through Rezko.

“I think that’s very odd,” she said of Rezko’s role as an intermediary between Rogers and Blagojevich. “I don’t know why he gave that way, and it raises questions in my mind.”

Redfield, of the University of Illinois, predicted Republicans would pounce on the links between Rogers, Rezko and Obama.

“One of the ways they’re going to try to define Obama is they’re going to say, ‘While you hear the rhetoric of change, his campaign is Chicago politics as usual.’ ”

A Republican National Committee (RNC) spokesman said Obama remains tied to the political network in which Rezko once thrived.

“While Barack Obama claims to have distanced himself from Tony Rezko and his associates, it is clearly not the case,” said RNC spokesman Danny Diaz. “This is yet another example of the audacious hypocrisy the Obama campaign is engaged in.

“Obama was involved in a sweetheart deal with Rezko and it appears his fundraising buddies are now raising money for Obama’s campaign,” said Diaz. “Obama continues to prove he does not have the leadership qualities to serve as president.”

Obama’s spokesman fired back, raising questions about a GOP operative who made millions in what a Chicago Tribune columnist characterized as “questionable fees” through investments of Illinois state pension funds.

“While the RNC is launching baseless and long-ago-discredited attacks against Obama, it is remaining silent on the question of whether Bob Kjellander will remain on the committee of the Republican National Convention and a member of the RNC,” said LaBolt.