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How Not to Use a Telephone
Zach Roth, being slightly more charitable than I would be, over at TPM Muckraker does the best job of giving some context to this conversation of the absurd.
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Senate Candidate 5 Meets the Office of Congressional Ethics
Remember “Candidate 5″ from the Blagojevich carnival? And remember the Office of Congressional Ethics from attempts by Congress to add another layer to the self-policing ethics process? Well, they’re both back today as the Office of Congressional Ethics (it’s alive!) has opened a preliminary probe into Rep. Jesse “Candidate 5″ Jackson, Jr.
Jackson was named as “Candidate 5″ in the criminal complaint filed earlier in the year against former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, but he is now known as “Candidate A” in the official indictment against the former governor.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times:
The panel has asked parties in the Blagojevich case — including his former gubernatorial staff and campaign staff — to turn over any documents, e-mails, or other correspondence involving Jackson Jr. and his campaign staff; Jackson’s brother, Jonathan, and political fund-raisers Raghuveer Nayak and Rajinder Bedi, lawyers close to the probe told the Sun-Times. The request for information is from June of last year through Dec. 31, 2008.
Nayak, Bedi and Jonathan Jackson attended a Dec. 6 fund-raiser hosted by the Indian community for Friends of Blagojevich. People attending the event have told the Sun-Times that discussions about future fund-raising for Rep. Jackson’s Senate candidacy took place at the function. The ex-governor was arrested three days later on accusations that he tried to sell the Senate seat appointment, among other charges.
The Office of Congressional Ethics can only refer cases to the House Ethics Committee to review further, it cannot issue results from investigations itself. While this fairly inadequate, it is better than the current situation whereby a sitting member of the House must file an ethics complaint against another lawmaker with the House Ethics Committee. Due to fears of retaliation, this would never happen.
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Ethics Committee to “Investigate” Burris
So, the Senate Ethics Committee is going to investigate Sen. Roland Burris for his admission that he sought to raise money for the defrocked former Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich as he was seeking appointment to the state’s open Senate seat. The Ethics Committee is, as most know, a black hole where investigations go to die. Anyone remember that Ethics investigation into Sen. Ted Stevens? That’s right, it never happened.
The whole ethics process in Congress is a joke. Outside observers consistently declare that the process is worthless and appears dead, while lawmakers continue to insist that the ethics process is alive and well. It’s a running gag in Washington. In fact, it’s exactly like this:
While the Ethics Committee continues “pining for the fjords,” I’ll be waiting for the state’s attorney investigation into Burris’ alleged perjury and not the investigation of the late Ethics Committee.
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Burris Steps In It
Sen. Roland Burris revealed that, in contradiction to his sworn affidavit, he sought to raise money for Gov. Rod Blagojevich while seeking appointment to the open Illinois Senate seat. Illinois Republicans are calling for a perjury investigation and Illinois Democrats are also calling for his statements to be examined in the legal arena. Burris is already welcoming investigations by “any and all investigative bodies … to answer questions they have.”
According to Burris’ own, most recent, recollection, he was solicited by the Governor’s brother to raise some campaign cash to the tune of $10,000 or $15,000. Burris attempted to gather his friends and associates together to pool the money for Blagojevich. But, no one wanted to pony up money to the embattled Governor. In effect, Burris failed to deliver the contributions that could help him get the Senate seat.
For a guy with so many accomplishments already listed on his mausoleum, you’d think he could successfully trade campaign cash for a political appointment. This is probably one of the biggest corruption fails since Elliot Abrams accidentally lost $10 million during the Iran-Contra scandal.
Burris’ Senate career could be one of the shortest in history.
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And We’re Back
Happy New Year! The Sunlight blog is back after the holidays and here’s a look back at some stories we missed covering over the past week and a half:
Gov. Rod Blagojevich, man of multiple criminal conspiracies and multiple toupees, appointed former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris to fill the open Senate seat vacated by President-Elect Barack Obama that Blagojevich was wont to sell to the highest bidder. The press conference announcing the pick was one of the best media spectacles of 2008 (and that’s saying a lot). The Senate has threatened to not seat Burris despite varying degrees of legal certainty regarding their power to refuse membership.
The stimulus package is in many ways turning into a bailout for the rest of us (us meaning people – ie: organizations – other than you and me). Zoos, bicycle companies, alternative energy, mayors, eroded beaches, you name it, they’re lobbying for money in the as yet unfinished stimulus package.
‘Twas the season of giving and we the followers of the Charlie Rangel saga were presented with more stories about the embattled Ways and Means Committee Chairman. The New York Times reported that Rangel pushed bailout magnate/insurer AIG for a contribution to the Charles B. Rangel School for Public Service as AIG pushed Rangel for a tax break. They both got what they were asking for. On the more mundane side, Rangel was found to use campaign funds to pay for his parking tickets.
USA Today reported what we already knew, one-third of all top staffers become lobbyists when they leave the halls of Congress.
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Jackson Donor Raised Money for Blago
Yesterday, I was sitting around thinking about how Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. found himself in the predicament that is now in. To begin with, how did Jackson secure a very public meeting with Blagojevich to discuss the open Senate seat. Blagojevich, as one can tell from the criminal complaint, wasn’t just meeting with anyone. Most of the other named candidates were contacted by emissaries from Blagojevich’s circle. Something must have happened between Blagojevich’s people and Jackson’s people that preceded a meeting. Preconditions must have been met.
