RSS Feed for This PostCurrent Article

ABC Says Jesse, Jr. is “Senate Candidate 5″

ABCNews says Jesse Jackson, Jr. is “Senate Candidate 5.”

Let’s review the FBI affidavit on “Senate Candidate 5,” shall we?

103. Later on November 10, 2008, ROD BLAGOJEVICH and Advisor A again discussed the open Senate seat. ROD BLAGOJEVICH and Advisor A discussed leaking to the same particular Chicago Sun-Times columnist that ROD BLAGOJEVICH is seriously considering Senate Candidate 5 for the open Senate seat, in order to send a message to the President-elect that there are options for the Senate seat beyond Senate Candidate 1. At the end of the conversation Advisor A agreed to call the Sun Times columnist to leak the story (believed, based on other intercepted conversations, to be untrue), that ROD BLAGOJEVICH had a “long, productive discussion” with Senate Candidate 5 regarding the open Senate seat.

Read the rest ->

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 reelection 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.”)

b. Later on December 4, 2008, ROD BLAGOJEVICH spoke to Fundraiser A. ROD BLAGOJEVICH stated he was “elevating” Senate Candidate 5 on the list of candidates for the open Senate seat. ROD BLAGOJEVICH stated he might be able to cut a deal with Senate Candidate 5 that provided ROD BLAGOJEVICH with something “tangible up front.” ROD BLAGOJEVICH noted he was going to meet with Senate Candidate 5 in the next few days. ROD BLAGOJEVICH told Fundraiser A to reach out to Individual D, an individual who ROD BLAGOJEVICH is attempting to obtain campaign contributions from and who, based on intercepted phone calls, ROD BLAGOJEVICH believes to be close to Senate Candidate 5. ROD BLAGOJEVICH told Fundraiser A to tell Individual D that Senate Candidate 5 was very much a realistic candidate for the open Senate seat, but that ROD BLAGOJEVICH was getting “a lot of pressure” not to appoint Senate Candidate 5. ROD BLAGOJEVICH told Fundraiser A to tell Individual D that ROD BLAGOJEVICH had a problem with Senate Candidate 5 just promising to help ROD BLAGOJEVICH because ROD BLAGOJEVICH had a prior bad experience with Senate Candidate 5 not keeping his word. ROD BLAGOJEVICH told Fundraiser A to tell Individual D that if Senate Candidate 5 is going to be chosen to fill the Senate seat “some of this stuffs gotta start happening now . . .right now. . . and we gotta see it. You understand?” ROD BLAGOJEVICH told Fundraiser A that “you gotta be careful how you express that and assume everybody’s listening, the whole world is listening. You hear me?” ROD BLAGOJEVICH told Fundraiser A to tell Individual D if there is “tangible political support (campaign contributions) like you’ve said, start showing us now.” Fundraiser A stated he will call Individual D on the phone to communicate ROD BLAGOJEVICH’s message. ROD BLAGOJEVICH responded that “I would do it in person. I would not do it on the phone.” ROD BLAGOJEVICH told Fundraiser A to communicate the “urgency” of the situation to Individual D.

Drip, drip, drip. For a clean guy, PEBO certainly surrounds himself with questionable characters. Jesse, Jr, a US Representative from Illinois, has publicly said he is interested in Obama’s seat. Interestingly, the affidavit suggests BO wanted someone else (Senate Candidate 1, widely assumed to be Valerie Jarrett). I wonder if JJJ knew THAT at the time? Or did he expect help from BO in getting the seat? Who knows? What we do know is some of what JJJ did to help BO during the presidential campaign.

He famously linked Hillary to OJ Simpson. Remember that? It was a throw-away line in a WaPo piece last January.

“The natural reminder here is O.J. [Simpson] — how does an African American candidate attack a white woman?” said Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.), a fellow Chicagoan whose father ran for president twice in the 1980s but was never as close as Obama is now to securing the Democratic nomination.

JJJ also mocked Hillary on a down day for her in New Hampshire.

Jesse Jr. What a guy! Ready to use sexism, racism and “pay for play.” And a national co-chair of BO’s presidential campaign. Wonder what the Rev. would say?