Blago demanded $25K from Jackson in 2002 campaign run by Obama

Washington Post:

Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) told federal investigators in Chicago that Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) asked for a $25,000 campaign contribution during Blagojevich's 2002 run for governor and may have exacted retribution after he did not receive the money, a source close to Jackson said Tuesday.

The allegation surfaced as a special investigative committee of the Illinois House of Representatives began considering impeachment proceedings against Blagojevich and laid out procedures for reviewing charges against him.

Jackson, who has served in the U.S. House for 13 years, did not make the requested contribution, the source said. After Blagojevich won, Jackson's wife, Sandi Jackson, sought appointment as director of the Illinois state lottery director but failed to get the job.

Later, when Blagojevich and the congressman met at a function in Washington, D.C., according to the source, the governor referred to the campaign request, saying roughly this: "Well, I guess you wish you'd given me that $25,000 now."

...

Joe Scarborough on his show today ranted about the lack of attention to Obama that the media has given during the run up to the election and since. Ed Morrissey has the video and some of the transcript, but this item jumped out at me after seeing the WaPo story which does not include it.

...

SCARBOROUGH: OK, then tell me this–yeah, Lizza’s the only one that wrote about it and he got kicked off the campaign plane. So here’s my question for you: if we know so much about this, answer this question. Did Barack Obama, was Barack Obama intimately involved in Blagojevich’s 2002 campaign?

HARWOOD: He was involved, I don’t know how intimately.

SCARBOROUGH: Why? Why don’t you know that?

HARWOOD: I’m not sure how to factor out the BS quotient in that quote you were talking about.

SCARBOROUGH: Why can’t you factor that out?

HARWOOD: Well, because it’s not a story I personally covered.

SCARBOROUGH: I know, but why didn’t somebody investigate this six months ago when Ryan Lizza wrote it? It’s pretty fascinating, because in 2008 we knew he was the most corrupt governor in America.

...


If he was running Blagojevich's campaign in 2002 what did he know about the $25,000 shakedown of Jesse Jackson, Jr.?

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