An independent panel that reviews possible ethical lapses by members of the House of Representatives has launched a preliminary review of U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.’s efforts to be appointed to the U.S. Senate by ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, according to a published report.

The Office of Congressional Ethics voted in late March for the review, the Chicago Sun-Times reported in a story posted Tuesday on its Web site, citing documents released to parties involved in the inquiry.

The committee has asked for documents, e-mails and other correspondence from Blagojevich’s gubernatorial and campaign staff regarding Jackson, Jackson’s brother Jonathan and his campaign staff, the Sun-Times reported, citing lawyers close to the probe. It requested information from June through December 2008.

The panel reportedly began its work last Thursday, the same day a federal grand jury indicted Blagojevich on corruption charges that, among other things, accuse him of scheming to sell the Senate seat vacated by President Barack Obama to the highest bidder. Blagojevich denies wrongdoing.

Jackson, the son of civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, has acknowledged he was “Senate Candidate A” in the Blagojevich criminal complaint, one of several candidates that authorities say the former governor considered for the seat now held by Roland Burris. Jackson’s supporters were willing to raise $1.5 million for Blagojevich if he picked the congressman, the complaint said.

Jackson is not charged with wrongdoing. His office did not return messages left Tuesday after business hours from The Associated Press.

Leo Wise, who heads the Office of Congressional Ethics, told the AP he could “not confirm or deny that we are reviewing the materials” the Sun-Times referred to.

Reached at his home in suburban Maryland, Wise said the office has not released any documents concerning an investigation of Jackson.

The Office of Congressional Ethics reviews cases and refers them to the House ethics committee. It takes two members of the office, one from each party, to initiate a preliminary investigation of a member. Three board members must vote to move to a second phase review.

There is no public disclosure if the panel dismisses a case. Authority to make recommendations of censure or punishment still rests with the ethics committee, which is made up of House members.

Blagojevich denies the accusations and has yet to be indicted. There has been no indication that Burris was involved in the alleged scheme, and he has not been accused of any wrongdoing. Democrats have repeatedly said the issue is Blagojevich, not Burris’ qualifications.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who chairs the Rules Committee, told reporters Tuesday evening that Burris should be seated.

“If you don’t seat Mr. Burris, it has ramifications for gubernatorial appointments all over America,” the California Democrat said. “Mr. Burris is a senior, experienced politician. He has been attorney general, he has been controller, and he is very well-respected. I am hopeful that this will be settled.”

In a piece of political theater, Burris, 71, tried and failed Tuesday to take Obama’s seat.

He marched into the Capitol, declaring himself “the junior senator from the state of Illinois,” and asked Secretary of the Senate Nancy Erickson to accept a certification of his appointment signed by Blagojevich. Erickson refused, saying it lacked Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White’s signature and the state seal.

White has refused to sign the appointment letter that Blagojevich gave to Burris, saying he won’t sign onto any such decision by a governor under legal siege.

White said Wednesday says he’s being unfairly blamed by senators for not seating Burris, saying Burris could have been accepted there without his signature, calling that “mostly ceremonial.”

And in Chicago, Burris’ attorneys asked the Illinois Supreme Court on Tuesday to expedite a hearing on their petition for a court order directing White to certify his appointment.

Burris also was considering a federal lawsuit to force Senate Democrats to seat him.

“Our credentials were rejected by the secretary of the Senate,” said Timothy W. Wright III, an attorney for Burris. “We were not allowed to be placed in the record book. We were not allowed to proceed to the floor for purposes of taking oath. All of which we think was improperly done and is against the law of this land.”

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Governor Rod Blogojevich’s choice of Roland Burris to replace Barack Obama in the US Senate has been blocked by the Secretary of the Illinois Senate.

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BP Member tjd4life

BP member tjd4life says… “Here you have a woman, with no public record, trying to get appointed to a U.S. Senate seat, a very public position.”

