Marathon Pundit: Junior "the Blago informer," explained

Monday, December 22, 2008

Junior "the Blago informer," explained

Jesse Jackson Jr.'s revelation that he was a government informant against disgraced governor Rod Blagojevich didn't pass the smell test with me.

This morning's Chicago Sun-Times story, What really happened with Jackson Jr., feds sifts through things and explains a lot--but not everything.

A snippet:

Here's a timeline of those events, according to sources and court records:

Since Jackson has been a congressman: Jackson has worked with the U.S. attorney's office in Chicago providing information about possible criminal activity within his South Side and south suburban district. But Jackson did not talk to the feds about Blagojevich until this year.

June 2008: Newspapers first report that Jackson and convicted Blagojevich fund-raiser Tony Rezko had a meeting in 2006 about one of Jackson's pet issues: a longtime proposal to build a third airport in Peotone. Jackson alleges that Rezko wanted to turn a board overseeing the airport plan "into one of those state panels controlled by unaccountable pay-to-play ringleaders like Rezko."

Late summer 2008: Federal authorities and Jackson have their first telephone conversation about his 2006 meeting with Rezko, a source close to Jackson said last week. During that conversation, Jackson volunteers that his wife, Sandi -- who became a Chicago alderman in 2007 -- was being considered for a job as Illinois Lottery director in 2002 after Blagojevich had won his first term as governor.