The muck in Chicago may be very, very deep, indeed. It appears that Candidate #5 is none other than Jesse Jackson, Jr. This is what the Feds filed in the complaint against Rod Blagojevich regarding Candidate #5:
a. On December 4, 2008, ROD BLAGOJEVICH spoke to Advisor B and
informed Advisor B that he was giving Senate Candidate 5 greater consideration for the
Senate seat because, among other reasons, if ROD BLAGOJEVICH ran for re-election
Senate Candidate 5 would “raise[] money” for ROD BLAGOJEVICH, although ROD
BLAGOJEVICH said he might “get some (money) up front, maybe” from Senate Candidate
5 to insure Senate Candidate 5 kept his promise about raising money for ROD
BLAGOJEVICH. (In a recorded conversation on October 31, 2008, ROD BLAGOJEVICH
described an earlier approach by an associate of Senate Candidate Five as follows: “We were
approached ‘pay to play.’ That, you know, he’d raise me 500 grand. An emissary came.
Then the other guy would raise a million, if I made him (Senate Candidate 5) a Senator.”)
Now Jackson denies any “pay for play” deals. But it sure sounds like someone was making offers on his behalf, doesn’t it? Here’s the ABC News story with Jackson’s denials:
Jackson Jr.’s attorney James Montgomery confirmed that the Chicago congressman is “Senate Candidate #5″ but said “Jackson has never authorized anyone to seek the Governor’s support in return of money, fundraising or other things of value.”
Jackson said “I don’t know” when asked if he was Candidate #5 earlier this morning, but said he was told “I am not a target of this investigation.”
At a press conference this afternoon, Jackson Jr. did not comment on “Senate Candidate #5″ but said he has done nothing wrong.
“I reject and denounce pay-to-play politics and have no involvement whatsoever in any wrongdoing,” said Jackson Jr. He added that he never sent a message nor an emissary to Blagojevich to make an offer or plead his case. “I thought mistakenly that the process was fair,” he said.
There are an awful lot of strings to pull in this case. If the Feds unravel the entire twisted mess, it appears likely that more than a few names will be tarnished. Or people jailed.
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Why is anyone surprised about this story? It’s just the usual Chicago politics at work. Maybe that’s why these Illinois Democrats seemed so blase about saying this stuff over the phone and loudly discussing it in public offices – they don’t see anything unusual about this. As far as they’re concerned that’s the way politics has always worked, isn’t it? Keep in mind that in addition to Blagojevich, the Obamessiah is also an alumni of the Chicago political machine. Perhaps that’s why his campaign saw nothing wrong with the voter and campaign financing fraud that was rampant in his campaign?