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Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s camp was told last year that U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) would raise up to $5 million in campaign cash for the ex-governor if he was appointed to President Obama’s U.S. Senate seat, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned. The overture came from at least two members of the local Indian community who approached the Blagojevich fund-raising team last fall, sources say. Besides the $5 million to be raised by Jackson, the proposal also included another $1 million for Blagojevich’s campaign fund that would come from Indian donors, sources say. This is the first revelation that...

A congressional ethics panel has opened a preliminary inquiry into Illinois Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.'s role in the scandal surrounding the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President Barack Obama, the Democratic lawmaker said Wednesday. Mr. Jackson said he is cooperating with the review by the Office of Congressional Ethics. The panel is looking into his communications with former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who was indicted last week on charges of widespread corruption, including allegations that Mr. Blagojevich tried to sell Mr. Obama's former Senate seat to the highest bidder. "I was notified last week about the inquiry and am eager...

Report: Ethics to probe Rep. Jesse Jackson By Ian Swanson Posted: 04/08/09 09:34 AM [ET] The new congressional ethics office has launched a preliminary inquiry into Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.), according to a report in the Chicago Sun-Times. The Sun-Times reports the inquiry is related to the corruption investigation of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D), who was impeached after allegations he sought to sell President Obama’s vacant Senate seat to the highest bidder. Jackson was interested in the Senate appointment, but has not been accused of any wrongdoing. Roland Burris (D) eventually won the appointment and was seated in...

A congressional ethics board has launched a preliminary inquiry into U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill), related to President Obama’s vacant Senate seat and the corruption investigation of ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned. The Office of Congressional Ethics, formed just last year, voted in late March to conduct a “preliminary review,” of actions surrounding Jackson’s bid to be appointed to the Senate seat, according to documents released by the office. The committee launched the action Thursday — the same day Blagojevich was indicted on corruption charges. The panel has asked parties in the Blagojevich case —...

Federal authorities have asked U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson (D.-Ill) why former Gov. Rod Blagojevich believed he would get campaign cash in exchange for appointing Jackson to President Obama's vacant Senate seat, sources told the Sun-Times. More than a week ago, Jackson and his criminal defense lawyer sat down for an interview with investigators in connection with the ongoing corruption probe of the now-indicted Blagojevich. Among the areas of interest, sources say, was what Jackson told his representatives to convey to the Blagojevich camp on his behalf last year -- a time Jackson sought the Senate seat appointment. And, in a...

A report at the link below states that: Top Senate Democrat Harry Reid (pictured) made it clear who he didn’t want in the post: Jesse Jackson, Jr., Danny Davis or Emil Jones. Rather, Reid called Blagojevich to argue he appoint either state Veterans Affairs chief Tammy Duckworth or Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan. Jesse Jackson, Jr., Danny Davis and Emil Jones are all three black. Reid’s choices are Lisa Madigan who is white and Tammy Duckworth is Vietnamese. Harry Reid says he is concerned about the ability of the appointee to win election in 2010. However, there will always be...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich in early December to discuss the seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama, his spokesman said. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid didn't want Rep. Jesse Jackson in the Senate, a point he made clear to Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich in a conversation about filling Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Imagine for a moment the Senate was currently controlled by Republicans, and the white male majority leader advised Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich not to pick a black candidate to fill president-elect Barack Obama's vacated seat instead pressuring the governor to choose between two white candidates, do you think this would get some media attention? Probably every hour on the hour until the white majority leader was forced to apology and conceivably resign, right? Well, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Saturday who Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told Blagojevich he did and didn't support concerning Obama's replacement, and irrespective of their...

Days before Gov. Blagojevich was charged with trying to sell President-elect Barack Obama's U.S. Senate seat to the highest bidder, top Senate Democrat Harry Reid made it clear who he didn’t want in the post: Jesse Jackson, Jr., Danny Davis or Emil Jones. Rather, Reid called Blagojevich to argue he appoint either state Veterans Affairs chief Tammy Duckworth or Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, sources told the Chicago Sun-Times.

Days before Gov. Blagojevich was charged with trying to sell President-elect Barack Obama's U.S. Senate seat to the highest bidder, top Senate Democrat Harry Reid made it clear who he didn’t want in the post: Jesse Jackson, Jr., Danny Davis or Emil Jones. Rather, Reid called Blagojevich to argue he appoint either state Veterans Affairs chief Tammy Duckworth or Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, sources told the Chicago Sun-Times. Sources say the Senate majority leader pushed against Jackson and Davis — both democratic congressmen from Illinois — and against Jones — the Illinois Senate president who is the political godfather...

