Obama grant being investigated
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan is investigating a $100,000 state grant from then State Senator Barack Obama for a botanic garden in Englewood.
A $100,000 state grant for a botanic garden in Englewood that then-state Sen. Barack Obama awarded in 2001 to a group headed by a onetime campaign volunteer is now under investigation by the Illinois attorney general amid new questions, prompted by Chicago Sun-Times reports, about whether the money might have been misspent.
The garden was never built. And now state records obtained by the Sun-Times show $65,000 of the grant money went to the wife of Kenny B. Smith, the Obama 2000 congressional campaign volunteer who heads the Chicago Better Housing Association, which was in charge of the project for the blighted South Side neighborhood.
Even though Obama is not under investigation in this probe, this is just one more indication of how he operates. Pet projects Earmarks are given to campaign contributors. Here are more of Obama’s earmarks.
The list included $1 million for a hospital where Mr. Obama’s wife works, money for several projects linked to campaign donors and support for more than 200 towns, civic institutions and universities in Illinois.
