The Reason Behind the Jacksons’ Narrow Denials?

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I noted the other day that Jesse Jackson Jr’s denial of involvement in Blago’s pay-to-play games was very narrow: he denied being personally involved, and said that he had not authorized others to make offers to Blago for him.

I want to make this fact plain: I reject and denounce pay-to- play politics and have no involvement whatsoever in any wrongdoing. I did not initiate or authorize anyone, at any time, to promise anything to Governor Blagojevich on my behalf.

I never sent a message or an emissary to the governor to make an offer, to plead my case, or to propose a deal about a U.S. Senate seat, period.

Maybe this explains why those denials are so narrow. The Trib reports that Blago and Jackson-family fundraiser Raghuveer Nayak met on October 31–the day when Blago was recorded as talking about having been approached by an emissary from JJJ.

Blagojevich made an appearance at an Oct. 31 luncheon meeting at the India House restaurant in Schaumburg sponsored by Oak Brook businessman Raghuveer Nayak, a major Blagojevich supporter who also has fundraising and business ties to the Jackson family, according to several attendees and public records.

And Saturday, Nayak co-sponsored a fund-raiser for JJJ which was understood by some attendees to be tied to JJJ’s bid to be appointed Senator.

That meeting led to a Blagojevich fundraiser Saturday in Elmhurst, co-sponsored by Nayak and attended by Jesse Jackson Jr.’s brother, Jonathan, as well as Blagojevich, according to several people who were there. Nayak and Jonathan Jackson go back years and the two even went into business together years ago as part of a land purchase on the South Side.

Perhaps not surprisingly, those close to JJJ are now repeating his narrow denials.

Jackson’s congressional spokesman Rick Bryant said Thursday that Nayak is a "family friend and supporter" of the congressman as well as his well-known father, Rev. Jesse Jackson. The congressman and Nayak have spoken about Jackson’s desire to succeed Obama.

"He has talked to [Nayak] about the Senate seat and he has mentioned his interest," Bryant said of his boss. "But he never asked him to do anything."

Jackson’s newly retained attorney, James Montgomery, said Wednesday he could not rule out that such possibilities were discussed with Blagojevich by people who did not have his client’s blessing.

Read more →

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Fools On Hill Put Bullet In The Heartbeat Of America; World Markets Tank

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The last 7-10 days have given us multiple Congressional hearings, press conferences, statements by belligerent bloviating blowhards, outrage, fear and uncertainty in the public over the precarious state of the American auto industry. Last night it all culminated in a shameless show by Senate Republicans who decided to crater the world economy instead of agreeing to provide what, at least by current Washington standards, is a nominal loan to American automakers. Today the reality of their action, actually lack thereof, has already set in. From The Guardian:

Stockmarkets tumbled around the world after a $14bn (£10bn) bail-out package for the struggling US car industry collapsed last night.

The London market followed Asian shares into the red. The FTSE 100 index fell nearly 180 points in early trading, a drop of 4%, and later traded down 140 points at 4248.

Dow Jones futures were down more than 250 points, pointing to a fall on Wall Street when it opens later today. There could be more bad news for the US economy when official figures are released this afternoon, which are expected to show a sharp fall in retail sales in November.
…
The news triggered a sharp fall in share prices in Asia, with Japan’s Nikkei closing down 5.6% at 8235.87 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng tumbled 5.5% to 14,758.39. Also hurting Asian markets were new figures showing Japanese consumer confidence falling to a record low, while India’s industrial output posted its first annual drop since 1995.

The only ray of hope in this morass of stupid was pointed out by Ian Welsh last night, namely the Bush White House may now have to lend the auto companies the money through TARP. Ian noted this from CNN Money:

Bush officials warned wavering GOP senators that if they didn’t support the legislation, the White House will likely be forced to tap the Wall Street bailout to lend them money, two Republican congressional officials told CNN earlier…

…One of the sources said the a White House official made clear to a GOP Senator that would be the worst option, because the loan could go to the auto companies with few or no requirements along with it.

That would certainly be the smart thing for Bush to do because it is not just General Motors, heretofore the Heartbeat of America, that is being killed, it may well be the worldwide auto industry. From Bloomberg:

GM plunged 28 percent in Germany, Read more →

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Jesse Jackson Jr’s Dad Gets a Lawyer, Too

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In news that is very ominous for Candidate 5 and his family, Jesse Jackson Jr is not the only one who has lawyered up since Blago’s arrest on Tuesday. Jesse Jackson Sr has done so too (h/t nextstopchicago and choochmac).

