Feeling Sorry for Jackson
Like David Kurtz, I'm inclined to think Jesse Jackson, Jr. is getting a raw deal here. The federal prosecutors who drafted the complaint made very little effort to hide the fact that "Senate Candidate 5" was Jackson. They also drafted the complaint in a way that makes Jackson look very bad without really marshaling any evidence that he actually did anything wrong. That may have been unavoidable given the state of the investigation and the need to move forward against Blagojevich, but it's still pretty unfair to Jackson.
The most damaging parts of the complaint, from Jackson's perspective, are these paragraphs:
The only part that suggests any inappropriate action on Jackson's part is Blagojevich's Oct. 31 claim that "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.”
That certainly doesn't sound good, but there are several layers of separation here from Jackson himself. First, this is Blagojevich's interpretation of a conversation he had, and as the rest of the complaint makes clear, Blagojevich is more than a little delusional. Second, Blagojevich didn't talk to Jackson himself. He talked to an "emissary." We have no idea who this person was or whether they were authorized by Jackson to say whatever it was they said. And finally, even if you assume that this was an authorized communication and that Blagojevich is accurately characterizing it, I'm not sure it rises to the level of anything criminal. Keep in mind that what is allegedly being offered here is future help raising campaign money, not cash or a vacation home or a position on a Board. Raising campaign money is a fairly routine political favor. It's what politicians do for each other, right out in the open most of the time. This admittedly feels a little sketchier, but perhaps only because it's being discussed in such explicit terms. Again, though, the evidence that Jackson actually made such an offer is slim.
It may well be that more evidence will surface against Jackson, that we haven't seen the full picture yet. But I think it's unfortunate that his name is being dragged through the mud based solely on the sketchy details in this complaint. He may well have done nothing wrong here.
The most damaging parts of the complaint, from Jackson's perspective, are these paragraphs:
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.”)As you can see, most of this stuff is just Blagojevich and his advisers plotting amongst themselves. Because of the Chicago Tribune story on Dec. 5 revealing the existance of the federal wiretaps, this plan to approach Jackson never actually took place.
Later on December 4, 2008, ROD BLAGOJEVICH spoke to Fundraiser A. ROD BLAGOJEVICH stated he was “elevating” Senate Candidate 5 on the list of candidates for the open Senate seat. ROD BLAGOJEVICH stated he might be able to cut a deal with Senate Candidate 5 that provided ROD BLAGOJEVICH with something “tangible up front.” ROD BLAGOJEVICH noted he was going to meet with Senate Candidate 5 in the next few days. ROD BLAGOJEVICH told Fundraiser A to reach out to Individual D, an individual who ROD BLAGOJEVICH is attempting to obtain campaign contributions from and who, based on intercepted phone calls, ROD BLAGOJEVICH believes to be close to Senate Candidate 5. ROD BLAGOJEVICH told Fundraiser A to tell Individual D that Senate Candidate 5 was very much a realistic candidate for the open Senate seat, but that ROD BLAGOJEVICH was getting “a lot of pressure” not to appoint Senate Candidate 5. ROD BLAGOJEVICH told Fundraiser A to tell Individual D that ROD BLAGOJEVICH had a problem with Senate Candidate 5 just promising to help ROD BLAGOJEVICH because ROD BLAGOJEVICH had a prior bad experience with Senate Candidate 5 not keeping his word. ROD BLAGOJEVICH told Fundraiser A to tell Individual D that if Senate Candidate 5 is going to be chosen to fill the Senate seat “some of this stuffs gotta start happening now . . .right now. . . and we gotta see it. You understand?” ROD BLAGOJEVICH told Fundraiser A that “you gotta be careful how you express that and assume everybody’s listening, the whole world is listening. You hear me?” ROD BLAGOJEVICH told Fundraiser A to tell Individual D if there is “tangible political support (campaign contributions) like you’ve said, start showing us now.” Fundraiser A stated he will call Individual D on the phone to communicate ROD BLAGOJEVICH’s message. ROD BLAGOJEVICH responded that “I would do it in person. I would not do it on the phone.” ROD BLAGOJEVICH told Fundraiser A to communicate the “urgency” of the situation to Individual D.
The only part that suggests any inappropriate action on Jackson's part is Blagojevich's Oct. 31 claim that "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.”
That certainly doesn't sound good, but there are several layers of separation here from Jackson himself. First, this is Blagojevich's interpretation of a conversation he had, and as the rest of the complaint makes clear, Blagojevich is more than a little delusional. Second, Blagojevich didn't talk to Jackson himself. He talked to an "emissary." We have no idea who this person was or whether they were authorized by Jackson to say whatever it was they said. And finally, even if you assume that this was an authorized communication and that Blagojevich is accurately characterizing it, I'm not sure it rises to the level of anything criminal. Keep in mind that what is allegedly being offered here is future help raising campaign money, not cash or a vacation home or a position on a Board. Raising campaign money is a fairly routine political favor. It's what politicians do for each other, right out in the open most of the time. This admittedly feels a little sketchier, but perhaps only because it's being discussed in such explicit terms. Again, though, the evidence that Jackson actually made such an offer is slim.
It may well be that more evidence will surface against Jackson, that we haven't seen the full picture yet. But I think it's unfortunate that his name is being dragged through the mud based solely on the sketchy details in this complaint. He may well have done nothing wrong here.
posted by A.L. at 9:44 AM
5 Comments:
Pay for play is what American politics is all about. Blagojevich's proplem is that he is to crass and open about it. So he goes to jail so the rest of the players can say "see, it isn't so."
I don't think that it was good that I overheard a person identified as a Jackson spokesperson (I didn't catch who, as my wife was flipping channels at the time) say that even Jackson was interested in the seat, and would still accept if appointed by Blago.
He should (if he hasn't already) preclude speculation, as other possible candidates already did, by clearly stating that if appointed by Rod, he will not accept.
An unfortunate fall-out is that Jackson was (and is) a perfectly reasonable candidate for that seat. Per Jackson himself, they did have a conversation about it earlier, and this also is perfectly reasonable in the pre-indictment circumstances. But now that Blago is shown to be a corrupt slime-ball, any connection whatsoever is tainted, even those that were completely honest and appropriate.
Jackson has a right to be interested in the seat, but he should not accept it from a crook lest he be tainted himself. He can run for it, or be appointed by some interim committee, or wait until next time.
The Trib is now reporting that some fundraisers for Jackson held were raising money last weekend "for his bid for the Senate".
Ouch.
One of Murdoch's English papers (The Sunday Times) made a determined effort to make sure some of the mud stuck to Rahm Emanuel.
However, I do not see Emanuel emerging as a major victim of this scandal.
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