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The Chicago Sun Times is reporting that Obama’s Chief of Staff, Rahm Emmanuel, had several discussions with Illinois Governor, Rod Blagojevich about Obama’s vacated Senate seat. According to the report, Emmanuel pushed for the appointment of Obama’s close friend, Valerie Jarret as Senator to be done by a certain time.

Read The Report Here

The Rev. Al Sharpton took Caroline Kennedy to lunch Thursday at a famed Harlem soul food restaurant as she continued her quest to join her uncle in the U.S. Senate.

Wearing a black down coat, Kennedy smiled as she and the civil rights activist made their way through a throng of media and into Sylvia’s, whose walls are lined with photographs of visiting politicians including the Clintons. The two of them planned to answer questions later.

The late President John F. Kennedy’s daughter acknowledged Wednesday she’s seeking to be appointed to the Senate seat held by Hillary Rodham Clinton, who has been nominated by President-elect Barack Obama to be secretary of state.
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Kennedy’s emergence as a contender has generated both buzz and controversy. She comes from a Democratic dynasty but has never held public office, and some Republicans and Democrats have criticized her lack of experience.

Democratic Gov. David Paterson has said he won’t make an appointment until Clinton is confirmed. The governor confirmed Kennedy’s interest in the seat on Monday, the same day she reached out to Sharpton in a telephone call.

After speaking to Kennedy, Sharpton released a statement saying he disagreed with those who say she isn’t qualified to be U.S. senator.

He said he had invited her to dine wtih him at Sylvia’s this week, reminding her that he took Obama there during his campaign “so it’s a good luck stop since he did all right.”

From Charles Thomas at ABCNews:

Jackson has been fighting for his reputation since the federal complaint revealed his supporters were willing to raise money for the governor, if Jackson was appointed to the Senate.

The new information appears to support Jackson’s claim that he was not involved in a scheme to buy a U.S. Senate seat.

ABC7 has learned that since late last summer, the congressman has worked with federal prosecutors, informing on an alleged Blagojevich administration scheme two and half years earlier.

Click here for the full report.

ALSO, check out a related analysis on The Daily Kos.

Caroline Kennedy, who today, claimed she was seeking the Senate seat left vacant by Hillary Clinton has called Al Sharpton for his support.

Sharpton has released a statement, vouching for Kennedy’s credentials.

I received a call this afternoon from Caroline Kennedy who expressed to me her interest in the United States Senate seat open in New York City with the choice of Senator Clinton becoming Secretary of State. We discussed briefly our mutual work on education reform and our concern that the nation move in the right direction in education and other areas.

I told her that while I do have discussions from time to time with Governor Paterson on a variety of important issues, we have not had any meaningful discussions about her or any other potential candidate to date. Further, I told Ms. Kennedy that I will respect whatever choice Governor Paterson makes for New York’s next Senator.

Since the possibility of Ms. Kennedy’s candidacy for the Senate has, understandably, already generated a fair degree of debate and discussion, I feel compelled to state that I unequivocally disagree with those that say she is not qualified and could not bring needed leadership to this state and country. My knowledge of her in the area of education and on behalf of children generally, the fact that she has written several books, and her other civic involvement more than qualifies her to be Senator. Ms. Kennedy is an accomplished author on Constitutional Law, the Bill of Rights, and political courage. She is also a lawyer.

Elected office is not the only area of public service that establishes leadership in this country. We just elected a community organizer as President of the United States.

Finally, I also invited Ms. Kennedy to dine with me at Sylvia’s this week in Harlem and reminded her that I took Senator Obama there during his campaign so it’s a good luck stop since he did all right.

From Terence Samuel at TheRoot.com:

There is a lot of head shaking over Jesse Jackson Jr.’s murky involvement in the swirl of muck engulfing Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. While Jackson is clearly not a target of the federal investigation that has ensnared Blagojevich, he may be the one taking the biggest political hit so far.