State Senator Kwame Raoul, who represents President-Elect Obama’s old South Side district, explains that consideration for the Senate seat was contingent on paying-to-play. This was an open secret:
The state senator, Kwame Raoul, who represents the South Side of Chicago, offered few details of his interaction with the governor’s office but said he received a call about a month ago confirming that he was under consideration. Soon afterward, however, Mr. Raoul said he ran head-on into another message: that the governor was looking for a candidate who offered something of tangible value to him.
“It was open knowledge among people in and around Springfield,” Mr. Raoul said. “Legislators and lobbyists alike openly talked about the fact that the governor would want to appoint somebody who would benefit him. I can firmly say that I’ve had these conversations, that I’ve spoken with both legislators and lobbyists who felt that that would be the consideration in his appointment.”
Mr. Raoul would not specifically say what the content of the conversations were, or whom they were with, except that the initial inquiry from the governor’s office was made by Victor Roberson, deputy director for intergovernmental affairs. Interest in his candidacy died on both sides, Mr. Raoul said, adding, “Obviously, the perception was that I didn’t have anything to give other than my service.”
If Raoul is being accurate, we can determine that something happened behind the scenes prior to a meeting between Jackson (Senate Candidate 5) and the governor. Sure enough, “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,” according to the Chicago Tribune. Jackson denies knowing about any emissaries acting on his behalf to raise money for Blagojevich. The inclusion of the congressman’s brother at a fundraiser for Blagojevich, meant to help persuade the governor to pick Jackson, may bring that denial into doubt.
Unfortunately for Jackson, it looks as though people close to him were playing Blagojevich’s game. Jackson’s knowledge of these fundraisers and promises are certainly key to unraveling his involvement.
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Senate Candidate 5: Continued Speculation
UPDATE: ABC News reports, sources finger Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. as Senate Candidate 5.
While there are many unnamed officials and deputy governors in the criminal complaint filed against Gov. Rod Blagojevich, the one getting the most attention is still Senate Candidate 5. According to Christy Hardin Smith at FireDogLake, the Chicago press is discussing the possibility that this unnamed individual could be indicted:
On C-Span’s Washington Journal this morning, Chicago newsman Mike Flannery of WBBM-TV CBS2 had some interesting scuttlebutt. Seems the word on the Chicago streets is that an indictment of Senate Candidate 5 may be a possibility.
Speculation has largely centered around Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., as he was the only known replacement candidate to meet with Blagojevich at times that correspond to the times laid out in the complaint. The only tip in the complaint that makes Jackson somewhat unlikely is that the person offered to raise a large sum of money and Jackson is not known as a good fundraiser. Other possibilities include former State Senate President Emil Jones, a monster fundraiser; State Assemblyman Arthur Turner; Rep. Danny Davis, who has denied; and Rep. Luis Gutierrez, who is facing his own problems. Gutierrez could be a strong underdog here. As the Chicago Tribune article linked to above shows, he isn’t afraid to walk close to the line of unethical behavior.
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More On The Senate Candidates
Apparently, Senate Candidate 3 is Rep. Jan Schakowsky. Senate Candidate 3 was mentioned in passing in the criminal complaint, more as a threat that the Governor would appoint her despite not wanting to.
The possibility of Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. being Senate Candidate 5 keeps getting more attention.
Also, this:
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Many Eyes and Blago
Sunlight’s Bill Allison, at Real Time Investigations, links to a Many Eyes presentation of the Blagojevich criminal complaint. Looking at the visualization makes one thing clear: while the selling of the Senate seat is by far his most audacious activity, the rest of the charges are actually far, far worse. The imperious pressure the Governor put on the Tribune Company to fire editorial board members and staff is reminiscent of a third world dictator. The pay-to-play contract rigging is also horrific. Just look at this:
On October 8, Blagojevich told Individual A that he wanted to obtain a $50,000 contribution from Hospital Executive 1, the chief executive officer of Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago, which had recently received a commitment of $8 million in state funds. When the contribution was not forthcoming, Blagojevich discussed with Deputy Governor A the feasibility of rescinding the funding.
The Governor threatened to close a Children’s Hospital over a $50,000 campaign contribution.
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Who Are Senate Candidates 1-5?
The criminal complaint filed against Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff John Harris names five considered Senate candidates. Most of the mentions of the potential candidates indicates that they were only mentioned in discussions with Blagojevich and Harris and that they were likely unaware of the pay-to-play negotiations going on. Except, maybe, for Senate Candidate 5:
Just last week, on December 4, Blagojevich allegedly told an advisor that he might “get some (money) up front, maybe” from Senate Candidate 5, if he named Senate Candidate 5 to the Senate seat, to insure that Senate Candidate 5 kept a promise about raising money for Blagojevich if he ran for re-election. In a recorded conversation on October 31, Blagojevich claimed he was approached by an associate of Senate Candidate 5 as follows: “We were approached ‘pay to play.’ That, you know, he’d raise 500 grand. An emissary came. Then the other guy would raise a million, if I made him (Senate Candidate 5) a Senator.”
So, who are these Senate Candidates:
Senate Candidate 1: Obama-Biden Transition Adviser Valerie Jarrett
Senate Candidate 2: Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan
Senate Candidate 3: UNKNOWN
Senate Candidate 4: Deputy Gov. Louanner Peters
Senate Candidate 5: UNKNOWN. Possibly, Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr.
UPDATE: Totally missed Senate Candidate 6: A rich person in Illinois
