House Ethics Committee needs to dig deep into Jackson dealings

Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr.

 Headlines indicated recently that Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. is still being investigated by the House Ethics Committee for his alleged role in trying to leverage a seat in the U.S. Senate by offering funds to ex-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Jackson claims that neither he nor his emissaries ever offered money to ex-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich for the appointment.

Can we believe Jesse Jackson, Jr. and his less than monogamous relationship with the truth?

If the House members believe that Jackson’s role in allegedly trying to buy a U.S. Senate seat is an isolated incident, I certainly hope they probe just a little deeper.

Jackson not only tried to coerce Blagojevich into handing over a seat in the United States Senate, but Jackson also tried to get Blagojevich to hand over land to his self-established airport authority for his pet project, the Peotone Airport.

Jackson has devoted his entire congressional career toward the State of Illinois’ ill-fated effort to build a new airport outside the 2nd congressional district. The latest redistricting, would finally place the Peotone area into Jackson’s grasp. That is, if he wins re-election, which only time and ultimately an election can determine.

Jackson’s campaign website once blatantly included Peotone in a list of communities in the second congressional district. After much criticism, he later corrected it.

In 2007, I was tuned-in to C-Span to watch Jackson’s performance as he sought an earmark of $231,000 in the Financial Services Appropriations bill for “minority and small business development and procurement opportunities.” Jackson painted his usual rosy picture of the proposed airport, which Jackson has dubbed the Abraham Lincoln National Airport. He began talking about how beneficial the project would be to the poorest people of Illinois.

I was angered when I heard Jackson tell his colleagues the airport would abut Ford Heights, one of the poorest community in Illinois. Ford Heights is in Jackson’s district. It is a poor, urban, predominantly black community. It has long been a high crime, blighted area, with high unemployment. In stark contrast, the area where the airport is proposed, is a relatively affluent, predominantly white farming community with low crime and virtually no unemployment. Its economy centers on agriculture. Not only are the two regions geographically far apart, but they might as well be worlds apart politically, socially, and economically. The people who live in the Peotone area are adamantly opposed to the airport Jackson touts. I know. I helped organize an opposition group against the project in 1988.

One of the critics of Jackson’s request earmark was, Congressman John Campbell, R-CA who introduced an amendment to the bill to ban Jackson’s earmark, calling Jackson’s request “federal funding for a phantom airport.”

Campbell’s bill would have stripped taxpayer funding for the Abraham Lincoln National Airport Commission because, as he stated the Abraham Lincoln National Airport doesn’t exist.

He pointed out that in a Jackson press release in Nov. 2006, Jackson said he would not seek federal funds for the airport.

Campbell also questioned the potential conflict in the dual role of Jackson’s Deputy District Administrator Richard Bryant, who is now Jackson’s Chief of Staff. Bryant is also the Executive Director for the Abraham Lincoln National Airport Commission (ALNAC) that Jackson established.

Back in Illinois, ex-Congressman Jerry Weller, R-Morris, in whose district the proposed project would be located, called ALNAC into question when it raised $267,000 to lobby Blagojevich. Weller called the campaign “self-promotion,” because Jackson was eyeing a possible run for the Chicago Mayor’s office. Weller suggested the money be returned “to the impoverished communities.”

Jackson had envisioned that state-owned land, about half of what the state needs for the airport, could be simply turned over to Jackson’s airport commission. An opinion by Attorney General Lisa Madigan, however, issued an opinion that under Illinois law, the state cannot convey property at no cost or for less than fair market value.

These issues are likely just the tip of the iceberg, which is why an intense investigation is warranted.

Jesse Jackson, Jr. in hiding

U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr.

Congressmen, even Jesse Jackson, Jr., are representatives of the people. Therefore, when one of them disappears, the public has a right to know the circumstances. That was stated well in an excellent article written by Carol Marin in the Chicago Sun Times recently.

Marin expressed that Jackson owes an explanation to the people who first hired him as their representative in 1994 and who wants to be rehired for a tenth time in November.

Further, Jackson's famous father Jesse Jackson is a public figure. His wife, Sandi is a Chicago Alderman, making her a public figure as well. Why are they not disclosing the whereabouts and reasons behind Jackson's disappearing act?

On Monday, Jackson's office released a statement that claimed Jackson is suffering from exhaustion, which his office says began June 10.

Curiously, that was just 10 days before Jackson's fundraiser pal, Raghuveer Nayak was hauled out of his home by the FBI and arrested for participating in an alleged kickback scheme involving a number of surgical centers he owns. He was tied to Jackson when Nayak was said to be Jackson's emissary, in offering ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich money in return for Blagojevich's naming Jackson to the U.S. Senate seat formerly occupied by President Barack Obama. Jackson has denied involvement in such a scheme.

Jackson has also claimed his innocence to U.S. ethics investigators who are looking into his using his congressional staff in the fundraising for Blagojevich. The ethics panel is also questioning the ethics behind Nayak's purchasing an airline ticket for Jackson's lady friend. Jackson claims that personal and private matter was not a violation of the House ethics either.

These are not isolated incidents. There have been several issues related to Jackson's proposed Peotone Airport that have been bothersome. Several are outlined in a previous CHBlog post, House ethics committee needs to dig deep into Jackson's dealings.

To those who have watched Jackson use every trick in the book, including bullying tactics, in his quest to build an airport in eastern Will County, Jackson will get little sympathy, no matter what his affliction. Few believe the story that he has any affliction at all; they think he is simply in hiding, either trying to wait out the storm at the very least, or more likely trying to figure a way out of the mess he seems to have gotten himself into.