Rep. Jackson Denies Offer Of Favors for Senate Seat

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Jackson Jr. on Blagojevich Corruption Scandal

Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. denies any wrongdoing in connection with the Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich charges in a press conference.

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Jackson, who has made no secret of his desire to occupy the Senate seat, hired an attorney and called a Capitol Hill news conference to address "rumors and reports" that he was part of an illegal attempt to win the governor's favor.

According to the federal affidavit, Blagojevich on Dec. 4 told an adviser: "We were approached 'pay-to-play,' that, you know, he'd raise me 500 grand. An emissary came. Then the other guy would raise $1 million if I made [Candidate 5] a senator."

The same day, Blagojevich allegedly told his top fundraiser that he was "elevating" Candidate 5 on the list of possible Senate picks. He said he was due to meet the candidate in a few days and may be able to get something "tangible up front."

Blagojevich instructed the fundraiser to pass the word that if Candidate 5 wanted the job, "some of this stuff's gotta start happening now . . . right now . . . and we gotta see it. You understand?"

In a word of caution at a moment when he knew federal prosecutors were investigating his administration, Blagojevich also told the fundraiser: "I would do it in person. I would not do it on the phone."

Jackson told reporters that "I reject and denounce pay-to-play politics and have no involvement whatsoever in any wrongdoing. I did not initiate or authorize anyone at any time to promise anything to Governor Blagojevich on my behalf."

Recently elected to his eighth term from Chicago's South Side, Jackson said he met with Blagojevich for 90 minutes on Monday -- the day before the governor's arrest -- to discuss his qualifications for the Senate appointment. He promised to cooperate "fully and completely" with federal investigators.

Jackson said the U.S. attorney's office told him on Tuesday that "I am not a target of this investigation." A spokesman for that office declined to confirm or deny that assertion.

Before Jackson met with reporters in Washington, his attorney, James Montgomery Sr., held a news conference to say that Jackson "has made no illicit approach to the governor."

"Politicians and fundraisers do some funny things from time to time," he said. "I wouldn't put it past someone to claim they were representing Congressman Jackson."

Federal investigators, who rushed to charge Blagojevich this week to prevent him from allegedly trying to sell the Senate seat to the highest bidder or forcing the resignation of a Chicago Tribune editorial writer, are scrambling to fill out their case with testimony and evidence.

The FBI has recordings of Blagojevich, taken from bugs in his campaign office and a wiretap on his home telephone. As one source put it, there are "a lot of people to talk to, to check out on the other side of a lot of conversations."

Patrick Collins, a former public-corruption prosecutor who helped convict Blagojevich's predecessor as governor, George Ryan (R), said the prosecution has 30 days to obtain a grand jury indictment. He said the tapes and other materials presented in the criminal complaint will not be enough to prove in court that Blagojevich, Chief of Staff John Harris and others they spoke with intended to break the law.

"They have to develop evidence beyond a reasonable doubt," said Collins, who is now in private practice. "They need financial records, they need phone records, they need witness testimony. They need insiders in the Blagojevich camp to say, 'I had this conversation and I was the emissary.' "

Bob Greenlee, one of Blagojevich's deputies, resigned Wednesday. It remained unclear whether Greenlee was the person identified in the affidavit as "Deputy Governor A," who allegedly discussed with Blagojevich a series of schemes to line the governor's pockets.

The secretly tape-recorded discussions revealed the governor's plan to pressure the Chicago Tribune to fire editorial writers who had called for his impeachment, his attempt to squeeze campaign cash from a children's hospital executive, and his vow to appoint himself to the Senate if others are "not going to offer anything of any value."

Staff writers Kari Lydersen in Chicago and Carrie Johnson, Paul Kane and Anne E. Kornblut in Washington contributed to this report.