WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Ethics Committee
announced Friday it will continue its investigation into allegations Rep. Jesse
Jackson Jr. or someone acting on his behalf offered to raise campaign cash for
then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich in exchange for a Senate appointment in 2008.
The committee also released an initial report from
the Office of Congressional Ethics that said there was "probable
cause" to believe that Jackson either directed a third party or had
knowledge of a third party's effort to convince the since-convicted Blagojevich
to appoint Jackson Jr. in exchange for campaign cash.
The report, originally compiled in August 2009,
also said there is "substantial reason to believe" Jackson Jr.
violated federal law by using his congressional staff to mount a "public
campaign" to secure a Senate appointment.
The report had not been released previously and the
ethics committee had delayed its investigation because the Justice Department
was conducting a criminal investigation that led to Blagojevich's conviction on
a series of corruption charges including efforts to sell a Senate appointment.
The Justice Department recently withdrew its request for the committee to defer
its investigation, indicating it is no longer actively investigating Jackson.
The ethics committee had previously said it would
determine by Friday what course its investigation would take involving Jackson,
a Democrat and son of civil rights leader Jesse Jackson.
The younger Jackson responded to the committee's
decision to extend the investigation with a statement pledging to cooperate and
reiterating that his efforts to be appointed to the Senate were above-board.
"I have said from the beginning that I
publicly and transparently sought to have the Governor of Illinois appoint me
to fulfill the final two years of then-Senator Barack Obama's term in the U.S.
Senate," he said. "I did nothing illegal, unethical or inappropriate
in that pursuit and I believe that is what the Ethics Committee will conclude
at the end of this process."
Jackson also released a letter from his attorneys,
who wrote that there is no basis for the committee's investigation and urged
the panel to "close its investigation of this matter."
"Although Congressman Jackson was interested
in the appointment ... he was largely focused on his own re-election and
Obama's campaign," Reid H. Weingarten and Brian M. Heberlig said in the
letter.
Friday's announcement means the committee will
continue looking into allegations involving Blagojevich and whether Jackson
inappropriately used government resources to angle for an appointment. It voted
unanimously to continue its inquiry and set no timetable for a conclusion.
The detailed 2009 report from the Office of
Congressional Ethics, released with the statement, indicates investigators have
suspicions Jackson had knowledge of efforts to persuade Blagojevich to appoint
him to the Senate. The report names a likely third party, Raghuveer Nayak.
"There is probable cause to believe that
Representative Jackson either 1) directed a third party, most likely Mr.
Raghuveer Nayak to offer to raise money ... or 2) had knowledge that Nayak
would likely make such an offer once Rep. Jackson authorized him to advocate on
his behalf with Gov. Blagojevich."
The report said investigating these claims was
stymied by the fact that Blagojevich, Nayak and another fundraiser, Rajinder
Bedi, have declined to cooperate with the investigation.
The report also concludes, after interviews with
Jackson Jr. and his staff, that there is substantial reason to believe that his
staff based in both Chicago and Washington was used inappropriately in attempts
to secure a Senate appointment.
The Office of Congressional Ethics cannot
discipline members of the House and does not determine whether they are guilty.
That is left to the ethics committee. The Office of Congressional Ethics does
preliminary investigative work for the ethics committee. Its board members are
not members of Congress.
Publication of the report and the committee's
decision to continue its investigation could have political consequences for
Jackson beyond whatever action the committee might take.
He will stand for reelection in 2012 in a
rejiggered congressional district that has attracted a viable primary opponent,
former Rep. Debbie Halvorson. A Democrat, Halvorson represented the new terrain
in Jackson's district both in Congress and in the Illinois Legislature. She
pounced on Friday's announcement and has indicated she will make Jackson's
ethical issues a focus of her race.
"There we go," Halvorson said.
"Another day where he's got to deal with ethics, distractions and his
lawyers instead of constituents and this has been going on for over three
years"
The 46-year-old Jackson was first elected to office
in 1995. He has twice considered runs for mayor of Chicago and was widely seen
as interested in an appointment to the Senate seat vacated by Obama when he was
elected president in 2008.
Associated Press Writer Deanna Bellandi in Chicago
contributed to this report.
Copyright
2011 The Associated Press.