Jackson’s chances for the Senate seat, and therefore any higher political office, may have been irreparably damaged by the Blago scandal. The governor, after all, has been under investigations for years; his public approval ratings were in the low teens, which means not even his distant cousins were sticking by him. He had no good name left to preserve and no political future to worry about. If he manages to stay out of jail, it will be a legal and personal triumph.

But Jesse Jackson Jr., who had managed to ably establish himself as a legitimate and respected political force, separate from his famous father, suddenly finds himself explaining away problems not of his own making.

Click here for the full story.

An examination of the FBI complaint against Blagojevich and the days immediately following Obama’s historic election victory suggests the governor was highly interested in Obama confidante Valerie Jarrett as a potential Senate appointee, albeit with a steep price tag.

The 76-page complaint contains multiple references to “Senate Candidate 1,” whose description clearly fits Jarrett, a former finance chief for Obama’s earlier campaigns and incoming senior White House adviser.

In secretly recorded conversations, the Democratic governor said he’d be willing to appoint Jarrett — Obama’s supposed favorite to replace him — in return for a high-paying job at a national union organization called Change to Win.

At a news conference Thursday, Obama said his office was assembling any information about possible contacts “between the transition office and the governor’s office,” and that he intended to release any such detail in the next few days.

“But what I’m absolutely certain about is that our office had no involvement in any dealmaking around my Senate seat,” Obama said. “That I’m absolutely certain of.”

It remained unclear whether anyone on Obama’s team had been in contact with Blagojevich or his associates regarding the Senate seat.

According to the complaint, Blagojevich met Nov. 5 with an official of the Service Employees International Union-Local 1 who is believed to be Tom Balanoff, a longtime Obama supporter who spoke at the Democratic National Convention.

Blagojevich “understood” that the SEIU official was “an emissary to discuss Senate Candidate 1′s interest” in the Senate seat. Though just a day after the election, media reports had already identified Jarrett as being interested in the job.

SEIU officials released a statement Thursday saying the organization had been in contact with the U.S. attorney’s office and had no reason to believe the union or any union official had been involved in misconduct. The statement said the union, and specifically Balanoff, were “fully cooperating” with the probe.

During a Nov. 5 call, Blagojevich said the Senate appointment was a thing of value, something not given away “for nothing.”

Two days later, Blagojevich allegedly suggested he’d be willing to “trade” the Senate seat to Jarrett in exchange for the Health and Human Services secretary’s job. He repeated that desire during a separate, three-way call involved Blagojevich, Chief of Staff John Harris and someone identified only as “Advisor B,” a Washington-based consultant.

Harris noted that Blagojevich also would consider being appointed to a high-paying position at Change to Win and that Balanoff, who declined numerous requests for an interview with The Associated Press, could guarantee the appointment.

In return, Obama would be expected to help Change to Win with its legislative agenda on a national level, said Harris, according to the criminal complaint.

As the FBI listened in, Harris suggested the three-way deal would give Obama “a buffer so there is no obvious quid pro quo” regarding Jarrett. And “Adviser B” said “they should leverage the President-elect‘s desire to have Senate Candidate 1 appointed to the Senate seat” in exchange for a big job at Change to Win.

On Nov. 10, Blagojevich, his wife, Harris, the governor’s chief counsel William R. Quinlan and several Washington-based advisers conducted an extraordinary two-hour conference call.

Blagojevich conceded he probably wouldn’t get the HHS job or an ambassadorship because of so much negative publicity surrounding him.

Using several expletives, Blagojevich said he was reluctant to give Obama “his senator” without anything in return; he said he’d appoint a deputy governor before giving the job to Candidate 1. He also considered appointing himself to the job to avoid impeachment.

During the next 36 hours, the governor grew angry and suggested Obama’s camp was not interested in making a deal.

