FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:


MARTIN FILES FEDERAL CHARGES AGAINST BROADWAY
NATIONAL BANK, SEEKS TO OPEN TOPINKA/GIANNOULIAS
BANKING RECORDS TO PUBLIC SCRUTINY

(CHICAGO)(March 20, 2006) Republican gubernatorial candidate Andy Martin told a Chicago news conference today that he has filed a request for a federal investigation of Broadway National Bank (BNB) and its links to Judy Baar Topinka and the Giannoulias family. Martin released copies of his complaint to the Comptroller of the currency. [A copy of Martin’s letter to the Comptroller is attached to this release.]

Martin also noted that Topinka has refused to respond to his Freedom of Information request concerning her office’s links to BNB and a listing of other banks where Topinka deposits overnight funds. Martin said he is trying to prepare legal papers to sue Topinka for access to the State Treasurer’s office concerning BNB. [A copy of Martin’s letter to Topinka is attached to this release.]

“The BNB scandal is not going away,” Andy said. “My opponents are making a joke of the campaign process, proposing lotteries, making jokes about me, and in general making pests of themselves. I am the only candidate who is developing serious issues and pointing the way to a potentially explosive banking scandal in Illinois, involving everyone from the Crime Syndicate to Judy Topinka’s office to national Democratic Party bigwigs such as Barack Obama.

“Last week I was smeared by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, which said there was ‘no evidence’ to back up my campaign claims. What jerks. I have asked for an apology. They were too lazy to look for the evidence or to ask me to provide them with leads. Well, here’s new proof that I am still the best investigative columnist in this city: The BNB scandal is going to percolate through the campaign season and, depending on the outcome of the primary Tuesday, is going to singe some mighty big fingers.

“The canaries are singing. It is music to my ears.

“Three or four of my opponents will disappear the day after the primary. I will still be at it, as candidate or columnist, fighting corruption in this city and state,” Martin said.

Media contact: Andy Martin Campaign Headquarters: (312) 440-4124.

BNB scandal documents are also being accumulated at: AlexiGiannoulias.blogspot.com.

ADDITIONAL CONTACTS:

Web: AndyforIllinois.com;
Blog: AndyontheIssues.blogspot.com;
E-mail: AndyforIllinois@aol.com;
Web: StopTopinka.us
Blog: JudyTopinka.blogspot.com
Blog: AlexiGiannoulias.blogspot.com

ANNOUNCEMENT OF NEWS CONFERENCE:

*****************
MONDAY: CHICAGO
*****************

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

ANDY MARTIN BLASTS FORMER GOVERNOR JIM EDGAR FOR BANKROLLING TOPINKA “COMBINE” CAMPAIGN AND “CORRUPTION CARAVAN” ACROSS THE STATE MONDAY, SAYS EDGAR WAS ASLEEP AT THE SWITCH WHILE GEORGE RYAN CRIME WAVE TOOK PLACE IN THE CAPITOL

MARTIN PLANS LAWSUIT TO FORCE RELEASE OF TOPINKA TREASURER’S OFFICE BANK DATA INVOLVING OVERNIGHT DEPOSITS AND BROADWAY NATIONAL BANK, RENEWS CHARGE OF LINKS TO “MOBBED UP” BANKER ALEXI GIANNOULIAS

ANDY SAYS CRIME SYNDICATE IS USING GIANNOULIAS TO MAKE “THE BOLDEST GRAB FOR POWER IN ILLINOIS SINCE AL CAPONE TOOK OVER THE RACKETS DURING PROHIBITION”

“HEAR NO EVIL, SEE NO EVIL” FORMER GOVERNOR IS “BLINDED TO THE REALITY OF 2006 CAMPAIGN; TOPINKA AND HE MAKE A PERFECT PAS DE DEUX” MARTIN SAYS

(CHICAGO)(March 20, 2006) Republican gubernatorial candidate Andy Martin will hold a Monday news conference in Chicago to blast former Governor Jim Edgar for bankrolling Judy Topinka’s “combine” campaign and election eve “corruption caravan” across the state. Martin asks the retired governor: “What do you know about the Broadway National Bank and its mob connections?”

