More McHenry County Blog

Bill Cellini-Stuart Levine Phone Conversation May 8, 2004

DATE: 5/8/04
TIME: 4:43 p.m.
ACTIVITY: Home Telephone 1 incoming from (217) 546-5580
CALL#: 754
SPEAKERS:
LEVINE: Stuart Levine
CELLINI: Bill Cellini
* * * *
1 LEVINE Hello.
2 CELLINI Stuart?
3 LEVINE Hi Bill.
4 CELLINI You in the middle of somethin'?
5 LEVINE No.
6 CELLINI Uh, just talked to Tommy.
7 LEVINE Mm hm.
8 CELLINI Uh, very interesting. And I don't know
9 what we, how, how it's handled here. I,
10 I uh, acted like I was an innocent uh,
11 uh, know nothing uh, guy on the sideline
12 who was worried that this maneuver may
13 be harmful to me and what I was doing.
14 LEVINE Mm hm. Mm hm.
15 CELLINI Uh, he said well I got to the bottom of
16 it. He said, that asshole Allison
17 Davis.
18 LEVINE That's the guy you thought it was.
19 CELLINI That's who I thought it was.
20 LEVINE Mm hm.
21 CELLINI He said who is, is one of their
22 appointees I thought he said on the
23 State uh, pension system.
2
1 LEVINE Mm hm.
2 CELLINI He said uh, was asked by them who are
3 some people that they can raise some
4 funds for this June event uh, from the
5 various pension systems. And he said
6 and Allison then mentioned uh, uh, Tom.
7 And he said you know I wouldn't go to
8 those guys. Those two they are, I mean
9 he was, I mean and the more he talked
10 the more uh, angry he got. He would, he
11 said I don't have a problem they have a
12 real problem. I'm outraged. I'll take
13 them down. They've been advertising
14 themselves as fixers and they're known
15 by the G as what they're doin'. I
16 wouldn't have any association with these
17 guys...they got 48 hours if they're
18 going to do this to me and think they're
19 gonna blackmail me...I'll take 'em down.
20 He said I'll stand on 5th and Monroe.
21 Or, or State and Madison. He said
22 their, their approach is, is outrageous.
23 He said uh, uh, you know I'll take a flu
24 shot in uh, and this extortion he said
25 is it's known by too many people what
26 they're doing. He said you know I would
27 never go to them, to those two guys. I
28 mean he went, he ran on and on. He
29 called me uh, he was on his cell phone
30 and he kept uh, uh, losing me.
31 LEVINE Mm hm.
32 CELLINI He must have called back six times. You
33 know six different times.
34 LEVINE You know I, I, I...There's nothin' for
35 us to handle.
36 CELLINI Hope so.
37 LEVINE I mean, you know I mean uh, uh, um, uh,
38 uh, first of all Tony told me that uh,
39 that uh, uh, I mean it's not how, I mean
40 he said that uh, uh, this guy had
41 approached him, you know but, but who
42 knows.
3
1 CELLINI Well here, I said are you sure. I said
2 you're telling me that Allison didn't go
3 to them in your behalf. He said who
4 knows whether Allison went to them or
5 they went to Allison because at first
6 Allison denied that he even talked to
7 'em when I approached him.
8 LEVINE Mm hm.
9 CELLINI He said, but the fact is I didn't ask
10 him to go to them.
11 (PAUSE)
12 CELLINI He said I just, I wouldn't do that, you
13 know. By God I don't need their, he
14 said I don't need those. Then he went
15 on again uh, went through his tirade
16 again.
17 LEVINE Mm hm.
18 CELLINI Uh, he said uh, and I said so what are
19 you askin' of me. And he said well
20 whoever you were talkin' to uh, by god
21 let 'em know that they got a problem.
22 And I said well I, you know I'll, I'll
23 do that. I still never mentioned you.
24 LEVINE No I mean I, I, I think that, first of
25 all Tony told me he was gonna have uh,
26 which you know he's so busy who knows.
27 He was gonna have uh, this guy whatever
28 it is uh, uh, go talk to Tom again. The
29 fact of the matter is let them
30 straighten it out.
31 CELLINI Well, but I think we gotta alert him.
32 LEVINE Well, when he comes back we'll tell him
33 what happened.
34 CELLINI Yeah, I mean I think we gotta alert him
35 to what uh, what uh, because uh, uh, my
36 guess is that uh, you know Tommy is a
37 vicious guy.
