Jesse Jackson, Jr. Responds to Ethics Probe

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Apr 8, 2009 7:30PM

Yesterday, the Sun-Times' Natasha Korecki reported that the Office of Congressional Ethics is now investigating U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. and his role in attempting to land the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama that then-governor Rod Blagojevich allegedly attempted to sale off to the highest bidder. Jackson isn't the first lawmaker to be investigated by the office; he joins none other than current holder of the seat in question, U.S. Sen. Roland Burris.

Earlier today, Jackson issued a statement saying he plans to cooperate fully with the investigation and maintaining his innocence. In the statement [PDF via S-T], Jackson said:

I am cooperating fully with the preliminary review being conducted by the Office of Congressional Ethics. I was notified last week about the inquiry and am eager to answer any questions and provide any information to the OCE about my actions related to last year’s vacant Senate seat.

As I said when the [Rod] Blagojevich scandal first broke back in December, I have done nothing wrong and reject pay-to-play politics,” Jackson said Wednesday. “I’m confident that this new ethics office — which I voted in favor of creating — will be able to conduct a fair and expeditious review and dismiss this matter.

Jackson, who was identified as "Senate Candidate 5" in the complaint filed against then-governor Rod Blagojevich upon his arrest, has not been accused of any wrongdoing. The office has asked parties involved in the current case against Blagojevich to turn over any documents pertaining to Jackson, his brother Jonathan, and fund-raisers Raghuveer Nayak and Rajinder Bedi. The office is focusing on the time period from June 2008 to December 2008. According to Korecki, the office is intended to investigate a matter for 30 days before making a recommendation to the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, which will then decide whether or not to proceed with the matter.