httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ve5ERlavHCs
By Jon Perkins
ticklethewire.com
Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. admitted Wednesday that he is “Candidate 5” in the criminal complaint against embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, but vociferously denied offering the governor a bribe either personally or through an emissary for the Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.
Jackson said that he met with the Democratic governor for 90 minutes Monday and expressed interest in in Obama’s Senate seat, but did not offer anything of value in exchange for the position. Blagojevich is quoted in a 76-page criminal complaint as saying that an associate of “Senate Candidate 5” said the candidate was willing to raise $500,000 for future political campaigns provided “Senate Candidate 5” secured the position.
Jackson, a Chicago-based Democrat, said at a Washington news conference that he “did not initiate nor authorize anyone, at any time, to promise anything to Gov. Blagojevich on my behalf. I never sent a message or an emissary to the governor to make an offer or to propose a deal about the U.S. Senate seat.”
He said he would fully cooperate with the investigation being conducted by Chicago’s U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald, who had no immediate comment on Jackson’s statements.