Also, the congressman’s father, Jesse Jackson Sr., has retained legal council following the Blagojevich arrest. 

Given the fact that Blago claimed last week that he was first approached by an emissary of JJJ with a monetary deal for the senate seat before the election, and given the high likelihood that the Feds taped the meeting between JJJ and Blago on Monday, I’d say the Reverend’s lawyering up is very ominous indeed.

Update: There are three (maybe just two, given Blago’s ramblings) people named in the complaint with ties to JJJ:

Associate of SC 5: Approached Blago with a “pay to play” offer
Emissary: The one who delivered the Associate’s message (may be Associate, may not be)
Individual D: Blago tried to get campaign donations from him in the last several days, Blago believes D is close to JJJ

Obviously, Jesse Jackson Sr couldn’t be Individual D (since there’s no question they’re close). Which suggests if he’s named in the complaint, he’s Associate or Emissary. Of course, it’s perfectly likely that JJ Sr had contacts with Blago not mentioned on the tapes–which may well be perfectly innocent–but that he has retained counsel as a precautionary measure before he goes to Fitz to reveal those contacts.

Update: I’ve changed the title of this. A couple of readers suggested I was using the term improperly. I think the usage in the blogosphere is somewhat different, but I recognize that their point about general usage is fair. So I’m changing it to make sure I make it clear that we have every reason to believe that Jesse Sr. is willing to cooperate with federal investigators. 

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Withdrawing Jarrett’s Candidacy as an F-U to Blagojevich

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The WSJ notices something I pointed out Tuesday. There was a two-hour meeting on November 10 at which Blago’s team tried to concoct a way to get Obama’s team to give something of value in exchange for Valerie Jarrett’s appointment to replace Obama as Senator. Here’s my version:

Then, on November 10, Blago appeared to have gotten his first rebuff from the Obama team. On that day, Blago and his aides (and his wife), including Advisor B, had a two hour conference call with advisors in DC, brainstorming ways they could "monetize" the Senate seat. At one point, Blago said that he would appoint Jarrett,"but if they feel like they can do this and not fucking give me anything . . . then I’ll fucking go [Senate Candidate 5].” At that point, Blago’s already incensed at Obama, saying, "“motherfucker [Obama] his senator. Fuck him. For nothing? Fuck him.” […] By November 11, […] Blago said, “they’re not willing to give me anything except appreciation. Fuck them," it seems Obama has clearly already rebuffed Blago’s efforts.  And by the 12th, public reports had Jarrett announcing she didn’t want the seat.

The WSJ corrects my version, though, in one respect: it points out that CNN reported the night of the 10th that Jarrett withdrew her candidacy. Here’s CNN:

Two Democratic sources close to President-elect Barack Obama tell CNN that top adviser Valerie Jarrett will not be appointed to replace him in the U.S. Senate.

"While he (Obama) thinks she would be a good senator, he wants her in the White House," one top Obama advisor told CNN Monday.

But I think the WSJ asks the wrong question about the coincidence of these events. It asks,

But the big question today is this: Were any members of his transition team among the "Washington advisers" on the line during this marathon conference call, or did one of the participants fill them in about these wild ideas?

[snip]

At a bare minimum, the timing of Team Obama’s decision to remove Ms. Jarrett’s name from contention, or at least to remove her name from the public speculation about the post, seems extraordinarily lucky. It came on the very same day the FBI secretly recorded Mr. Blagojevich telling a huge conference call loaded with politicos, in Illinois and Washington, that he wasn’t about to give the Senate spot away for nothing.

Read more →

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Jesse Jackson Jr. Met Blagojevich in the Latter’s Office: Were They Taped?

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Keep in mind, as you’re reading Jesse Jackson Jr’s statement from yesterday, that they met in Blagojevich’s office on Monday.

The media saw me enter the governor’s office. And after a 90-day [sic] meeting about my record, my qualifications, the media saw me exit Governor Blagojevich’s office. 

Jackson doesn’t say in which office he met with Blago. That is, he doesn’t say (and the coverage of the meeting doesn’t say) whether or not he met with Blago in his campaign office–which we know with certainty is bugged.

But regardless of which office they met in, what do you think the odds are that the FBI listened in on that meeting?

The complaint makes no mention of Monday’s meeting between Jackson and Blago–aside from describing Blago, before the fact, explaining to aides that it was going to happen. It couldn’t have! The complaint is dated December 7–Sunday, the day before the Blago-Jackson meeting, and two days before they actually used it.