4
1 LEVINE Mm hm.
2 CELLINI I mean he, he probably ate Allison up
3 and spit him out. Oh, he said, you know
4 Allison was in my office one day and he
5 said uh, his cell phone rang and he took
6 the call and I heard him say, uh uh, oh
7 yes, oh, well thank you, thank you. And
8 he said, then he hung up and uh, and
9 Tommy said uh, important call. And he
10 said oh that was uh, Tony Rezko takin’
11 credit for me getting an IHDA project.
12 And he said, I told Allison are you
13 crazy dealing with that guy. He said
14 don't you know that they are so hot. He
15 said there was no way I would of asked
16 Allison Davis. And he said because of
17 the way I feel about him. He said and
18 you knew. He said you, Bill you knew I
19 felt that way about him. But I, I've
20 heard him say that in the past but I
21 didn't think that that would stop him
22 from reaching for 'em. (laughs)
23 LEVINE Mm hm. Well you know I, you know it, it
24 uh,...
25 CELLINI It could or could not be the case. You
26 know but his, his uh, outburst and
27 his...
28 LEVINE Well you know he is a um, he's a bad
29 guy, Tommy.
30 CELLINI Yeah. Oh yeah.
31 LEVINE He's a very bad guy. But the fact of
32 the matter is that he's not entitled...I
33 mean the way I think that this, this
34 should be handled is that they shouldn't
35 take a political contribution from him.
36 He shouldn't get, he shouldn't get an
37 allocation. Tommy Rosenberg has letters
38 of confidentiality out with others that
39 we are aware of when he was tryin' to
40 sell his business. That's how we became
41 aware that he was tryin' to sell his
42 business not from Mesirow.
5
1 CELLINI Mm hm. Mm hm.
2 LEVINE He lied to Staff.
3 (PAUSE)
4 LEVINE Now that's a fact.
5 CELLINI Well, do you uh, what, what, what, it is
6 we don't wanna play chicken with him
7 though.
8 LEVINE Well I mean uh, uh, you know uh, the,
9 the, the um, uh, well, you think that
10 uh, that uh, Tom Rosenberg now owns a
11 pension fund?
12 CELLINI Oh hell no.
13 LEVINE Well no, no, uh, he hasn't given a
14 political contribution. Nobody's cut a
15 deal with him. Tony Rezko hasn't talked
16 to him, I assume.
17 CELLINI Nope.
18 LEVINE You know. So I mean um, um, he's
19 grandstanding.
20 (PAUSE)
21 LEVINE You think that Tommy Rosenberg would
22 like um, would like uh, um, uh, I, you
23 know I mean this is a guy I wouldn't
24 exactly say has clean hands all over the
25 place.
26 CELLINI Mm hm.
27 (PAUSE)
28 CELLINI Yeah I uh, you know and I, I kept saying
29 to him, I don't kept saying but uh, I
30 said well Tom, you know I said the first
31 thing that uh, worried me was that uh, I
32 said you know we've been kind of low
33 profile uh, we've been flyin' under the
34 radar. I said goddamn it would be a uh
6
1 shame if they uh, if uh, if, if, if uh,
2 the, the spotlight was on over there and
3 uh, he said you, you got nothin' to
4 worry about. By god you know these guys
5 have got the problem.
6 LEVINE What problems do they have?
7 CELLINI Well, you know he says and...
8 LEVINE I mean they haven't done anything at the
9 pension system yet.
10 CELLINI No, no, no, he, I'm not saying...
11 LEVINE Oh in general you mean.
12 CELLINI He's not talkin' about these guys TRS.
13 LEVINE Mm hm.
14 * * * *
15 CELLINI You know Tommy is sayin' I'm telling you
16 when the, when, when these cards start
17 falling everybody who's associated with
18 these two are gonna get drug through the
19 mud. He said I'm, I, I don't wanna sit
20 down with them. I do not wanna know
21 'em. I do not want to have anything to
22 do with 'em. And uh, you know I, we're
23 talkin' two different things here now.
24 LEVINE Yeah. Well I mean first of all, I mean
25 certainly you should repeat the
26 conversation to, to Tony.
27 CELLINI Mm hm.
28 LEVINE Um, you and I can do it together if
29 you'd like. But I think that uh, that
30 uh, obviously uh, they shouldn't
31 approach Tommy and, and nor, nor should
32 uh, should uh, um, uh, uh, Tommy
33 necessarily get anymore work from the
34 pension fund either.