<p>CHICAGO -- An attorney for Gov. Rod Blagojevich has asked the Illinois House committee considering whether to impeach the governor to subpoena more than a dozen witnesses, including President-elect Barack Obama's incoming chief of staff and a senior adviser.</p> <p>State Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie said Thursday that the House committee received a letter from Blagojevich attorney Ed Genson asking it to subpoena Rep. Rahm Emanuel, Valerie Jarrett and more than a dozen others, including Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.</p>

CHICAGO ( A small fire started at the home of U. S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. early Wednesday on the South Side. At 12:15 a.m. Chicago Fire Department's truck 49, Engine 126 and Battalion Chief 17 responded to a fire in the 2500 block of East 72nd Street, police said. A still alarm was called for the small fire, according to Fire Media Affairs Cmdr. Will Knight.

CHICAGO — An attorney for the Illinois governor has asked the legislative committee considering whether to impeach the governor to subpoena President-elect Barack Obama's incoming chief of staff and a senior adviser. Ed Genson told the Chicago Sun-Times for a report published on Thursday that testimony from Rahm Emanuel, Valerie Jarrett — and Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. — would help Gov. Rod Blagojevich's claim that he did nothing wrong in trying to fill Obama's vacant Senate seat. Jackson, possibly "Senate Candidate 5" in federal court documents in the case, has said he did not try to cut a pay-to-play deal...

Lawyers for embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich want two key aides to President-elect Barack Obama and U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. subpoenaed, according to Chicago media reports. Blagojevich's legal team has asked the Illinois House panel that members of Obama's incoming administration testify before the House impeachment committee, including Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett, WBBM-TV and the Chicago Sun-Times reported late Wednesday. Ed Genson, Blagojevich's chief lawyer, said testimony from the aides will prove the governor's insistence that he did nothing illegal to fill Obama's now vacant U.S. Senate seat. The news comes days after...

The Chicago Tribune gives both Rod Blagojevich and Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr some bad news.  “Individual D”, the person pressured by the Illinois governor to cough up some cash for Jackson’s appointment to the Senate, has requested immunity from Patrick Fitzgerald in return for cooperation: A key figure in Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s alleged scheme to sell a U.S. Senate seat has sought immunity from federal authorities in return for his cooperation in their ongoing probe, the Tribune has learned.Raghuveer P. Nayak, an Oak Brook businessman and political fundraiser, is the unnamed “Individual D” who prosecutors say was being squeezed by...

Businessman and political fundraiser Raghuveer P. Nayak is Individual D in the federal complaint, sources said. Individual D was being squeezed by the governor for campaign cash, according to prosecutors, in order to appoint Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) to the Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama. Investigators appeared at Nayak's home in Oak Brook, a Chicago suburb, the morning the FBI arrested Blagojevich, the sources said. Federal agents that day contacted a number of people connected to the case. Nayak has not been accused of wrongdoing. He declined to comment for this article.

What really happened with Jackson Jr., feds Congressman talked with authorities about Blagojevich but never met them face-to-face December 22, 2008 There has been a lot reported about U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.'s cooperation with authorities since Jackson's name surfaced in the investigation of Gov. Blagojevich's alleged scheme to sell the Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama. But some reports seem to have drawn too much from Jackson's initial statements that he'd been helping federal authorities look into possible wrongdoing by the governor. Some news reports strayed so far that Jackson's spokesman, Kenneth Edmonds, felt the need to clarify...

Got corruption? Get Jesse Junior G-Man John Kass December 19, 2008 Click here to find out more! With so much news on the impeachment of Gov. Rod Blagojevich, I almost missed an incredible aspect of this amazing case: The Jesse Junior G-Man Task Force to Fight Political Corruption thing. So I called the federal building in Chicago and asked for the Jesse Junior G-Man Task Force. "Pardon me?" asked a female federal employee. Don't be obtuse. It's been all over the national TV news, U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Bud Light) working with the feds to fight corruption. So connect...

But out of vindictiveness, did Jackson then decide to entrap Blagojevich by getting him to ask for money in exchange for giving Jackson the Illinois Senate seat? Did he intend to report the crime to Patrick Fitzgerald? Or was the price just more than Jackson could pay for the favor, and was he overheard on wiretaps arguing about the price? If Jackson had been fully cooperating with U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald in setting up Blagojevich (and Jackson's spokesman says he wasn't), it seems unlikely that he would call a press conference to protest his innocence. More likely he would just...

Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) told federal investigators that Gov. Rod Blagojevich asked for a $25,000 campaign contribution during Blagojevich's 2002 run for governor and may have exacted retribution when the money did not arrive, a political source close to Jackson said Tuesday. After Blagojevich (D) won, he considered and rejected Jackson's wife, Sandi, for the job of state lottery director, the source said. Later, the governor saw Rep. Jackson at an event in Washington and, according to the source, told him he bet Jackson regretted not paying up. *snip* Impeachment committee members remain uncertain what evidence U.S. Attorney...