We do know, however, that the FBI had been able to get bugging devices approved and installed in a few days earlier in this case, because that’s how long it took them to install the bug in Blago’s campaign office in time for a long meeting with John Wyma. 

Now, Jackson should have at least suspected that their meeting Monday might be taped, since the Trib broke the story that the governor was being taped on Friday. Though that story suggested that John Wyma was wearing a wire (which is what Blago seemed to think was occurring, as he referred to people "wearing taping devices")–it never revealed that Blago’s campaign office was bugged.

Federal investigators recently made covert tape recordings of Gov. Rod Blagojevich in the most dramatic step yet in their corruption investigation of him and his administration, the Tribune has learned.

As part of this undercover effort, one of the governor’s closest confidants and former aides cooperated with investigators, and that assistance helped lead to recordings of the governor and others, sources said.

The cooperation of John Wyma, 42, one of the state’s most influential lobbyists, is the most stunning evidence yet that Blagojevich’s once-tight inner circle appears to be collapsing under the pressure of myriad pay-to-play inquiries.

That’s what Jackson would have known when he walked into his meeting on Monday; he knows far more now. 

So consider the possibility that Jackson now believes (or knows for certain) their meeting was taped on Monday when he spoke yesterday, but may not have on Monday. That raises the possibility that Jackson was trying to set expectations about what occurred in that meeting (though the only thing that Jackson describes that might be ambiguous is his discussion of service). 

I did not know that the process had been corrupted. Read more →

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The First Jesse Jackson Jr-Related Blagojevich Contact Was Before October 31

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Here’s a detail I just noticed. Earlier, I said the first date in Fitz’s Senate Seat Sale timeline was on November 3.

But that’s not right. In his discussion of a December 4 conversation Blago had, Fitz wrote:

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 re-election 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.”)

In other words, Fitz’s Senate Seat Sale chronology actually starts four days earlier than it appears to, on October 31.

The sentence is convoluted, but what I think it says is: On October 31, Blago was recorded saying that he had already been approached by a Jesse Jackson Jr. associate saying that (and here’s where I get lost) the associate would raise half a million–and possibly that someone else would raise a million–if JJJ were named Senator.

This detail is important for several reasons. First, it shows that the chronology that Fitz appears to show us, starting on November 3, leaves out earlier known discussion(s) about selling the seat (which reiterates my point that Fitz is showing us primarily the attempts to deal to Obama–and not any other potential conversations about the seat. It suggests Fitz may have more relating to JJJ’s emissaries (certainly, JJJ remained an active candidate to replace Obama between October 31 and today).

This looks even worse for JJJ than the appearance that someone approached Blago more recently–in the last week or so.

But remember–this still does not directly implicate JJJ. It is Blago’s representation of what someone associated with JJJ had said. Given JJJ’s narrow denial today (that he hadn’t authorized anyone to make deals with Blago), it suggests that JJJ insists he did not know of this offer. 

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Blagojevich’s SEIU Contact NOT Andy Stern

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Not This Man

Not This Man

My NPR station reported earlier today that the SEIU contact that Blagojevich spoke with–referenced in the complaint–was not Andy Stern. NPR said it was Tom Balanoff, President of SEIU Local 1.

A senior advisor to the SEIU has confirmed to me that the contact in the complaint is not Stern, though he could not confirm that it was Balanoff.

The SEIU advisor also told me that SEIU proactively contacted Fitzgerald’s office. I guess that was the same conversation when, according to SEIU’s earlier statement, Fitz asked SEIU not to share any information at that time.

I guess all those nutters trying to take down Obama and Stern are going to have to work harder to make a mountain out of a molehill. 

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Weeds, For Mark Ambinder

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I will leave it to those with much finer senses of snark than me to slam that crappy reporting of the NYT.

But this post from Mark Ambinder got my weed whacker out of whack, so I wanted to point out a few details for Ambinder, who is usually not so sloppy.

First, Ambinder crowns the guy who turned in Blago’s Senate seat sale as the most powerful guy around.