35 CELLINI Well you know the other thing is? You
7
1 know what you can do?
2 LEVINE Mmm.
3 CELLINI There's, there's a middle ground. Give
4 him an insignificant amount...more.
5 LEVINE Mm hm.
6 CELLINI You know give him 25 million.
7 (chuckling)
8 LEVINE (laughs)
9 CELLINI You know what I mean.
10 LEVINE Mm hm.
11 CELLINI You, you, you deserve 25 million, you
12 did a good job. What's he gonna do say
13 I want more. I mean what's he gonna say
14 publically of somethin' like that.
15 LEVINE Mm hm.
16 CELLINI I mean there's two ways to skin...
17 (laughs)
18 LEVINE Well that's a good idea. That's a,
19 that's a very good idea. Let him get
20 something and that's the end of it.
21 CELLINI You know, now he may say take it and
22 shove it.
23 LEVINE No he, he, give it, there's that $220
24 million dollar uh, allocation that was
25 stopped because he was talkin' to people
26 and lied to staff. Then they put in for
27 $20 million dollar investment of the
28 comingled fund. And that's uh, that was
29 on the May agenda...to give 'em that.
30 CELLINI Aahh, uh hah.
31 (PAUSE)
32 CELLINI Mm hm.
8
1 LEVINE But you know we can talk about that.
2 But I mean uh, uh, I wouldn't go near
3 Tommy with a ten foot pole.
4 (PAUSE)
5 CELLINI I don't think you should.
6 LEVINE No I mean I, I wouldn't go near him with
7 a ten foot pole about anything.
8 CELLINI I mean frankly it's good, now, with his
9 state of mind here.
10 LEVINE Mm hm.
11 CELLINI That you and he didn't make, you know.
12 LEVINE Mm hm.
13 CELLINI You didn't connect.
14 LEVINE Mm hm.
15 (PAUSE)
16 CELLINI And it's good that I didn't indicate
17 that I had a conversation with you.
18 LEVINE Mm hm. Mm hm.
19 CELLINI (chuckles) But, but somewhere along the
20 line he's gonna say where did I pick
21 this up.
22 LEVINE Mm hm. Well, um, um, uh, uh,...
23 (PAUSE)
24 CELLINI Of course he's not thought to ask that
25 (UI).
26 LEVINE He what?
27 CELLINI He has not thought to ask that part
28 because he's been so consumed about the
29 other.
9
1 LEVINE Mm hm.
2 CELLINI Uh,...
3 (PAUSE)
4 LEVINE Was he expecting you to get back to him
5 on this?
6 CELLINI No I, I, I said Tom uh, he said I'm
7 gonna call the governor. No he didn't
8 say I'm going to...he said I'll call the
9 governor. I'll call whoever I have to
10 call. That's what he said and I'll
11 bring 'em down. They got the problem
12 not me. And I said Tom, what, what do
13 you, what do you want me to do? I said
14 do you want me to indicate. He said you
15 can tell 'em exactly what I said. I
16 said to him, he said I, Bill, if I were
17 you I would not be talkin' to these
18 guys. And I said well Tom, I uh, you
19 gotta understand that I represent the
20 construction industry and the
21 contractors and th-, they, they have
22 these fundraisers and the contractors
23 are an integral part of these things on
24 a regular, ongoing basis. Well he said
25 you're a lobbyist that’s that's
26 understandable, you know you have to, I
27 said so I do have uh, an interfacing
28 with them. You know I'm, I'm
29 rationlizing.
30 LEVINE Mm hm.
31 CELLINI For him, that is.
32 LEVINE Mm hm.
33 (PAUSE)
34 LEVINE Well, uh 2 different topics I think
35 that, I think that the conversation
36 should be repeated and you know maybe we
37 should uh, we could do it at the same
38 time if you like because you know so
39 it's all there.
10
1 CELLINI (UI).
2 LEVINE And I, and I, and I think that uh, your
3 solution is a, is, is very good. That's
4 one subject.
5 * * * *
6 LEVINE I mean I sup-, I, I think that, that uh,
7 I mean he should hear that, what, that
8 this guy uh, um, said that was Tony uh,
9 you know uh, takin' credit for an IDOT
10 project. So he knows what people are
11 goin' around sayin'.
12 (PAUSE)
13 LEVINE What effect does this have on uh, I
14 mean, you know.
