[Comments opened because the weekend is over.]

* Can you imagine what the Hillary Clinton campaign is gonna do with this single-sourced story?…

For the first time, Democratic White House hopeful Barack Obama has surfaced in the federal corrupton case against his longtime campaign fund-raiser, Tony Rezko, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.

The Illinois senator isn’t accused of any wrongdoing. And there’s no evidence Obama knew contributions to his 2004 U.S. Senate campaign came from schemes Rezko is accused of orchestrating.

The allegations against Rezko that involve Obama are contained in one paragraph of a 78-page document filed last month in which prosecutors outline their corruption and fraud case against Rezko, who was also a key money man for Gov. Blagojevich and other politicians.

* And here’s what the paper’s source claims…

Obama is not named in the Dec. 21 court document. But a source familiar with the case confirmed that Obama is the unnamed “political candidate” referred to in a section of the document that accuses Rezko of orchestrating a scheme in which a firm hired to handle state teacher pension investments first had to pay $250,000 in “sham” finder’s fees. From that money, $10,000 was donated to Obama’s successful run for the Senate in the name of a Rezko business associate, according to the court filing and the source.

Rezko, who was part of Obama’s senatorial finance committee, also is accused of directing “at least one other individual” to donate money to Obama and then reimbursing that individual — in possible violation of federal election law.

* Obama denies knowing anything about this, and it’s doubtful that he would have. But this past week, Obama said this…

“I think it’s fair to say that the Republicans were the party of ideas for a pretty long chunk of time there over the last 10-15 years in the sense that they were challenging conventional wisdom”

* And Bill Clinton twisted it into this…

“Her principal opponent said that since 1992, the Republicans have had all the good ideas.”

So, we can only imagine how they’re gonna spin that Sun-Times story.

* You can read the document referenced in the Sun-Times story by clicking here. And this is the paragraph referenced in the story…

Another $10,000 of the $112,000 transferred into the pizza company’s bank account was used to make a political contribution in Individual D’s name to a political candidate. Rezko was a fundraiser for that political candidate and directed at least one other individual to make a political contribution to that same candidate, which Rezko then paid back.

…Adding… This gets closer to Obama than I first thought. Guess who “Individual D” is? Apparently, he’s the father of a former Obama intern…

In addition to a land deal, Sen. Barack Obama’s ties to indicted dealmaker Antoin “Tony” Rezko include an internship the senator provided the son of a contributor at the request of Rezko, an Obama spokesman confirmed Saturday.

John Aramanda served as an intern for Obama for about a month in 2005, said Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs. His father is Joseph Aramanda, a Rezko business associate who was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in a federal corruption case against Rezko. Aramanda has contributed $11,500 to Obama since 2000, Gibbs said.

“Mr. Rezko did provide a recommendation for John Aramanda,” Gibbs said. “I think that it’s fairly obvious that a few-week internship is not anything of benefit to Mr. Rezko or any of his businesses.” […]

Aramanda was identified by the Sun-Times as “Individual D,” who allegedly received a $250,000 kickback tied to a scheme to steer lucrative state pension deals to firms and consultants that donated to Blagojevich. Aramanda is not specifically named or charged with criminal wrongdoing in the court papers.

* Obama has already divested his campaign fund of Aramanda’s contribution.

* If you’re reading the proffer for the first time, “Co-Schemer A” has been previously identified as Bill Cellini. “Co-Schemer B” is said to be Blagojevich fundraiser Chris Kelly. “Co-Schemer C” has not yet been identified in press reports has been identified by the Sun-Times as “Sheldon Pekin: Consultant who allegedly agreed to kick back $250,000 in fees in return for getting TRS business.”