The most powerful person in Illinois politics is not David Axelrod. Not Valerie Jarrett. Not either the Daleys. Not either of the Madigans. Not Patrick Fitzgerald. It’s the person who dropped a dime on Rod Blagojevich, and it’s all the people who have information that Fitzgerald might be interested in. Someone dropped a dime on the Senate seat matter. Someone got fed up with the pettiness and went to the U.S. Attorney

Given the timeline, that "most powerful person in Illinois" appears to have been an FBI agent, listening to wiretaps placed at least a week before the "pettiness" in question began. I’m all in favor of celebrating the FBI’s work on this case. But it doesn’t mean that FBI agent is the most powerful woman in the room right now.

Then there’s this muddle.

Note: Fitzgerald didn’t seem to say, or didn’t say at all, that having a full and public accounting from the Obama team about their Blago contacts would damage his investigation.  Randal Samborn — am I wrong? Greg Craig? In fact, whereas, in the Valerie Plame investigation, President Bush may have been tangentially involved, or at least had an inkling that subordinates of his were involved, Obama does not have the same constraints.  There is no legal reason why he can’t comment, speculate, or engage in idle rumors on this whole turn of events. This isn’t to suggest that Obama should make off-the-cuff remarks about this or not take it seriously… it’s just that there doesn’t seem to be the same (veneer of a) legal justification for not doing so.

Mind you, I certainly agree that it would behoove Obama to get further out in front of this than he has thus far done. Read more →

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Jesse Jackson Jr. Press Conference

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Short version: Jackson uses this as a campaign commercial, he makes a narrow denial about the conversations of his supporters with Blago, makes a categorical statement saying he (personally) hadn’t met with Blago for four years, and he refuses to take questions. 

[Starts by expressing outrage at the pay to play schemes.]

The people of IL deserve better. 

The governor should resign and forfeit his authority to make the appointment. Anyone would be too tainted.

Meanwhile the governor’s fate is in the hand of the justice system.

I want to address rumors about me. I reject and denounce pay to play politics. I did not initiate or authorize anyone at any time to promise anything to Blagojevich on my behalf. I never sent an emissary to make a deal. I thought, mistakenly, that the process was fair. 

I have more seniority than all those–except Luis Gutierrez–considered for the position.

I thought the governor was considering me based on my 13 years of hard work on the part of IL.

I did not know that the process had been corrupted. I did not know that qualifications meant nothing to the governor. I wanted to be considered for the appointment because I believe in public service. That’s what I shared with Blago on Monday, when I had the opportunity to meet with him for the first time in four years.  The media saw me enter his office, the media saw me exit his office. Despite what he may have expected, that’s all I had to offer.

[Thanks all those who have endorsed him for the position.]

Know this. I spoke to the US Attorney’s office on Tuesday. I am not a target of this investigation and I am not accused of any misconduct. In the days ahead, law enforcement officers want to meet to discuss what I know about this process. I look forward to cooperating completely. I retain the advice of James Montgomery Sr. 

On his advice, I will not be taking any questions.

I do want to add one point before I leave. This morning I got text messages from my little sister, who said she was proud of what I’ve done. This morning she told me, Jesse Jr, I’m proud of you.

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Next Blagojevich Shoe to Drop: the Deputy Governor

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Illinois’ Deputy Governor Bob Greenlee just "resigned."

A spokeswoman for Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich says one of his top aides has resigned.

Spokeswoman Kelley Quinn on Wednesday said Deputy Gov. Bob Greenlee resigned. The reason for his resignation wasn’t immediately clear.

Greenlee’s resignation comes a day after Blagojevich was arrested on federal corruption charges.

Gosh, why do you think someone in Blagojevich’s office resigned today, the day after his boss got busted?

You don’t think it has anything to do with the search the Feds conducted of the Deputy Governor’s office yesterday, do you?

MR. FITZGERALD: It’s at the office of Deputy Governor — a deputy governor. And there’s a search warrant being executed at the Friends of Blagojevich campaign headquarters.

Or maybe it has to do with the large number of times one or another "Deputy Governor" was named in the complaint yesterday, you think? There’s no confirmation which Deputy Governor is which in the complaint, but there are descriptions of a Deputy Governor participating in the Trib stuff and the Senate seat sale and some of the fundraising scams. 

I mean, if I recognized I were the Deputy Governor named all those times in a complaint supporting the arrest of my boss, I might consult a lawyer pretty quickly. In fact, I might want to get chatty pretty quickly. Heck, even if I weren’t that Deputy Governor, I might chatty and get myself as far away from Blago as quickly as I could.

Then again, given the sheer stupidity of Blagojevich as portrayed in yesterday’s complaint, I wouldn’t put him beyond going on a firing spree as he got more and more paranoid about which of his friends had flipped on him. 

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