15 CELLINI But, but see that thing. I mean now all
16 of us have done that for years when you
17 know somebody is gonna get somethin' or
18 you, maybe, maybe even help somebody get
19 somethin' and you call to let 'em
20 know...
21 LEVINE Mm hm.
22 CELLINI It, you know you're gonna be okay.
23 LEVINE Mm hm.
24 CELLINI You're gonna be okay.
25 LEVINE Yeah.
26 CELLINI Uh, you know it's like gettin' credit.
27 Now, I suppose there's a fine line
28 there.
29 (PAUSE)
30 LEVINE Mm hm.
31 (PAUSE)
32 LEVINE Well I mean is, is, is the question do
11
1 you stop dealing with these guys?
2 (PAUSE)
3 CELLINI Phew, you know neither one of us wanna
4 do that, you know.
5 LEVINE Hm mm.
6 CELLINI But at the same time um,...
7 LEVINE You know uh, if you're, you know maybe,
8 maybe this conversation becomes uh, a
9 little bit of sobering for them. Does
10 it have that potential?
11 CELLINI For 12 minutes.
12 LEVINE Mm hm.
13 (PAUSE)
14 CELLINI I, I have had it uh, not as strong, you
15 know not with somebody...
16 LEVINE Mm hm.
17 CELLINI Bein' outraged and sayin' I'm gonna go
18 to the G. Other than Jon Bauman.
19 (laughs)
20 LEVINE I mean the, the, my god. (laughs)
21 CELLINI But I never mentioned that to 'em, but
22 they'd ‘ve for sure died.
23 LEVINE You know the, the thing with uh, with
24 Tommy all of that was an actual...that,
25 that, that, that was a real thing. That
26 uh, Tony got an approach and uh, and um,
27 uh, he in fact um, um, uh, I mean that,
28 that's all real and that's out there.
29 And uh, that'll get closed up one way or
30 another I suppose or he just won't talk
31 to the guy again. Uh, but it happened
32 just that way. That guy went and said
33 to Tony uh, he'd like to be helpful and
34 he's got a current matter pending. Now
12
1 how would he know that Tommy had a
2 current matter pending if Tommy hadn't
3 told him that?
4 CELLINI Tommy said, I said that. Tom said that,
5 that guy would not have known that. He
6 said he would not have known that at
7 all. He said that's bullshit. But I
8 don't know he may...
9 LEVINE No, no, I mean Tony was, Tony said to
10 me, that he, he remembered my sayin'
11 that Tom Rosenberg was in TRS.
12 CELLINI Mm hm.
13 LEVINE But he said to me that Tom Rose-, he
14 came up to me, he said Tom Rosenberg
15 would like to be helpful, you got this
16 fundraiser coming up and he has a
17 current matter before TRS. And Tony
18 said what was it he had. That's how it
19 came up.
20 (PAUSE)
21 CELLINI Mm hm.
22 LEVINE So this guy came knowing that Tony had,
23 that Tommy had somethin' up.
24 (PAUSE)
25 CELLINI Well...
26 LEVINE What I think, what I think happened is
27 that uh, is that that is, that Tommy
28 sent him to talk to Tony and uh, Tommy
29 then realized what this could turn into.
30 Uh, uh, and this is, this is his way of
31 uh, of um, of uh, turning it around.
32 CELLINI Yeah, yeah we, we, we, you know we said
33 you and me...
34 LEVINE Yeah.
35 CELLINI How's he gonna.
13
1 LEVINE Yeah. This is his way of turning around
2 would, this is how his attempt to, to
3 get it and not cost anything.
4 CELLINI Mm hm.
5 (PAUSE)
6 LEVINE What, you know this is, I mean Tommy
7 doesn't like being pushed to the wall
8 and so he's, so he, so he's uh, uh, I
9 mean but, but he started it. I mean he,
10 when I say he started it...he did send
11 this guy on an approach to Tony. He's
12 lying about that. This is his way...
13 CELLINI Yea. Wait, wait.
14 LEVINE Mm hm.
15 CELLINI Julie's asking me a question.
16 LEVINE Mm hm.
17 (CELLINI TALKING TO HIS WIFE)
18 LEVINE Mm hm.
19 CELLINI She’s in there speculating on somethin'.
20 I don't know what the hell it is.
21 LEVINE (laughs) That's what happens when you
22 own casinos.
