Blagojevich fundraiser held by Jackson allies Saturday

[kpete]

Source: Chicago Tribune

Blagojevich fundraiser held by Jackson allies Saturday

By David Kidwell, John Chase and Dan Mihalopoulos | Tribune reporters
December 12, 2008

As Gov. Rod Blagojevich was trying to pick Illinois' next U.S. senator, businessmen with ties to both the governor and U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. discussed raising at least $1 million for Blagojevich's campaign as a way to encourage him to pick Jackson for the job, the Tribune has learned.

Blagojevich made an appearance at an Oct. 31 luncheon meeting at the India House restaurant in Schaumburg sponsored by Oak Brook businessman Raghuveer Nayak, a major Blagojevich supporter who also has fundraising and business ties to the Jackson family, according to several attendees and public records.

Two businessmen who attended the meeting and spoke to the Tribune on the condition of anonymity said that Nayak and Blagojevich aide Rajinder Bedi privately told many of the more than two dozen attendees the fundraising effort was aimed at supporting Jackson's bid for the Senate.

Among the attendees was a Blagojevich fundraiser already under scrutiny by federal investigators, Joliet pharmacist Harish Bhatt.

Read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-blagojevic...

[ksimons]

1. Report: Jackson backers sought cash for Ill. gov.

Source: Yahoo.com

Businessmen with ties to both Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson discussed raising $1 million for Blagojevich to help persuade him to appoint Jackson to President-elect Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat, according to a published report.

Citing unnamed sources, the Chicago Tribune reports in a story for Friday's editions that businessman Raghuveer Nayak and Blagojevich aide Rajinder Bedi told attendees at an Oct. 31 meeting that they needed to raise the money for the governor to ensure Jackson's appointment.

"Raghu said he needed to raise a million for Rod to make sure Jesse got the seat," an unidentified source who attended the meeting told the Tribune. Blagojevich also attended the meeting, which was sponsored by Nayak, an Oak Brook businessman.

A message left at a listing for Raghuveer Nayak in Oak Brook was not immediately returned early Friday. No published listing for Bedi could be found.

Blagojevich was arrested Tuesday on federal corruption charges that allege, among other things, a brazen scheme to put Obama's vacant Senate seat up for sale.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081212/ap_on_re_us/illinoi...

---

Hope this helps - didn't realize pulling text from the article that explained the story better was out of bounds. Apologize for the error in prior posting that was locked.

[Ian David]

2. Oh, this doesn't look good, does it? n/t

[Venceremos]

3. k&r

[ksimons]

4. the part that seems the most difficult to explain is his brother's connection

that article continues with:

That meeting led to a Blagojevich fundraiser Saturday in Elmhurst, co-sponsored by Nayak and attended by Jesse Jackson Jr.'s brother, Jonathan, as well as Blagojevich, according to several people who were there. Nayak and Jonathan Jackson go back years and the two even went into business together years ago as part of a land purchase on the South Side.

Is Jesse Jackson Jr close to his brother? Might not be.

[brianna69]

5. Wow. This does not look good for Jesse Jackson Jr

[awoke_in_2003]

6. Say what you will

about JJ Sr, lord knows he has made mistakes, but how can JJ Jr do this to his father's reputation? When his father stood next to MLK in the fight for equality, I am sure equality of corruption was not what they had in mind.

[Karenina]

9. Illinois politics is an EOC.

[marshall]

15. The elder Jackson seems to be distancing himself from his son

I noted in his announcement that he vehemently denied that HE was involved in any of this mess, but he conspicuously said nothing about his son.
It's starting to look like every man and woman for themselves.

[awoke_in_2003]

18. it is a shame...

his son should at least try to live up to his name.

[undeterred]

19. I think JJ Jr has a better reputation than his father.

[awoke_in_2003]

20. Lot of good...

it is doing him.

[420inTN]

23. JJ Jr isn't doing anything to his father's reputation

not that Sr needs any help besmirching his own reputation with his own "mistakes".

Jr is his own man, and it's only his own image and reputation that will be affected by this (unless Sr was directly involved, of which there is no indication or evidence at this time).

[awoke_in_2003]

25. Wrong...

Society judges parents by the actions of their children.

[420inTN]

26. When the children are young, yes. But JJ Jr is a grown man

and therefore the only one responsible for his own actions.

Of all the bad boy actors and athletes, I don't hear anyone saying anything about Michael Vick's parents, or John McEnroe's.

Not a word about the parents of Jeffery Dahmer, Jim Jones, or Larry "Wide Stance" Craig.

