Blago: Rezko gave Obama $25000

Rod Blagojevich said he heard that a lobbyist secretly gave Barack Obama $25,000, a book about the now-imprisoned former Illinois governor says. Government investigators did not pursue the claim because they did not consider it credible, the Chicago Tribune reported. Blagojevich may have been talking about an undisclosed payment from Anthony Rezko for Obama's 2004 campaign for U.S. Senate, say the authors, both reporters for the Tribune. Joseph Duffy, an attorney for Rezko called the Blagojevich's claim "simply false and not true." "You must keep in mind that the source of this allegation is inherently unreliable and not credible," he said. Rezko is severing 10 1/2 years in federal prison for using his relationship with the governor in a scheme to pry money from firms seeking state business. A spokesman for the Obama campaign, Ben LaBolt, called the assertion "preposterous" and "false." Blagojevich was secretly recorded by federal authorities as he related the story to his chief of staff after Obama's election as president. He is serving a 14-year sentence for perjury and attempting to sell Obama's Senate seat. The book, "Golden: How Rod Blagojevich Talked Himself Out of the Governor's Office and Into Prison," is due out in September.