“They’re not willing to give me anything except appreciation. (Expletive) them,” Blagojevich told Harris in an intercepted call Nov. 11. The men talked about alternative candidates and perhaps starting a nonprofit organization that could possibly be funded by a wealthy Obama supporter, perhaps Warren Buffett.

Asked Thursday why the governor might have believed the Obama camp wasn’t going to cooperate, Obama refused to speculate.

“I can’t presume to know what was in the mind of the governor during this process,” he said. “All I can do is read what was in the transcripts, like the rest of you have read it, and shake my head.”

On Nov. 12, major news organizations, including the AP, quoted sources as saying Jarrett was not interested in the Senate seat. The Chicago Tribune said it had received an e-mail from Jarrett declaring, “I am not interested in the Senate seat.”

But as the day wore on, Blagojevich continued to discuss the possibility of appointing “Senate Candidate 1″ in a series of calls; Blagojevich would stay on as governor and ostensibly run the nonprofit.

“Adviser B” told the governor he liked the Change to Win job best because “from the President-elect‘s perspective, there would be fewer `fingerprints’” because the union organization was already in existence and fully funded.

During one of the calls, Blagojevich informed the union official — believed to be Balanoff — that he’d heard Obama now wanted other candidates considered. Balanoff said he would find out if “Senate Candidate 1″ wanted to keep pushing for the Senate seat.

The discussion during a Nov. 13 call between the governor and “Adviser A” made it clear Blagojevich wanted a deal from Obama whether his pick was Jarrett or someone else, according to the complaint. And in subsequent recorded conversations, the governor indeed moved on to other possible candidates, including Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.

On Nov. 15, Obama announced the appointment of Jarrett as one of his key advisers. And yet nine days later, Blagojevich may not have given up on the idea that Jarrett was still his way to cash in: According to Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., he spoke to the governor about Jarrett on Nov. 24.

“The governor asked me, `What about Valerie Jarrett? Do you think she’s serious?’” Durbin said, an apparent reference to her withdrawal from consideration.

“I said, `Yes, I talked to her. She said she doesn’t want this. She’s going to stick with Obama,’” Durbin said.

The exchange contributed to charges against Blagojevich in which he is accused of putting his office up for sale, while raising questions about the identity of the candidate.

On Wednesday, it was revealed that U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. was the candidate, prompting him to hold an emotional news conference proclaiming his innocence. Jackson, the son of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, said prosecutors have told him he is not the target of the bombshell investigation, nor is he accused of any wrongdoing.

“I did not initiate nor authorize anyone, at any time, to promise anything to Gov. Blagojevich on my behalf,” he said, without taking questions. “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.”

Jackson said he openly sought appointment to Obama’s seat but denied offering favors in return to Blagojevich. His lawyer, James D. Montgomery Sr., acknowledged the Illinois Democrat is “Senate Candidate 5″ in the 76-page federal complaint filed against the governor, who was arrested Tuesday.

U.S. attorney’s spokesman Randall Samborn would not confirm or deny Jackson’s assertions.

Blagojevich, a second-term Democrat, is accused of scheming to enrich himself by selling Obama’s open seat for cash or a lucrative job for himself or his wife.

In an interview with The Associated Press, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said it’s “common in politics for people to try to leverage relationships,” but his son didn’t do such a thing.

“The good is news is … that it did not say he had done anything illegal,” Jackson said, referring to the criminal complaint. “Somebody in his name was trying to negotiate.”

Jackson said he didn’t know who tried to negotiate on his son’s behalf and that he had not spoken with the FBI. He said he hadn’t spoken with Blagojevich in months and that he didn’t promote his son for the Senate seat. Jackson said his son was always critical of “clandestine, backroom” deals.

He said the scandal had saddened many people, especially after Obama’s historic victory.

“Our hearts dropped,” he said. “We were astonished. All of us were. We went from the height of joy and exuberance to oceanic depths and a sense of bewilderment. There’s a great sense of pain in the state.”