“I think it is shameful the way Jim Edgar is bankrolling Judy’s Topinka’s ‘corruption caravan’ across the state on the eve of the election,” Martin will charge. “Jim Edgar was governor when George Ryan was looting the state in the Secretary of State’s office. Like Topinka, Edgar neither heard nor saw any corruption or misfeasance in Springfield during Ryan’s pre-gubernatorial years. How stupid could they be? And now Edgar supports Topinka’s election? The Combine stinks, and it has contempt for the people of Illinois. Edgar and Topinka? Just one dirty hand washing another.

“Edgar and Topinka are doing a pas de deux, the same way they were part of the Combine’s heyday during the 1990’s. Jim Edgar was blind to reality in the 1990’s; he is blind to reality in 2006. Voters are sick and tired of crooked politicians in both parties, and sick and tired of people such as Edgar that blind themselves to what is going on all around them.

“Today Illinois faces one of the boldest power plays by organized crime since the Al Capone era. Alexi Giannoulias and his mobbed-up family bank are trying to extend crime syndicate control right into the State Treasurer’s office. The media have been fooled; many Democrats have been fooled and big shots such as Obama and others have become patsies for Giannoulias.

“Topinka’s office has not yet responded to my Freedom of Information demands. I am preparing to file suit if they ignore my requests. This campaign against corruption will not end on March 21st,” Martin says. “It will end only when we throw the rascals out of the state capitol.”

Martin has launched a blog attacking Giannoulias and seeking to block Democrats from nominating someone with family ties to organized crime figures.

MEDIA CONTACT: Andy Martin Campaign (312) 440-4124

CHICAGO NEWS CONFERENCE DETAILS:

WHO: REPUBLICAN GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE ANDY MARTIN

WHERE: Chicago, SE Corner of Huron and Wabash Streets
(St. James Cathedral)

WHEN: Monday, March 20, 2006 2:00 P. M.

WHAT: ANDY MARTIN ATTACKS FORMER GOVERNOR JIM EDGAR FOR
BANKROLLING TOPINKA’S “CORRUPTION CARAVAN” ACROSS THE
STATE, SAYS CRIME SYNDICATE IS MAKING BOLD POWER PLAY
WITH ALEXI GIANNOULIAS AS TREASURER CANDIDATE TO
SUCCEED TOPINKA

ADDITIONAL CONTACTS:

Web: AndyforIllinois.com;
Blog: AndyontheIssues.blogspot.com;
E-mail: AndyforIllinois@aol.com;
Web: StopTopinka.us
Blog: JudyTopinka.blogspot.com
Blog: AlexiGiannoulias.blogspot.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

ANDY MARTIN ASKS: IS THE COMBINE “CONFIDENT” OR SCARED?

(CHICAGO)(March 19, 2006) The St. Louis Post-Dispatch had a story today on Judy Topinka’s last minute fund raising that has me scratching my head.

As a candidate I do not enjoy an adulatory press; on the other hand I have been and continue to be a member of the media and write opinion columns. Thus I am always on the lookout for incongruities in news coverage, and remain amazed that every time there is “spin” to be given, Springfield reporters spin in favor of Topinka and not against her.

The Post-Dispatch reported that Topinka had received numerous large, last-minute contributions. The P-D attributed this last minute money to Topinka’s tin cup that “runneth over” with “Combine” cash. The P-D tasked a professor in Springfield, Kent Redfield, as an “expert” to claim that “the biggest players in politics are betting [Topinka is going to win].” Mr. Redfield likes to pop off, but I see no indication he has a background in practical politics or knows anything about the dynamics of an actual political campaign.

