Quote Originally Posted by Euryleia View Post
Rezko did not make a gift of any property to the Obamas. Furthermore, the fact that his wife sold her lot for more than she paid for it contradicts any suggestion that the Rezkos overpaid for their part of the deal as a way of getting the seller to lower the price to the Obamas for their part.
It doesn't contradict anything -- some profit on real estate during that time of huge increases in value is to be expected.

The fact remains that Rezko didn't even bargain on the price of their property, the property (based on the reports I've read) is too small to build on and they sold it to their own attorney.

It's that only one of the transactions was discounted from the asking price that bothers me. In my opinion, it smells.

If the two of us go to buy cars together and we strike a bargain with the dealer, but I pay MSRP and you take all of the bargained discount on your deal, is it a gift?

That's what this transaction feels like to me.