Jackson Jr. said he met with Blagojevich on Monday in Chicago for 90 minutes to discuss the Senate vacancy. It was their first meeting in about four years, he said.

“I presented my record, my qualifications and my vision,” Jackson said. “Despite what he may have been looking for, that’s all I had to offer.”

The federal complaint cites an intercepted Blagojevich conversation on Dec. 4. In it, the complaint alleges, the governor told an unidentified adviser “that he was giving Senate Candidate 5 greater consideration for the Senate seat because, among other reasons, if Rod Blagojevich ran for re-election, Senate Candidate 5 would `raise money’ for him.”

The complaint alleges that Blagojevich said he might get some money “up front, maybe” from the Senate hopeful “to insure Senate Candidate 5 kept his promise about raising money” for the governor.

On Wednesday, the seven-term congressman called on Blagojevich to resign and said he was appalled “by the pay-to-play schemes hatched at the highest levels of Illinois state government.”

“Politicians and fundraisers do some very strange things from time to time,” said Montgomery, the lawyer. “I wouldn’t put it past someone to be purporting to represent Jesse without authority.”

In recent documents uncovered by the Smoking Gun. Illinois Governor, Rod Blagojevich is on record saying a lot of negative things about Obama and incriminating things about himself.

If Obama represented a new kind of politics, Blagojevich reminded America of the old corrupt greedy politics of yesterday. Blagojevich realized his newfound importance when Obama won the election and he was in charge of appointing Obama’s successor as Senator from Illinois.

Blagojevich said the Senate Seat “is a fucking valuable, you just don’t give it away for nothing.” He also threatened to appoint himself to the Senate Seat “I’m going to keep this Senate option for me a real possibility, you know, and therefore I can drive a hard bargain. You hear what I’m saying. And if I don’t get what I want and I’m not satisfied with it, then I’ll just take the Senate seat myself.”

According to FBI Agent Daniel Cain, Blagojevich saw himself like a sports agent, trying to give the Senate Seat to the highest bidder. In a wiretapped November 10 call, Blagojevich repeatedly called Obama a ‘motherfucker.’ Blagojevich knew that Obama wanted to have long time friend Valerie Jarrett, succeed him but wanted something in return “but they’re not willing to give me anything except appreciation. Fuck Them”

From The AP

The affidavit said Blagojevich also discussed getting a substantial salary for himself at a nonprofit foundation or an organization affiliated with labor unions.

It said Blagojevich also talked about getting his wife placed on corporate boards where she might get $150,000 a year in director’s fees.

He also allegedly discussed getting campaign funds for himself or possibly a post in the president’s cabinet or an ambassadorship once he left the governor’s office. He noted becoming a U.S. senator might remake his image for a possible presidential run in 2016, according to the affidavit. And he allegedly said a Senate seat would also provide him with corporate contacts if he needed a job and present an opportunity for his wife to work as a lobbyist.

“I want to make money,” the affidavit quotes him as saying in one conversation.

The affidavit said Blagojevich expressed frustration at being “stuck” as governor and that he would have access to greater resources if he were indicted while in the U.S. Senate than while sitting as governor.

Among those being considered for the Senate post: U.S. Reps. Jesse Jackson Jr., Danny Davis, Jan Schakowsky and Luis Gutierrez; Illinois Senate President Emil Jones and Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs Director Tammy Duckworth.

The affidavit outlined a Nov. 10 call between Blagojevich, his wife, his chief of staff — John Harris, who also was arrested Tuesday — and a group of advisers in which Harris allegedly suggested working out an agreement with the Service Employees International Union.

Under the plan, Blagojevich would appoint a new senator who would be helpful to the president-elect and in turn get a job as head of Change to Win, a group formed by the union. The union would get an unspecified favor from Obama later.

Nothing in the court papers suggested Obama had any part in the discussion. In fact, Blagojevich allegedly said in the same conversation that Obama most likely would not appoint him as secretary of health and human services or to an ambassadorship because of the negative publicity that has surrounded the governor for three years.