What I see (or don’t see) from the real battlefield is that Topinka has been notably absent from the airwaves this week. Beginning last month at WBEZ I slammed Judy for being an unqualified candidate who has run an incompetent campaign.

Here is my alternative hypothesis: The last minute “Combine” money is a sign of weakness, not strength. It is a sign the Combine is scared, not confident. Running against two billionaires, and Andy, why would someone pull back from saturation media just before an election? Probably because of poor fund raising and poor campaign finance management.

My prediction: the Combine has finally awoken to the fact this primary is going to be a photo finish, not a Judy walkaway. For my own part, no one gives me any chance of winning, and I am not predicting victory as such. Nevertheless, the votes I draw will come mostly from Topinka, and those votes will probably decide the election.

In the meantime, why won’t the Springfield media at least give a balanced interpretation of last minute activity, instead of acting as lapdogs for the pathetic Topinka campaign? Why?

Media contact: Andy Martin (312) 440-4124

ANDY MARTIN
The Right Republican for Governor
30 E. Huron Street, Suite 4406
Chicago, IL 60611-4723
Tel. (312) 440-4124
Fax (312) 440-4125
Web site: AndyforIllinois.com
E-mail: AndyforIllinois@aol.com
Blog: AndyontheIssues.blogspot.com

March 17, 2006

Hon. Judy B. Topinka
State Treasurer
State Capitol
Springfield, IL 62706
Via fax (312) 785-2777
(217) 814-5930


FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST
IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUESTED


Dear Treasurer Topinka:

1. I am hereby filing a Freedom of Information request and asking to have faxed back to me today by the close of business a list of all banks in which the State of Illinois through your office has deposited overnight or checking account funds, i.e. funds which were not competitively bid as time deposits.

2. If you have checking accounts which have been competitively bid, this FOI request also asks for copies of any contracts between the state and bank.

3. I would like a listing of all deposits which have been made to or in the Broadway National Bank since January 1, 2005.

4. I would also like a “hard” copy of the above information mailed to the above street address today.

Please bill me for any faxing or copying charges for this information.


Respectfully submitted,



ANDY MARTIN


AM:sp

ANDY MARTIN
The Right Republican for Governor
30 E. Huron Street, Suite 4406
Chicago, IL 60611-4723
Tel. (312) 440-4124
Fax (312) 440-4125
Web site: AndyforIllinois.com
E-mail: AndyforIllinois@aol.com
Blog: AndyontheIssues.blogspot.com

March 17, 2006

SAC Robert D. Grant
FBI
219 S. Dearborn Street
Chicago, IL 60604-1702

SUGGESTION FOR POSSIBLE INVESTIGATION

Dear Agent Grant:

I am currently a candidate for Governor of Illinois. During the course of a campaign you get bits and pieces of information, and often they do not connect or add up. And, things happen on the campaign trial that initially do not make sense, or do not seem to be connected but eventually you being to see patterns and relationships.

I am writing to share with you my conclusions concerning possible crime syndicate links at a local bank, as well as the incumbent State Treasurer (my opponent) as well as a candidate for Treasurer, Alexi Giannoulias.

Very frankly, I do not have the means to complete my investigation. Nevertheless, I believe that there is a bona fide preliminary basis to look further into the Broadway National Bank (“BNB”) and Judy Baar Topinka’s relationship with that institution.

You may have seen the news reports concerning the BNB (one example accompanies this letter). The reports are troubling to say the least. A small bank in a neighborhood in Chicago facilitating credits in Miami? Hello? I was much more active in fighting organized crime in the 1970’s but I can see a red flag when it is put up to my nose.

Moreover, as I campaigned with Topinka I saw that she was constantly seeking to redeem “chits” for banking favors done to special interest groups. It was very organized. I believe I can now say that she has been using the state’s financial resources as a political slush fund. I believe you will find on closer inspection that Topinka and Giannoulias and BNB all have links, direct and indirect, to each other.

