We have been following the disgraceful tenure of Jesse Jackson Jr. who disappeared for months as federal investigators closed in on his corrupt practices. He then was inexplicably reelected despite not running or offering any demonstrable evidence of any effort beyond self-dealing for himself and his family. He then resigned costing Chicago millions to replace him. It was, as noted earlier, just the latest scandal involving the family of Jesse Jackson in Chicago. It will now apparently get worse. Jackson will take a plea that reportedly implicates his wife, Sandi, in criminal conduct. However, for those concerned about the Administration giving a sweet deal to the powerful family of Jesse Jackson, the plea will raise some legitimate concerns if public reports are accurate. [Update: As expected, both Jacksons were charged on one count each. He was charged with misuse of campaign funds and she was charged with tax fraud).
The plea will reportedly reduce the myriad of acts of misconduct by Jackson to a single count on the misuse of campaign funds. However, Jackson will implicate Sandi for tax fraud. Presumably, he was also guilty of such fraud since she merely signed off on the documents.
The charges include a wide range of purchases for Jackson’s mistress and friends as well as home improvements. With the plea, neither Jackson will likely spend much time in jail. The maximum for Jackson would be 5 years.
Notably, while Democrats condemn such conduct, they were aware (since it was reported in newspapers) that Jackson was paying his own wife huge amounts as part of his campaign. Other members of Congress routinely do the same to enrich their families.
Jackson will have to repay hundreds of thousands of dollars. Yet, average people go away for decades for stealing such large amounts of money. But this is a Jackson. He will just repay the money and do a short stint on a single count. I have been in cases where the Justice Department use the same small transaction to stack counts against defendants to bury them in felonies. Federal prosecutors openly count stack to drive up the sentences. It is not uncommon to see people go away for a couple decades on the theft of a fraction of this amount.
By the way, when Jackson insisted on running for reelection, I wrote about how reelection could be used as a bargaining chip in a plea — to make it look like he was giving up something substantial in return for a sweet deal. In reality he would not have been able to continue to serve since he would likely go to jail. Yet, some in the Administration might have quietly wanted to see the reelection precisely to give the appearance of a tough plea. Of course, it cost the taxpayers over $5 million but it is better than having to seriously prosecute members of the Jackson family.
There is ample reason to see this plea as a special deal for the Jackson family and specifically Rev. Jesse Jackson by the Obama Administration.
Source: CBS
For NPR liberals who practice “shoot the messenger” whenever they come
face-to-face with reality. We’re talking about 9/11, Stony Brook, WMD,
“Never Again” domestic COUPS Detat etc.
“”I have always thought it sad, and unfair, that citizens who believe in educating themselves about their own country’s history, and who are interested in studying say, the JFK, RFK, or Martin Luther King assassinations, simply because the evidence presented in the official accounts is not entirely persuasive, or is fraught with evidentiary conflicts, are denigrated and called ‘assassination buffs’ or ‘conspiracy theorists,’ as a way of trivializing their concerns. Perhaps the tables should be reversed, and those citizens who immerse themselves in the mass of original source material about one of these events in order to better make up their own minds about their nation’s history — regardless of their conclusions — should be called ‘responsible patriots’; and perhaps those citizens who don’t read any serious non-fiction on their own initiative, and who want to go through life believing all government pronouncements on faith so that they can sleep well at night, and who believe it is unpatriotic to question authority, should be called sheep, or ‘coincidence theorists.'” — Douglas P. Horne, 2009, Inside the ARRB p. 272,
The fact that you mentioned Obama and Democrat in this article is proof that you are a racist. By definition, he is a black man so therefore is not capable of doing wrong.
While our main stream media may not report on the corruption in the Obama administration, I feel comfort in the idea that future generations will revail and report correctly on their history of corruption and lack of transparency.
Here is a rather disturbing case that is alleged to have happened on an airline involving a President of an airline parts manufacturer slapping a baby for crying and making racists statements.
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/baby-slapped-on-plane-571923
It will be interesting to see what becomes of this, in light of his position.
If convicted I would say jail time would be just.
Here’s a list of 34 major scandals during the gw years, and the players, just like Jesse Junior, got off light, as noted by a commenter here.
