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Recently, Judicial Watch released the results of a Judicial Watch-Zogby poll that indicated that 45% of likely American voters are concerned about the corruption that may follow Hillary Clinton to the White House. However as we saw again this week, her chief competitor, Barack Obama, has a few ethics troubles of his own.

Obama apparently met with his chief political and media adviser, David Axelrod, in his Capitol Hill office, although congressional rules forbid the use of federal office space (funded by taxpayers) for any kind of campaign or political activity.

Photo Illustrates More Barack Obama Ethics Issues

A color photo of Obama and his adviser lounging in his plush Senatorial office provides a sharp contrast to his professed dedication to ethics on the campaign trail. This, however, isn’t Obama’s first ethical lapse.

Last month, the press was abuzz over an alleged influence peddling scandal involving Obama. This is how the New York Times described it: “Less than two months after ascending to the United States Senate, Barack Obama bought more than $50,000 worth of stock in two speculative companies whose major investors included some of his biggest political donors. One of the companies was a biotech concern that was starting to develop a drug to treat avian flu. In March 2005, two weeks after buying about $5,000 of its shares, Mr. Obama took the lead in a legislative push for more federal spending to battle the disease.”

Obama was also involved in a questionable real estate deal with Antoin “Tony” Rezko, an indicted political fundraiser. Obama approached Rezko with the idea to simultaneously purchase adjoining lots in Southside Chicago. Rezko obliged. Obama obtained his lot for a reduced price. Rezko later sold a portion of his property to Obama. All of this took place while Rezko was the subject of a federal corruption investigation. Later, Obama simply dismissed it as a poor judgment call.

There is a fine line between a string of “questionable judgments” and corruption. Has Obama crossed it?

Tom Fitton is president of Judicial Watch, Inc., a conservative, non-partisan educational foundation that promotes transparency, accountability and integrity in government, politics and the law.