I do not necessarily believe that Topinka has enriched herself personally from her ties to these interests and figures; but she has been “taking in the cleaning” for former Governor Ryan and others for a long, long time.

Please feel free to contact me if you wish to discuss the matter further.

Respectfully submitted,


ANDY MARTIN

AM:sp

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ANDY MARTIN SEEKS FBI INVESTIGATION:

“SOPRANOS” TOPINKA AND “MOBBED UP” DEMOCRAT BANKER ALEXI GIANNOULIAS CAUGHT IN ANDY MARTIN’S INVESTIGATIVE CLAWS

(CHICAGO)(March 17, 2006) Andy Martin told a Chicago news conference today that he has asked the FBI to investigate links between the Illinois State Treasurer's office, incumbent Treasurer Judy Topinka, Alexi Giannoulias, a Democratic candidate for State Treasurer, and organized crime elements in Chicago.

Martin also filed Freedom of Information requests with Topinka’s office. Topinka has not yet responded to the FOI demands.

Copies of the requests are attached to this e-mail (Word files).

“The idea that a ‘mobbed up’ banker should be running for State Treasurer is so Chicago, so Illinois, so Sopranos,” Martin said. ‘It’s joke. Luckily, Alexi Giannoulias will take a lot of liberals down the tubes with him.

“In years to come the ‘Broadway National Bank’ caper will rank with the best of them. March 21st? You haven’t seen anything yet,” Martin said. “Much to my amazement we continue to investigate and expose these scandals, decade after decade, and do it successfully. I challenge Judy Topinka to deny the facts I have alleged, or to deny her office’s links to Giannoulias and Broadway National Bank. Judy’s just as sleazy as her mentor, former Governor George Ryan, although it took more digging and investigating to discover the truth about her. Well, it’s all out there to see now.”

Some of Martin’s earlier investigative actions, going all the way back to law school and the Illinois Supreme Court’s “Klingbiel/Solfisburg bank stock scandal” can be reviewed at AndyMartin.com.

Media contact: Andy Martin campaign (312) 440-4124

STOPTOPINKA.US IS NOW UP FOR VIEWING

(CHICAGO)(March 17, 2006) Republican gubernatorial candidate Andy Martin announced today that his web site StopTopinka.us is fully operational and available to be viewed.

“We first activated StopTopinka.us several weeks ago; but it was time-consuming to collect and present all of our analysis. Now it’s done. We present five (5) specific topics on which we challenge Topinka.

“Unlike some of Topinka’s other opponents, who have made attacks on Judy’s personal life, I have completely refrained from that approach. Instead, I have chosen to attack Topinka ‘in her own words,’ by documenting from Judy’s own website that she is an incompetent lightweight who has misused and abused her office and illegally taken money from Illinois taxpayers for her personal causes. I may agree with some of her causes, but I completely disagree with her diversion of state resources to support them.

“Unlike other web sites, with which we have absolutely no affiliation, our web site is child friendly and can be viewed by anyone of any age. And, unlike personal attacks, which may or may not resonate, my accusations are anchored in Topinka’s own incompetence and misfeasance as a state official. Topinka’s service in the State Treasurer’s office is a completely proper topic for attack and discussion. StopTopinka.us says it all, in Judy’s own words.”

MEDIA CONTACT: Andy Martin Campaign (312) 440-4124

ANDY MARTIN RATCHETS UP ABORTION ISSUE, SKEWERS TOPINKA AS A “FRAUD” ON ABORTION, BILL BRADY AS “RIGHT-WING” NUT

MARTIN BEGINS ATTACKS ON WGN-TV, CONTINUES WITH NEWS CONFERENCE ATTACKING FOES ON ABORTION ISSUE

(CHICAGO)(March 14, 2006) Republican gubernatorial candidate Andy Martin goes on the attack Tuesday on the abortion issue, and accuses Judy Topinka of being a “pro-choice fraud,” Bill Brady a “right-wing nut”.

