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| House ethics panel investigating Jesse Jackson Jr. |
| 2009-09-16 |
| WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A House ethics panel says it is investigating allegations against three lawmakers, including Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., who allegedly launched a "public campaign" to be appointed to President Obama's former Senate seat in Illinois. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Illinois, earlier said he's "eager to answer any questions" in the House ethics probe. The preliminary investigation into Jackson's activities by the Office of Congressional Ethics became known in April. At the time, Jackson, a Democrat, issued a statement saying he was cooperating and was "eager to answer any questions and provide any information to the OCE about my actions related to last year's vacant Senate seat." In a statement Tuesday, the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct said it had received a referral on the matter from the ethics office. Transcripts of recordings from former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich "contain statements that an 'emissary' from Representative Jackson had offered to raise money for Blagojevich and provide 'money up-front' if Blagojevich nominated Representative Jackson to the [U.S.] Senate seat vacated by President Obama," the ethics office report said. "If this 'emissary' acted either at the direction of Representative Jackson or with his knowledge and acquiescence, Representative Jackson may have violated federal law and House rules." The other two lawmakers are Reps. Maxine Waters, D-California, and Sam Graves, R-Missouri. The committee issued separate statements for each of them. The statements do not disclose the allegations under investigation. |
| Posted by:GolfBravoUSMC |
| #3 Given that they haven't done anything about Rangel, and the Senate ethics committee gave Dodd a clean bill of health, I doubt Jesse, Jr. has anything to worry about. |
| Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2009-09-16 21:42 |
| #2 Racists! |
| Posted by: Mullah Richard 2009-09-16 18:04 |
| #1 Oxymoron of the week: House ethics panel |
| Posted by: DMFD 2009-09-16 17:52 |