Now on to Rep. Jesse Jackson (D-IL):
Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. said Wednesday he openly sought appointment to Barack Obama’s Senate seat but denied offering favors in return to Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and said he was not involved “whatsoever in any wrongdoing.”
A lawyer for Jackson acknowledged that the Illinois Democrat is “Senate Candidate 5” in the 76-page federal complaint filed against Blagojevich, who was arrested Tuesday. Wiretapped conversations suggest Blagojevich felt the candidate would raise campaign money for him in exchange for being appointed to the Senate seat vacated by the president-elect.
Jackson, a seven-term House member and son of civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, told reporters in Washington that he spoke with the U.S. attorney’s office Tuesday.
“They shared with me that I am not a target of the investigation and that I am not accused of any misconduct,” said Jackson, who left the crowded session without taking questions.
U.S. attorney’s spokesman Randall Samborn would not confirm or deny Jackson’s assertions.
One thing seems to be certain, this scandal will re-work Illinois politics – no one can possibly say how this will shake out, but it can be said with certainty that no one should think that anything is certain for Illinois over the next two to four years. Heck, if anyone wants to start a third party, Illinois is the place to be right now. With a Democratic governor set to join his GOP predecessor in jail, both parties are at a low ebb in the public estimation.
The MSM will continue to do all it can to spare Obama any trouble over this, but the house of cards is collapsing in Illinois and the thing no one yet knows is who will roll over on everyone else in order to get leniency. Obama is very connected to all of these Illinois pols caught in this web of corruption – he can stay out of it, but it will take a great deal of finesse and the absolute ability of Obama to not be directly connected to any shady dealings over the past three or four years (beyond that it can be classed as “old news” – still a problem, but not a deadly political problem).
For the nation as a whole, this is our chance to really go after corruption in politics – for too long, those who are in politics have forgotten who they work for, and with Democrats giving their own a pass on corruption, the Democratic party has especially become the home of “pay for play” of various stripes. We, the people, should insist on a full investigation of all government – regardless of cost and let the chips fall where they may, a team of prosecutors should be empowered to look into corruption right, left and center and bring to justice those who have betrayed the public trust.
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