One simple reason why I believe Jackson Jr.
December 10th, 2008 at 07:05pm Pat Cunningham
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Jesse Jackson Jr. SAYS he’s innocent of any wrongdoing in the Blagogate case, and I believe him.
No, it isn’t because I’m a big fan of Jackson. Frankly, I don’t know a whole lot about him.
Rather, I think Jackson’s smart enough to recognize that lying about the matter would be of no avail when we all know that the feds have recordings that could refute any falsehoods regarding his conversations with Blagojevich.
He knows that prosecutors are fully aware of what went down, so why would he lie about it? That would only make the situation far worse for him.
Jackson also says the feds have told him that “I am not a target of this investigation, and that I am not accused of any misconduct.”
Again, he would be stupid to say such things if they weren’t true. Prosecutors aren’t going to sit still for some politician publicly misrepresenting what they’ve told him. Especially not in a case like this.
POSTSCRIPT: If the feds are after Jackson, why did they give him a HEADS-UP before they busted Blago on Tuesday morning?
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12 Comments Add your own
1. snuss | December 10th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
The RR-Star believed in Blago, when they endorsed him. So, IMHO, the judgement of the powers that be in the News Silo, is somewhat less than stellar.
I can only hope that the Feds will prosecute all who tried to buy a Senate seat from Blago.
2. Pat Cunningham | December 10th, 2008 at 8:13 pm
snuss: I don’t work in the News Silo, and I’m not one of the powers-that-be at the Register Star. I’m not even an employee of the RRS.
3. Ross Calloway | December 10th, 2008 at 11:30 pm
Pat, do you believe that Bill never had sex with ‘that woman?’ And, that he never inhaled when he smoked pot? Nevermind, that’s not important to the topic.
We shall see what happens after he or someone is indicted. I’m not willing to go out on a limb at this point and say that I believe Jackson’s denial. At the same time, I wouldn’t say with any confidence that he is dirty, but the wiretaps certainly suggest that.
At this time, what I do know is that Fitzgerald, Jackson, Blagojevich, Axelrod, Emanual, Rezko, and Cunningham, all know about how Chicago politics operates. It’s called pay to play.
What screams out to me about this episode is the premature end of the investigation by Fitzgerald, the tough prosecutor who is supposed to be non-political. Right. And what happened to Fitzgerald’s dogged determination to see where the investigation would take him? Seems to me he saw an opportunity to save Obama’s butt, and did, by making the arrest when he did. Thereby eliminating the opportunity for any possible involvement by Obama or his administration.
http://rosscalloway.com/2008/12/10/patrick-fitzgerald-the-prosecutors-prosecutor/
4. David Barrett | December 11th, 2008 at 4:44 am
Ross,
What screams out to me about your comment is your dogged determination to ignore facts staring you right in the face in order to believe the worst about people like Fitzgerald and Jackson.
You don’t have to BELIEVE anything about Jackson, including his denial, but you SHOULD deal with the facts in the case that Pat laid out. How could Jackson lie about something when wiretaps exist which would expose the lie? What do you mean that “the wiretaps certainly suggest that”? Do you know something about the wiretaps that Fitzgerald does not?
And what do you mean about Fitzgerald “ending” the investigation? He certainly has not ended it yet. He could certainly still discover “involvement” by others in the crimes that have already occurred if more people were involved. The arrest just stops new crimes from occuring.
And why do you mention Bill Clinton? You really need to let go your preoccupation with him!
5. Mike Carroll | December 11th, 2008 at 7:15 am
I have no reason to suspect that Junior is involved directly but Daddy is a definite possibility. Now thats a perp walk I’d pay to see.
6. Ross Calloway | December 11th, 2008 at 8:06 am
DB said: “The arrest just stops new crimes from occuring.”
Precisely my point. For a prosecutor with a reputation for being thorough, tough, and letting the investigation take him where it will, Fitzgerald ended it prematurely.
One of the main points of the investigation was Blago selling the Senate seat. Fitzgerald didn’t play it out to its conclusion.
It is like fishing in a lake full of fish,(picture Chicago politicos) and you want to get as many as you can,(because that’s what a fisherman does) and the fish are biting. You know there is a lot of competition to get to the bait. In this case the bait is called a Senate seat. You know that some of those fish have connections to PEBO, the mother fish that left the lake. You know that the mother fish has an interest in who will replace her. Now, a real fisherman would wait for the one that takes the bait. Fitzgerald did not do that. He sacrificed Blago, scared the other fish away, took his pole and went home. Fitzgerald did not get all the fish he possibly could. Making a mockery of his rep for letting the investigation take him where it will.
