Free Republic

On Tuesday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “America Reports,” Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-IL) claimed that Haitians trying to come to the U.S. “were met with whips and chains from like a bygone era and turned away.” Jackson later acknowledged after being corrected that Border Patrol agents didn’t whip migrants, but it “was a far cry from give me your poor, your tired, your huddled masses that yearn to breathe free.” Jackson stated, “We’ve got a gentleman named Barbecue…in Haiti. … We can’t go in there and shore up what should be our longest, oldest ally in this hemisphere, Haiti,...

fundraiser held by Indian-American businessmen three days before Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was arrested on corruption charges emerged Friday as a potentially key event in the federal investigation into whether he tried to sell President-elect Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat. Questions are being raised about last Saturday's event for Blagojevich because Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.'s brother, Jonathan, was among those attending. The Indian community has a long history of supporting the Jackson family's political aspirations, and the congressman has been clear about his interest in succeeding Obama.

As Gov. Rod Blagojevich was trying to pick Illinois' next U.S. senator, businessmen with ties to both the governor and U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. discussed raising at least $1 million for Blagojevich's campaign as a way to encourage him to pick Jackson for the job, the Tribune has learned. Blagojevich made an appearance at an Oct. 31 luncheon meeting at the India House restaurant in Schaumburg sponsored by Oak Brook businessman Raghuveer Nayak, a major Blagojevich supporter who also has fundraising and business ties to the Jackson family, according to several attendees and public records. Two businessmen who attended...

Judicial Watch represents Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson in claims against Jackson (Washington, DC) Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes corruption, today announced that on January 17, 2006, Jesse Lee Peterson, et al., v. Jesse Jackson, et al. (BC 266505) will go to trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court after a ruling last week by Judge George H. Wu. Judicial Watch filed the lawsuit against Jackson, his son Jonathan, and others on behalf of Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, who was the victim of a physical and verbal assault at an event hosted by Jackson’s Rainbow/PUSH Coalition...