Martin will begin his attacks on Topinka and Brady as a guest on WGN-TV at 7:30 A.M., and continue on with an afternoon news conference.

“Judy Topinka is not ‘pro-choice,” says Martin. “The first ‘choice’ she made as a candidate was to choose a right-wing nut as her running mate, someone who favors forcing women who are raped to bear the rapists’ babies. Likewise Bill Brady says he is a moderate who can attract Democrats? He is equally nutty.

“The ultimate corollary of what Brady supports would give rapists custody rights. When you advocate forcing women who are raped or victims of incest to bear babies, as Joe Birkett and Bill Brady do, you are endorsing a situation where judges will ultimately decide that the ‘father’ of a child has custody rights.

“I am astounded by candidates who claim to be ‘pro-marriage’ and ‘pro-family’ who are unable to condemn pregnancies begun by rape and incest. By implication they endorse starting a family by raping a woman or having sex with your daughter. What kind of families do Topinka and Brady support?

“Judy Topinka has bamboozled women with the fraudulent assertion she is pro-choice. In her heart, she may be. But she knuckled under to the right wing as her first campaign decision. Some backbone. If she can’t be trusted to ‘choose’ right when she is a candidate, why should she be trusted to defend choice if she were in the governor’s office?

“There is a fallacy and fraud about Judy Topinka that the media have ignored. Topinka has ‘played’ at the role of ‘moderate’ during an era when she was protested by powerful men, the ‘boys’ she likes to ridicule. Now that Topinka is on her own, and the ‘boys’ are under indictment, she is incapable of standing up to the conservative power structure. Every decision she has made during the primary has been a capitulation to the right wing. Instead of calling Bill Brady what he is, a right-wing nut who also favors custody rights for rapists, Topinka has praised Brady because he has been playing footsie with Judy.

“The reality is that Topinka has no track record making real decisions, and the few decisions she has made since becoming a gubernatorial candidate have been obeisance to the right-wing. Topinka’s popularity as a candidate stems from her lack of making hard decisions, from her service in a powder puff office where the elected official does very little and does not face tough choices.

“Come November, the media will be skewering Topinka and pointing out the very same inconsistencies and fallacies I am pointing out today. They will be endorsing Blagojevich.

“I am sick and tired of the rank hypocrisy on the right about abortion. Extremists, starting from talk show hosts on down, like to blather against abortion. But the minute the tragedy strikes their own families, they run to have an abortion. A friend of mine rants and raves on the radio against abortion. But when his girl friend got pregnant she was marched off to end the pregnancy.

“Abortion should be a medical, not political, issue. I am running to lead this state, and lead it—kicking and screaming—into the 21st century, not back to the 19th. The efforts by some Republicans to divide Americans with abortion politics are regrettable, hypocritical and ensure that we will remain a minority party in Illinois.

“People do not want abortion mills on every street corner. I know I don’t. But they do believe that women of every age should have access to informed and impartial birth control information, and information on how to terminate a pregnancy. If they are comfortable discussing this with their family, praise God. If not, then they should have access to independent assistance, especially in cases of rape and incest.

“To the extent that Topinka has chosen a right-wing running mate, she has forfeited the pro-choice position. She is lying to the public, and the media are lying along with her. It is pathetic to watch, a morality play in reverse. To the extent that Topinka’s ‘partner,’ Birkett, and Bill Brady advocate forcing women to bear babies conceived out of rape or incest, their views are creepy and despicable and outside the mainstream of civilized society.

“As governor, I would work to reduce abortions. But I would word against abortion by empowering the medical community, and shaming parents into dealing with the sexual activity of their children, not by empowering judges, lawyers and prosecutors to politicize and judicialize unwanted pregnancies,” Martin will charge.

“Judy Topinka, Wrong for Illinois, Wrong for the Republican Party. Bill Brady, a right-wing nut case.”