One day later, according to the affidavit, Blagojevich allegedly told an associate he knew Obama wanted a specific Senate candidate but “they’re not going to give me anything except appreciation.” He finished the remark with an expletive.

Blagojevich also was charged with using his authority as governor in an attempt to squeeze out campaign contributions.

Corruption in the Blagojevich administration has been the focus of a federal investigation involving an alleged $7 million scheme aimed at squeezing kickbacks out of companies seeking business from the state. Federal prosecutors have acknowledged they’re also investigating “serious allegations of endemic hiring fraud” under Blagojevich, who has a $177,412 salary, though it’s unclear whether he accepts the total.

The governor has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

Political fundraiser Antoin “Tony” Rezko who raised money for the campaigns of both Blagojevich and Obama is awaiting sentencing after being convicted of fraud and other charges. Blagojevich’s chief fundraiser, Christopher G. Kelly, is due to stand trial early next year on charges of obstructing the Internal Revenue Service.

According to Tuesday’s complaint, Blagojevich schemed with Rezko, millionaire-fundraiser turned federal witness Stuart Levine and others to get financial benefits for himself and his campaign committee.

Federal prosecutors said Blagojevich and the chairman of his campaign committee have been speeding up corrupt fundraising activities in the last month to get as much money as possible before the end of the year when a new law would curtail his ability to raise contributions from companies with state contracts worth more than $50,000.

According to the affidavit, agents learned Blagojevich was seeking $2.5 million in campaign contributions by the end of the year, with a large part allegedly to come from companies and individuals who have gotten state contracts or appointments.

The affidavit also outlines Blagojevich conversations related to Tribune Co., which has been hoping to sell Wrigley Field, the home of the Chicago Cubs which the publishing giant also owns.

Blagojevich was quoted in court papers as telling Harris in a profanity laced Nov. 4 conversation that his recommendation to Tribune executives was to fire the editorial writers “and get us some editorial support.”

Harris is quoted as telling the governor Nov. 11 that an unnamed Tribune Owner, presumably CEO Sam Zell, “got the message and is very sensitive to the issue.”

The affidavit said Harris quoted a Tribune financial adviser as saying cuts were coming at the newspaper and “reading between the lines he’s going after that section,” apparently meaning editorial writers. Blagojevich is quoted as saying: “Oh, that’s fantastic.”

“Wow,” Blagojevich allegedly replied. “Keep our fingers crossed. You’re the man. Good job, John.”

Harris allegedly told Blagojevich in his conversation with the financial adviser he had singled out deputy editorial page editor John McCormick as “somebody who was the most biased and unfair.”

After hearing that, Blagojevich allegedly stressed to the head of a Chicago sports consulting firm that it was important to provide state aid for a Wrigley Field sale.

Blagojevich took the chief executive’s office in 2003 as a reformer promising to clean up former Gov. George Ryan’s mess.

Ryan, a Republican, is serving a 6-year prison sentence after being convicted on racketeering and fraud charges. A decade-long investigation began with the sale of driver’s licenses for bribes and led to the conviction of dozens of people who worked for Ryan when he was secretary of state and governor.

FBI spokesman Frank Bochte said federal agents arrested the governor and Harris simultaneously at their homes at 6:15 a.m. and took them to the Chicago FBI headquarters.

He did not have any details about Blagojevich’s arrest, only that he was cooperative with federal agents.

“It was a very calm setting,” he said.

The governor was to appear Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Nan Nolan to answer the charges.

At the recent Gridiron dinner, an off the records dinner in which politicians sing and crack jokes said that his real goal was to become President of the United States because ‘Once you go black you don’t go back,’ referencing Barack Obama’s recent election.

Patterson has been the subject of a lot of speculation recently due to his role as the person who decides who Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat goes too.

Watch Paterson Discuss Hillary Clinton’s Vacant Senate Seat