Pat’s facts are he thinks Jackson is smart, therefore he isn’t stupid. That makes sense. Something about being able to raise $500,000 in campaign case and some up-front money comes to mind when it comes to Jackson, Jr.. Like you suggested, the investigation, up to two days ago, will unveil what it will. And Jackson is innocent until proven guilty. And, just because he wasn’t the focus of the investigation doesn’t mean he won’t be charged with anything if he is found to have done something wrong.
Fitzgerald is famous for that. He has a track record. Remember he once tried to find out who leaked Valerie Plame’s name to Bob Novak? He quickly found out who did. Then he spent two years looking for a crime and caught Scooter Libby ‘lying’ to investigators. Never prosecuting Richard Armitage, the man he knew was responsible for the leak.
Fitzgerald’s actions in this case give me plenty of reason to question his actions, and inactions.
7. echo4charlie | December 11th, 2008 at 8:28 am
I agree with Mike. I would more bet that Jesse Jackson (Sr.) is involved moreso than Junior. He stands to benefit more than anyone from that appointment, in my opinion.
That wouldn’t surprise me one bit.
They haven’t mentioned where the alleged $ 500K came from, with respect to Jesse Jackson Jr.’s interest in the vacant senate seat……………………………………………………
8. Ross Calloway | December 12th, 2008 at 12:42 am
There is one plausible explanation as to why Fitzgerald acted out-of-character when it comes to this investigation.
PEBO did mention ‘the transition office’ in his press conference today when explaining how no bargains were struck and no promises were made by either himself or his people regarding replacing his Senate seat. He said this after he said that he didn’t have all the facts and details yet about who said what to who and when. Yet he was sure nothing untoward took place. In one breath, he said he was sure of events and unsure of the very same events, and no one even blinked.
His transition team consists of people in all areas of the administration, including the Dept. of Justice. In the Justice Dept, as in all other departments, the transition team is briefed as to what is currently happening. Anyone think that Obama’s reaction would be ‘oh that’s cool, let me know how it turns out.’
All those who think that Obama would want this sting, or investigation to continue to its natural end please raise your hand. Now ask yourself if it is possible that Obama or his people kind of encouraged Fitzgerald to get this thing over with fast. That is exactly what Fitzgerald did.
9. Pat Cunningham | December 12th, 2008 at 8:00 am
Ross: Your last paragraph in Comment No. 8 is nonsense. The investigation is nowhere near over. Fitz had to move now against Blago to prevent an appointment to the Senate seat. Beyond that, the probe of Blago’s corruption continues. For you to suggest that Obama’s operatives asked Fitz to wrap it up quickly is ridiculous on its face.
10. Ross Calloway | December 12th, 2008 at 11:27 am
(Pat, I didn’t see your hand up.)
Nonsense? Just trying to figure out why Fitzy didn’t let the investigation take him where it would Pat, like is his trademark.
To me, your explanation, to prevent a Senate appointment from being made, is nonsense. Remember that three branches of government separation of powers thing? It is not his job, or responsibility, to seat senators or not to seat senators.
Being a good democrat, It is just as likely that Fitzy took it upon himself, without encouragement from Obama or his transition team, to cut the investigation short.
In either case what was the result? By his actions, he limits the political damage to Illinois Democrats and the Democrat(ic) party as a whole. While at the same time, shooing away other potential crooks.
11. Pat Cunningham | December 12th, 2008 at 11:54 am
Ross: Read this sentence very slowly: Fitzgerald HAS NOT cut the investigation short.
12. Ross Calloway | December 12th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Sure he has.
He will never know who else may have been attracted to the senate seat and what ‘deals’ may have developed, had he played the senate seat fulfillment to its logical end. And it’s not like he had to wait much longer to find that out. One would think that after investigating Blago for a couple years, he could wait another month or two. All he has to investigate now is what he had developed up until last Tuesday and, who turns over who. Any new players have been eliminated, or, insulated, from the game.
Like I said in my fishing analogy in #6 above, He sacrificed Blago, scared the other fish away, took his pole and went home.
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