Giannoulias: I Can't Believe my Mentor is President of the United States!

"Illinois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias is pushing a plan for the legislature to formally congratulate President-elect Barack Obama with a resolution that recognizes the “indelible mark” Obama has left on Illinois and throughout the world...

"Giannoulias, who has known Obama for about 10 years, played basketball with the candidate on Election Day and was backstage at the rally in Chicago’s Grant Park when the news came that Obama had won.

“I was totally overcome with emotion. I tried not to, but I started crying,” Giannoulias said.

“I just couldn’t believe that my mentor was now president of the United States of America. I was just full of pride for this country and full of excitement for the future".”
The State Journal Register - Nov 12, 2008

"A man who has long been dogged by charges that the bank his family owns helped finance a Chicago crime figure will host a Windy City fund-raiser tonight for Sen. Barack Obama.

"Alexi Giannoulias, who became Illinois state treasurer last year after Obama vouched for him, has pledged to raise $100,000 for the senator's Oval Office bid.

"Before he promised to raise funds for Obama, Giannoulias bankrolled Michael "Jaws" Giorango, a Chicagoan twice convicted of bookmaking and promoting prostitution.

"Giannoulias is so tainted by reputed mob links that several top Illinois Dems, including the state's speaker of the House and party chairman, refused to endorse him even after he won the Democratic nomination with Obama's help."
New York Post - Sept. 5 2007

“I just couldn’t believe that my mentor was now president of the United States of America......"