Maybe the Bronco Bama Justice Dept. took note of the boosh scandals, and concluded that Jesse Junior didn’t deserve to be treated any differently.
http://www.salon.com/2005/01/18/scandal_11/
Here’s how they do it in Italy.
http://www.allgov.com/news/us-and-the-world/italy-imprisons-military-intelligence-chief-for-helping-cia-kidnap-egyptian-cleric-130215?news=847073
excerpt:
Italy Imprisons Military Intelligence Chief for Helping CIA Kidnap Egyptian Cleric
Friday, February 15, 2013
Niccolò Pollari (photo: Danilo Schiavella, ANSA, DC)
Unable to imprison the Americans behind the kidnapping of an Egyptian cleric, Italy has successfully jailed five Italians who took part in the 2003 controversy, including the government’s former military intelligence chief.
Niccolò Pollari was sentenced to 10 years in prison for complicity in the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) abduction of Abu Omar (Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr). His former deputy, Marco Mancini, received nine years, and three Italian secret service officials were sentenced to six years each.
In November 2009, an Italian court tried 23 Americans (all but one of whom worked for the CIA) in absentia for the Abu Omar kidnapping. All of the convicted received jail sentences of seven years, except for Robert Seldon Lady, the former Milan CIA station chief, who had his sentence increased to nine years after appealing. During the original trial, Lady told an Italian newspaper he was not guilty—but also indicated he may have been involved in the abduction. “I’m only responsible for carrying out orders that I received from my superiors,” he told Il Giornale. The U.S. government has refused to turn over any of those convicted.
Article I, Section 9, Clause 8 of the United States Constitution
No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States:
The nobility is alive and well, just not in name or title.
Dan Webb represents many crooked pols..a great market in Chicago. I don’t think his batting avg. is all that good. He got crushed in the Gov. Ryan trial.
Tell me again: HOW is the Bronco Bama team any different from the bush team.?..but save your lectures about degrees of difference in war policy etc.
One thing, Jackson is not in the same league as Bush II and Cheney I, or their servants.
They did orders of magnitued worse with no fines, no charges, no community service, and no time.
Now, that is the big league to which those of the Jackson league cannot compare nor compete.
How soon we forget.
I agree with Mike S. I did get the link to work this time. It is interesting that Dan Webb is involved. He is one smart cookie and a former US attorney from Chicago.
Chicago is in a league of their own. Don’t try and diminish their unique depravity. Many Chicagoans take perverse pride in their being the most corrupt.
Sadly, it ain’t just Chicago, it’s endemic.
Isn’t Chicago over in the Blagosphere?
Yep…. Lets hear it for Chicago justice….. Now, if he were anyone else but the son of Jackson….. Would they do more time….. Such as all of the previous politicians….. Notably….. Are white….. I’m just wondering if the government was trying to put out any flames before Chicago burned…… Gotta think so…..
This is just another stunning example of the duality of the U.S. justice system. It’s getting really hard to teach my students about history, government, ethics, and the law and have them make sense of it and respect it when stories like these: non-prosecution of financial crimes, due process disappearing, the erosion of the Bill of Rights, drones, drone strikes, NDAA, Wall Street corruption, political corruption; and now what appears to be the abandonment of the rule of law. Something is perversely wrong when someone who smokes weed, or has an open alcohol container in public, or uses steroids gets prosecuted and serves more time than some of these guys.
“Forget it, Jake..it’s Chinatown”..err Chicago.
“… but some are more equal than others.”
~George Orwell, Animal Farm
There are two standards of justice – one for the connected and one for the ordinary citizen (money helps to get access to a good lawyer, but does not by itself count as “connected” – witness Conrad Black).
There is a low level but widespread feeling of anger – justice is not universal or fair.
Once citizens decide that the system is stacked against them, they start looking for alternative venues of justice – eg Dorner.
While Dorner was probably unhinged, there was a surprising amount of support for him on the net.
That support should be a low key signal to the “justice” system.
I don’t understand how his wife will get a reduced sentence along with his. If he is implicating her in tax crimes, how does his testifying help her?? If they broke the law, they should go to prison. I tried the link and it wouldn’t work, but maybe it was just me.