There's real clout that goes with being the 279th richest man in the world. For instance, you have funds for attorneys that are paid to write letters and sue any organization or person that mentions your name in a negative connotation, no matter how accurate the news reports are and how court records verify them.
Case in point: Yesterday, U.S. Senate candidate Mark Kirk received a letter from Auchi's attorney, demanding he apologize and recant claims repeated from news reports in the Chicago Sun-Times, the New York Times and other independent news sources that have recently sullied up Auchi's reputation.
Even though the New York Times explains in a April 2003 story about Auchi's connections to Saddam Hussein's bank and Auchi's work in buying war vessels for Hussein's regime, Auchi's attorney claims his client is totally innocent. Other stories in British news sources confirm the reports, but Auchi's attorney insists his client did nothing wrong.
Auchi's attorney claims his client was not affiliated with Hussein, and that he spent time in Hussein's prison, and that one of Auchi's brothers was killed by Hussein. He says some news sources have recanted and pulled their stories off their web pages.
However, the New York Times stories on the topic remain, as do The Independent's.
But when a world leader's old U.S. Senate seat is at stake, and his good friend, who loaned Auchi and his real estate developer-partner Tony Rezko $22.75 million in 2006, is involved, it's not a surprise that a candidate dredging up the nasty connection would aggravate and stir the still U.S. banned Auchi to start rumbling about defamation. Especially if the ruckus benefits an old friend's son.
Auchi's attorney writes in the letter to "Mr. Mark Kirk" dated August 10:
We all thought the Kirk-Giannoulias campaign was going to be a nasty one. It just got nastier.
