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The Sunlight Foundation Blog
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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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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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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
