As President Barack Obama prepares to campaign for failed mob banker Alexi Giannoulias’ (D-IL) U.S. Senate bid, news has surfaced that his family’s bank lent more than $20 million to convicted felon Tony Rezko in yet another scandal.

The Associated Press reported that “Republicans accused Democratic Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias of lending money to a corrupt political insider… Broadway Bank lent $22.75 million to a development company in 2006. One of the company’s owners was Antoin ‘Tony’ Rezko, who was then tied up in a corruption probe that ultimately led to his conviction for shaking down people who wanted to do business with the state.”

While Giannoulias’ campaign adamantly defended the loan to Rezko, stating that, “Broadway Bank made a sound loan and the loan was fully repaid,” the Chicago Sun-Times noted this week that, “By February 2006, businessman and political fixer Tony Rezko was already politically radioactive, caught up in a federal investigation that would see him criminally charged by the end of that year.”

This latest scandal set off a fresh firestorm of reports drawing Giannoulias’ struggling candidacy into question, including reports by WGN News, ABC 7 News, Fox Chicago News, and CLTV News, among others.

Earlier this year, President Obama railed against so-called fat-cat bankers, stating, “Let me be clear: Bankers don’t need another vote in the United States Senate. They’ve got plenty.” However, the President plans to campaign for his could-be successor and mob banker in his home state this week. Obama’s former campaign manager, David Plouffe, also recently defended Giannoulias’ candidacy on a conference call with reporters.

“As President Obama prepares to stump for Alexi Giannoulias, where does he stand on these critical issues regarding his failed record and clear lack of judgment? Does the President still believe that ‘bankers don’t need another vote in the United States Senate,’ or will he welcome a mob banker whose family business was taken over by the FDIC as his successor in Washington? Does President Obama agree that Alexi Giannoulias’ $20 million loan to convicted felon Tony Rezko was ‘a sound loan,’ or does he believe the voters in Illinois have a right to know more about his risky financial practices?” asked National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) spokeswoman Amber Marchand.