A new federal investigation into Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.’s finances alleges the Illinois congressman misused campaign funds to redecorate the inside of his Washington, D.C. home.
Three weeks before the election, the feds also are looking into whether Jackson Jr. used money from his House spending account to pay for the home decor, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The Jackson family briefly put the D.C. home on the market last month for $2.5 million. At the time, a family spokesman said they considered selling the home to pay for healthcare costs linked to Jackson’s bi-polar disorder treatment.
Jackson Jr. went on medical leave from his political post in Chicago on June 10. Few details were released until his office confirmed in August Jackson had been receiving treatment for depression.
This new probe is unrelated to allegations Jackson tried to cut a deal with former Gov. Rod Blagojevich to take now-President Barack Obama’s former Senate seat. Those claims are under review by a House Ethics Committee.
As question swirl about whether Jackson Jr. could be indicted before the November election, the WSJ reports Jackson’s lawyers “sought assurances from senior justice department officials” that he would not be indicted before the election. Those officials would not make those assurances, the paper reports.
Jackson’s name remains on the Nov. 6 ballot in the 2nd Congressional District. His wife, Ald. Sandi Jackson, said this month she wasn’t sure when her husband would return.
“I believe at some point in time he will come back,” Ald. Jackson told reporters. “I don’t know whether that will be before the election or after the election, but whenever that happens, we will welcome him.”
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“Jackson’s lawyers “sought assurances from senior justice department officials” that he would not be indicted before the election. Those officials would not make those assurances, the paper reports.”My goodness.He wants to be elected, and then be indicted!Indict him now. Arrest him and have him post bond. Then perhaps the people will not re-elect him.What garbage!
AND THEY WANT THIS GUY TO BE A CONGRESSMAN????
Sean Higgins
The Washington Examiner
In a story on the front page of the Washington Post about the controversies surrounding reclusive Illinois Democratic congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., readers have to wade through 23 paragraphs before they hit the story’s most interesting nugget of information:
The prince [Jackson] was erecting the foundations of a power base, diving into countless local races by endorsing candidates, seeding the region with mayors and other local officials who would be loyal supporters. But he could be mercurial, former associates say. Jackson sometimes boasted that he was a reincarnated Greek chariot driver, [political operative Frank] Coconate said. “I really thought he had a problem with reality,” Coconate said. “He’d get in his own little world. He’d come out with outlandish things.” At one of Jackson’s hangouts — a Turkish bath — he’d prance naked, demonstrating martial arts moves, while the others stayed wrapped in towels, said Frank Avila Jr., a former supporter who is a Democratic operative. (Emphasis added.)
Now, to be fair to Jackson, the Post’s article does say that Coconate and Jackson had a falling out a few years ago, so take the story with a grain of salt. According to Coconate and Avila, Jackson also “called older African American lawmakers ‘plantation Negroes’ and whites were ‘lemonheads.’”
The Post quotes Frank Watkins, a spokesman for Jackson’s congressional office, as saying, “I’ve never heard him [Jackson] say anything remotely like that. It sounds completely foreign to me.”