23 CELLINI (chuckles)
24 LEVINE Uh, I, I mean there's, he sent this guy
25 to, to, to talk to uh, Tony uh, uh, and
26 uh, and Tommy didn't like how it turned
27 out.
28 (PAUSE)
29 CELLINI Well...
30 LEVINE Or maybe, well you know. I, I, I, I
31 think we should, I think we probably
32 should uh, should talk to Tony at the
14
1 same time just to get all the facts
2 there. And uh, and um, uh, you know uh,
3 I just distinctly remember Tony saying
4 that the guy said to him he's got a
5 matter before TRS and he'd like to be
6 helpful.
7 (PAUSE)
8 LEVINE Now maybe what he said was uh, you know
9 he's in TRS. Well the guy certainly
10 knew T-, Tony, Tommy was in TRS.
11 CELLINI Mm hm.
12 LEVINE You know so that maybe what he said.
13 CELLINI Tommy said that when he broached
14 Allison, Allison denied it first.
15 LEVINE Mm hm.
16 CELLINI Then Allison said that they asked
17 Allison who, because he's on the, you
18 know the State Employees Pension Fund,
19 who are some people that they could get
20 to....
21 LEVINE Oh, uh huh.
22 CELLINI For funds. And that Allison said Tom
23 Rosenberg uh, now did he say Tom
24 Rosenberg because he has TRS funds. He
25 said Tom Rosenberg because he's got an
26 item before them. Well, you know what
27 we need to ask him.
28 LEVINE Yeah, yeah, yeah. Mm hm.
29 CELLINI What we need to say to Tony is tell us
30 exactly what took place with Allison.
31 LEVINE Mm hm.
32 CELLINI Before we tell him any of this.
33 LEVINE Mm hm. Mm hm.
15
1 CELLINI So that your recollection is clear,
2 Tony, because it, it's, it's important
3 to how, how it came down.
4 LEVINE Mm hm.
5 (PAUSE)
6 LEVINE You know (UI), when is he coming back,
7 Monday?
8 CELLINI I don't know. I don't know. I'll be in
9 a...
10 LEVINE He said that uh, that uh, his office
11 said that he was gonna be in, he's
12 comin' in Tuesday.
13 CELLINI Mm hm. Ok. I'll be in uh, town there,
14 um,...
15 (PAUSE)
16 CELLINI Well, I'm comin' in Wednesday but I'll
17 be pretty, pretty free Thursday.
18 LEVINE Mm hm.
19 CELLINI You know pretty much of the day.
20 LEVINE Mm hm. I'm available in the morning I
21 got a, um, uh, first thing in the
22 morning I've got uh, um, uh, medical
23 school board, Bill, uh meeting I have to
24 attend on Thursday.
25 CELLINI Mm hm.
26 LEVINE You tied up all Wednesday?
27 CELLINI Well my, I'm coming in...let me see I'm
28 comin' in on the...
29 (PAUSE)
30 CELLINI 9:35. I'm gonna get there probably 10:30
31 at ATA. I'll get there at 10:35. So I
32 can be, uh, from, from 11 to 12 I'm
16
1 (UI).
2 LEVINE Why don't we do that.
3 CELLINI You know from 11 to 12 I'll be uh,...
4 LEVINE Why don't we do- I'll call uh, what's
5 her name tomorrow and say that we gotta
6 see him and we're gonna be there.
7 CELLINI Mm hm. And then I have a uh, a lunch
8 with your favorite friend Earl Deutsch
9 and Norm Bobbins.
10 LEVINE Oh tell Earl the story he'd love it.
11 (laughs)
12 CELLINI (laughs)
13 (PAUSE)
14 CELLINI Let's see, at 11. Let's say Tony and
15 Stuart (UI).
16 (PAUSE)
17 CELLINI Uh, and, and then right after lunch I
18 have to drive out to Huntley, Illinois.
19 LEVINE Where's that?
20 CELLINI In Kane County, I-90 and uh, Route 47.
21 LEVINE Mmm.
22 CELLINI (UI) town.
23 LEVINE Mm hm.
24 CELLINI I gotta be there for a 3 o'clock
25 meeting. I'm gonna have my son drive me
26 out so.
27 LEVINE Uh huh. Oh that's nice.
28 CELLINI And it's about an hour and a half out
29 there so. You know assuming I take an
30 hour to be there that's four, then it's
17

Labels: Bill Cellini, Stuart Levine, Tony Rezko