Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Feds want to know what Rep. Jackson knows

|
|
 
  
Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL) leaves a press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington on December 10, 2008. Jackson Jr. is rumored to be "Senate Candidate Five" out of six candidates involved in a bribery scandal with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich for the Illinois Senate seat, to be vacated by President-elect Barack Obama. Jackson Jr. denied he was involved in bribery. (UPI Photo/Alexis C. Glenn) 
License photo
Published: Dec. 12, 2008 at 7:00 AM

CHICAGO, Dec. 12 (UPI) -- Federal officials say they want to talk to U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. about "pay-to-play" allegations in the scandal surrounding the Illinois governor.

Jackson, the Illinois congressman and son of civil rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson, has denied any wrongdoing in the federal corruption probe of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, accused of trying to peddle President-elect Barack Obama's U.S. Senate seat among other things.

Jackson said he is to meet with investigators, possibly as early as Friday, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

Transcripts of wiretaps released Tuesday when Blagojevich was arrested include an exchange in which Blagojevich talks about an "emissary of Senate Candidate 5" offering to raise at least $1 million in campaign contributions for the governor in exchange for being appointed to the vacant seat, sources told the Sun-Times. Jackson has identified himself as the "Senate Candidate 5" listed in Blagojevich's criminal complaint.

Jackson on Wednesday denied sending "a message or an emissary" or offering a deal for the seat and that federal investigators told him he wasn't a target of an investigation. Jackson said he met with Blagojevich Monday to discuss his qualifications for the seat.

A source in Blagojevich's camp told the Sun-Times Thursday that representatives of Jackson approached Blagojevich's brother and campaign finance chairman about the open seat.

The "emissary" hasn't been identified. Jackson's father said in a statement Thursday he isn't the person.

Topics: Jesse Jackson, Rod Blagojevich, U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson
© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
Notable deaths of 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee AmfAR Cinema Against AIDS gala
Indianapolis 500 Presidential Medal of Freedom Memorial Day around the nation
Additional Top News Stories
1 of 27
Snigdha Nandipati of San Diego wins Finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee
View Caption
Snigdha Nandipati of San Diego, California watches confetti rain down as she wins the two-day Scripps National Spelling Bee championship, May 31, 2012, in National Harbor, Maryland. Nandipati successfully spelled the word .* guetapens *, meaning to lure or ambush. UPI/Mike Theiler
fark
New book is full of girls in their bedrooms, will be read by people who need to have a seat right...
★☆☆☆☆ Michigan is an uninhabitable swamp. Do not settle
As part of the Queen's jubilee celebrations, Top Gear presenter James May has built a contraption...
New, comprehensive data on all the reasons why people break-up. Bad news for Farkers: drinking too...
There is finally a car that's more dangerous to rear-end than a Ford Pinto
Here is the full list of 2012 hurricane names. Wait... Hurricane Kirk?