Words to Haunt Jesse Jackson Jr.
Nathaniel Zimmer writes an article about the possibility that Jackson is Senate Candidate 5:
The affidavit filed by an FBI special agent in support of the corruption charges against the governor refers only to the candidate by number, making it impossible to know for sure which contender is candidate 5. The affidavit also does not discuss any direct talks between candidate 5 and the governor, indicating only that Blagojevich spoke to “an emissary” and someone from whom he wanted campaign contributions and who he “believes to be close to Senate Candidate 5.”
On Thursday, the governor was taped by investigators saying that he was going to meet with candidate 5 in the next few days, according to the affidavit. Jackson met with Blagojevich Monday at the Thompson Center in Chicago for about 90 minutes to discuss the Senate seat. In his statement, Jackson said he “shared with the Governor my hopes and unique qualifications for succeeding President-elect Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate.”
Also on Thursday, Blagojevich said in a taped phone call that he was considering appointing Senate Candidate 5 because he would raise money for the governor or give him money “up front,” according to the affidavit.
On Oct. 31, Blagojevich reportedly said on another recorded call that he had been approached by an associate of candidate 5, stating that “We were approached ‘pay to play.’ That, you know, he’d raise me 500 grand. An emissary came. Then the other guy would raise a million, if I made him (Senate Candidate 5) a senator.”
But Blagojevich apparently wanted evidence of the candidate’s ability to raise money for him sooner rather than later, saying that he had “a prior bad experience with Senate Candidate 5 not keeping his word,” the affidavit says.
“Some of this stuff’s gotta start happening now–right now–and we gotta see it,” Blagojevich allegedly said.
To be fair, there is a lot of things that could happen between what Blagojevich heard and what Jackson meant to convey through an emmissary–however, none of that is good for Jackson.