[ProSense]

7. "Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. flatly denies that he and his brother were involved in a scheme "

Jackson Jr. denies he was involved in scheme

By ADAM GOLDMAN, Associated Press Writer Adam Goldman, Associated Press Writer

CHICAGO – Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. flatly denies that he and his brother were involved in a scheme to get him a Senate seat in a deal with scandal-tainted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (bluh-GOY'-uh-vich).

The remarks in an interview with The Associated Press Friday came on the heels of a Chicago Tribune report that cited unidentified sources. The newspaper said businessmen with ties to the governor and congressmen discussed raising $1 million for Blagojevich to get him to appoint Jackson to the Senate. The report depicts Jackson's brother as an active participant.

The congressman said "to an absolute certainty" that his brother was not involved in any scheming or wrongdoing.

Jackson has been identified as "Senate Candidate 5" in a federal complaint. The governor is overheard saying the candidate would raise $500,000 for Blagojevich, and an emissary would raise an additional $1 million.

[PearliePoo2]

8. JJJr. has made no secret of his desire to be a Senator

When he spoke to the press, he stated he has "earned" it.

[420inTN]

13. He's only "earned" it after the votes are tallied. n/t

[PearliePoo2]

14. DARN those pesky little details.....he'll worry about that later.

If you get appointed...you start raising money for re-election immediately.

[WriteDown]

10. One os the J's in JJJ may stand for...

Jail.

[ProSense]

11. Chicago Tribune owner been subpoenaed and they're the source of most of the Blagojevich stories

Chicago Tribune owner been subpoenaed and they're the source of most of the Blagojevich stories

The Tribune is suspect.

[mopinko]

17. no, the tribune is corrupt.

more corrupt than any pol in illinois. endorsed george ryan even after the willis children fried. put george ryan's bullshit ploy story of eliminating tolls on illinois rolls above the fold the day his chief of staff was indicted, and put that below the fold. indicted. not arrested. indicted. below the fold. get it?
and endorsed bush twice, and beat the drums for the big dogs impeachment like he was hitler.
corrupt.

[ksimons]

12. source of good or bad stories about Blagojevich

post said 'they're the source of most of the Blagojevich stories'

they are known for stories that favor him or ones that disparage him?

[GinaMaria]

16. The Trib is a right leaning paper in general

IIRC, Blag was trying to sue them for their editorial content about him. I'd bet the stories they published are not at all flattering to Blag.

[Critters2]

31. They attacked him on a daily basis.

Of course, he deserved it.

[undeterred]

21. Doesn't it seem reasonable for people to ask for what they want?

Political favors are exchanged all the time. If we're going to give a governor the enormous power to do something like appoint a Senator, this is what will happen. Buying the seat should be illegal. But it would be unrealistic to think that nobody would try to get a governor to pick their candidate.

Personally, I don't think having a governor select a Senator is a good idea. A Senator should always be elected by the people.

[No Elephants]

22. Maybe I am incredibly naive, but what is wrong with helping someone raise funds? Didn't Obama

do that for Hillary after the primary?

[420inTN]

24. Quid-pro-quo

There's nothing wrong with helping raising funds, per se. However, if the only reason you are doing it is so that you can receive something in return, that is wrong. Plus, the "fundraiser" could just be a front for money laundering. Say that you want to have a $1000 per head "fundraiser". Just collect 500 names, and give $500,000 to the candidate.

[No Elephants]

27. You don't think Clinton and Obama agreed on a quid pro quo? I think it has to be better defined

than that. (Money laundering is its own issue.)

[420inTN]

29. Re: "Clinton and Obama agreed on a quid pro quo"

Sure. Any employee-employer negotiations could be considered some form of quid-pro-quo as i understand the term. however, if clinton paid obama to name clinton as SoS, that would be illegal.

Other than the employer-employee negotations, what kind of quid-pro-quo do you think went on between clinton-obama?

[No Elephants]

34. I think you are misreading me. I am not suggesting that Obama and Clinton did anything wrong, or

even that they negotiated for her SOS position. I was thinking more along the lines of something a lot simpler--"help me fundraise to pay my debts and I'll campaign for you." They may not even have done that. I was not saying they did anything wrong at all. Far from it. I'm questioning what would be wrong with telling someone you'd try to help him raise funds, but you would not bribe him. Is that really wrong?

[tbyg52]

28. Another good example of why we need public campaign financing. nt

[420inTN]

30. Even if campaigns were entirely publicly financed...

Blago would have found some other way to potentially benefit from the sale of Obama's senate seat.

[Critters2]

32. He wasn't just asking for campaign funds.

He was looking for a lucrative job for his wife, personal funds, etc.

[420inTN]

33. From other sources yes.

But from Candidate #5, it was money/fundraising which is the topic of this particular thread.

[tbyg52]

35. Oh, there are always bad actors, but we could do more to minimize the damage. nt