MEDIA CONTACT: Andy Martin Campaign (312) 440-4124

CHICAGO NEWS CONFERENCE DETAILS:

WHO: REPUBLICAN GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE ANDY MARTIN

WHERE: SE corner of Huron and Wabash Streets
(St James cathedral), Chicago

WHEN: Tuesday, March 14, 2006 2:00 P. M.

WHAT: ANDY MARTIN BRINGS ABORTION TO THE FORE, SAYS
JUDY TOPINKA IS NOT “PRO-CHOICE,” SHE AND THE MEDIA
ALONG WITH HER HAVE LIED TO THE PUBLIC; BILL BRADY IS
A “RIGHT-WING NUT”

ANDY MARTIN INTRODUCES “TOPINKA TOAST” ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

(CHICAGO)(February 23, 2006) Chicago Sun-Times editors will be the first to receive “Topinka Toast” today when Republican gubernatorial candidate Andy Martin meets with the Sun-Times editorial board at 11:00 A.M.

Later, Martin will hold a sidewalk news conference at 1:30 P.M. today, February 23rd, to introduce “Topinka Toast” on the campaign trial and to claim that the Topinka for Governor Campaign is “toast.”

“Republicans now have a five-way race for governor. I am sure my three non-Topinka opponents all feel they are going to inherit Judy’s supporters as her campaign slowly slides off into oblivion. I doubt that. Much to the amazement of all of my detractors in the media, I have become an equal player in the gubernatorial campaign. There are good reasons for my ascendancy.

“First, the coverage by some media, such as the Chicago Tribune and WBBM-TV, has been so malignant and unprincipled that it has created a sympathy backlash for me. For decades I have regaled groups with tales from the courtroom, and especially my story of how a colleague saw a client acquitted based on efforts to silence the defendant. The unprofessional behavior of the tribune and Channel 2 has backfired on those organizations.

“Second, I am the only candidate running a real campaign for governor. My opponents spent the entire summer and fall basking in coverage of their campaigns—but did nothing. Mine is the only campaign issuing Strategy Memoranda (oops; one is now long past due) pointing out in detail what we are doing and where we are going, and staying on course and on time.

“Finally, we are the only campaign that knows how to execute. We announced to interviewers such as Scott Fornek and Tom Kacich that we were going to nail Judy, and we did.

“Topinka is desperate. Carol Marin played the gender card for her Wednesday, claiming Topinka is weak because ‘she’s a woman.’ What baloney. There are strong women and there are marshmallows. I have always stated that Topinka was a creation of the media, and I have been proven right. The President’s Day Massacre exposed her as a prisoner of her handlers, ham-handed as they are, and a follower not a leader.

“Judy’s claim to the Sun-Times board that noblesse oblige led her to become a candidate as the ‘only Republican’ is tosh. Judy likes to say ‘If you give us a mousetrap, we’ll use it.’ It is about time she got rid of the mice in her own campaign, with or without a mousetrap.

“In recognition of Judy’s collapse as a candidate we are going to start distributing ‘Topinka Toast’ at Republican gatherings. If a sponsor doesn’t want a vigorous discussion of the issues, we’ll pass up that meeting. We will be giving out whole grain bread because Judy is made of whole cloth.

“In the eyes of the media I may not be the most loveable candidate. But in the eyes of the voters I am becoming known as the only opponent who can seriously take on and Take Down Blagojevich. We nailed Judy; Blago’s next,” Martin will say as he passes out his Topinka Toast.

As a former college professor Martin is also going to issue a homework assignment for the media; go back and read Strategy Memorandum #1 to be ready for #3 (#2 has been skipped due to delay).

This blog is designed to tell Illinois voters the truth about Judy Topinka and her totally useless and ineffective service as a statewide official in Illinois. Topinka has been hiding the truth about her lost decade in Springfield. Illinois "news media" have assisted Topinka in misleading voters by concealing the truth about Judy. It's truth telling time for Topinka: right now, right here, right on!