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
The anti-gun candidate won the primary,….
“You sent a message that was heard around our state and across the nation,” Kelly told supporters in a Matteson hotel ballroom. “A message that tells the NRA that their days of holding our country hostage are coming to an end.
– See more at: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/clout/chi-2nd-congressional-district-jackson-20130226,0,4718425.story#sthash.18QpLj4a.dpuf
The racism implicit in almost every post or position taken by the ‘Ralph Adamo’ who posts here continually should inform any intelliegent reader of that person’s essential nature. I point out once again and for the record that the comments made here by this person are not by me, Ralph Adamo of New Orleans.
I guess the race card can be used anytime, anywhere nowadays despite the law.
Good seeing you post again Blouise…. Always refreshing….
Raff,
You know by now, there are folks that will either slice you up when you’re down, or not take any action. Then there are the folks that will defend a crook just because of party loyalty. Both in my opinion are the basic problems with the system as it exist today…. I agree that black folks for the most part get extraordinary longer sentences for the same type of crime committed. Especially when it comes to drugs…
However, look at R Alan Stanford… He didn’t play with the government the way they wanted so they built a ponzi scheme that eventually sent him to prison….
Just look at Wells Fargo and chase they admitted to laundering drug money…. That’s the info they wanted from Stanford…. Are any of the executives of Wells Fargo or chase doing time….
A crook is a crook regardless of race… Call it for what it is…..
nick,
you may want to follow Webb a little closer. Also, all defendants are entitled to a defense, even the ones who get convicted or you consider unworthy of defending.
Ralph,
your claim that Jesse Jackson, Jr. is a hero to all leftists is not only blatanly false, it is hilarious.
Yep
Blouise, It has been my experience that just the mere mention of the Jacksons or Al Sharpton brings them crawling out of the woodwork.
SwM,
“Does anyone really think that black men generally receive leniency in the criminal justice system? ”
Well obviously Paul and those who support his views do … typical racist nonsense.
The Jackson are crooks. The statement Paul made about black men in general was grossly incorrect. Does anyone really think that black men generally receive leniency in the criminal justice system? Where the hell do you practice law if you think that?
Paul,
Some people agree with you, proof is evident….
Larry,
If that’s meant as a racist comment you’ve done a great job…. Now, which apple?
Ralph,
You’ll get yours. There are defenders of the crooks. Now, if the crook you are speaking of was white some would not comment. That’s the problem with party loyalty. Leave the crooks alone if I happen to like them mentality. Remember why Spiro Agnew resigned….
There is an aspect of this story that does not focus on Junior but on the Media and the manner in which a fabrication can be injected into the mainstream conversation and thoughts of The People.
There is BS and then there are those who step in it and then there ar those who throw it.
Forget Jesse and go to another minority politician who was “in the news” the past week or so. Menendez. There are several “allegations” floating. Let us analyze an allegation and how it floats. If there is an allegation in a lawsuit, it is in the form of a Complaint and must meet certain criteria such as exact phrasing of sentences in order to be both coherent and then answerable. If there is an allegation out there in the public media domain, mouthed by some media outlet by a media person, there are few rules. The New York Times has self endorsed rules of engagement and they are respected. The opposite is when some schmuck can go on the internet on an outlet such as we are blogging on and say something like: The Prophet Mohammed had sex with a nine year old, although he did marry her first. There may be truth in that statement but if it happened it was centuries ago and the existing word press on the matter is suspect. No pun intended WordPress, we get to you in a minute.
Americans have adopted the acronym “BS” for words that are not only unsubstantiated but that have intended defaming effect. This stands for Bull S—. Since we can not use that word because of censors here by WordPress, employed by this blog to keep his clean from the use of the word for female dog then we have to employ substitute words. apCray is pig latin for one species and itSha is piglatin for the BS version. But it is a defamation of Bulls to impute their apCray as being unworthy.
With the Senator Menendez story the following is probably true. He did step in some apCray in some respects, as when he allowed a contributor to pay his way to vacation. But he did not pork a prostitute or two or three and they were not under age. So he did not step in that one, it got thrown at him. Who threw it? The next question is which Media outlet and which Media persona repeated it? Who was the lead BS thrower? Who were BS Media follower throwers.
So if it started with Fox and Hannity, I can then judge for myself that the Meida Outlet Fox and the Media twerp spokesperson are unreliabel and never watch them again and take what they say as BS. Sorry bulls. And, iff CNN then repeated it then I will decide that they are unreliable. If the New York Times printed it, I will give it the All The News That is Fit To Print test and see if they repeated a lie.
If I fly over the Dominican Republic, I do not want Hannity and Fox News to repeat some BS from some blogger on the flight that the flight landed and that I went and porked some prostitutes. That is defamation. The “Media” has an obligation to us to discern BS. And not to repeat BS. And not to defame a politician because he voted for ObamaCare.
So, if I was wrong about Hannity and Fox News being the perps who repeated the BS about Menendez then I am sorry and I am sorry about what I mentioned about the Prohpet Mohammed and the nine year old girl. But, I am not vested with Media status. I am just a BarkinDog. But, still, I have more soul than most of those media moguls and their snake pets, and I do not purport to be a respected media spokesperson, media outlet, or media mogal. I do know BS when I see it, smell it or see it on Fox. Humans need to be discerning. When some media outlet comes up with an allegation like this question them and punish them with they have either stepped in BS, thrown it or contrived it. Sorry to the bulls, their poop is no worse than Hannity’s. Maybe I will term it HS for now on.
Paul “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.” Really, black men have a very high rate of incarceration and many have been wrongly accused and have received the death penalty for crimes they did not commit.
the Apple does not fall far from the Tree…
http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20130214/greenwich-village/man-arrested-for-giving-cops-finger-wins-15k-settlement-from-city?utm_source=outbrain
OT, or maybe not. Flipping the bird is a symbolic expression of distaste.
Of course there are many magnitudes of it.
An American citizen flipping the bird to representatives (enforcers) of our laws & constitution gets arrested.
A representative & enforcer of our laws flips the bird (figuratively) to “We” American citizens …. gets rewarded. How bout dem apples !!!!!
Jesse Jackson Jr is a genuine hero for all leftists and they should be proud that he has shown strength, honor, and principles in continuing to maintain the long-standing tradition of Corrupt Chicago politics. After this little squabble is over, I hope that President Obama will find a suitable post for him in his administration. After all, President Obama knows a thing or two about Chicago politics.