Robert Blagojevich Demands Jesse Jackson Jr. 'Come Clean'
By aaroncynic in News on Aug 12, 2013 8:20PM
Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s brother is demanding former congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. “come clean” about his role in Blago’s attempt to sell President Obama’s Senate seat, two days before Jackson is expected to be sentenced to prison for spending campaign money on personal purchases.
Robert Blagojevich told the Sun-Times Jackson “sent two emissaries to bribe me and my brother and I turned the bribes down.” Robert Blagojevich was cleared of any wrongdoing in 2010 and, after seeing a statement by Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. saying he was proud of his son for owning up to the campaign corruption charges, said the former Congressman should step up:
“Now, I think it’s time for Jesse Jackson Jr. to do the same on the Senate seat. He still needs to be held accountable for actions that (put) a set of events in motion that hurt both me and my brother.”
Raghuveer Nayak, a donor to the former congressman’s campaign, said he was instructed to offer $6 million to the Blagojevich campaign in exchange for naming Jackson to the Senate seat. Jackson has maintained he gave no such instructions and had no knowledge of his donors’ actions.
Robert Blagojevich complained to the Sun-Times about the disparity between his brother’s sentence and Jackson’s sentence, saying “To me there’s something wrong with the system when a man steals $750,000 from his contributors and is only facing four years.” Former federal prosecutor Ron Safer said the difference between the two comes from the nature of the crime and they way the cases were handled. Defense attorney Patrick Cotter called the comparison “idiotic,” and added:
“ (Rod) Blagojevich betrayed every voter in this state. Blagojevich made a mockery of Democracy. Whether Jesse Jackson took money that campaign contributors gave him and spent it on himself, it’s apples and oranges.”
Robert Blagojevich previously offered to tell the House Committee of Ethics all he knew about Jackson's attempt to be appointed to the Senate seat. Jackson was identified as "Senate Candidate Number 5" in the case against Rod Blagojevich.