Jesse Jr. pays his alderman wife money from his campaign fund

More problems for Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Chicago). Last year he became entangled in the Rod Blagojevich scandals, now he has his own ethical problem, as Bloomberg reported yesterday:

Representative Jesse Jackson Jr.'s congressional campaign organization has paid his wife at least $247,500 since 2001, including at least $95,000 after Sandra Jackson joined the Chicago City Council two years ago, according to federal election records.

Jackson's political committee also gave at least $298,927 in cash and in-kind contributions to Sandra Jackson's campaign fund, which bankrolled her races for a city council seat that pays more than $100,000 per year and an unpaid position on the Cook County Democratic Committee.

Sandra Jackson, known as Sandi, received the $95,000 for political consulting after pledging during her campaign to give "my full attention" to the alderman's post.

Jesse Jackson got a Federal Election Commission advisory opinion in 2001 saying his campaign could pay Sandi Jackson for consulting work without violating a ban on personal use of political donations. Even so, the Chicago Democrat's fundraising is so entangled with his family's interests that he’s pushing the limits of propriety, said Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a nonprofit ethics watchdog group.

Yesterday was a busy news day, but I'm curious why this Bloomberg story has been largely ignored by the rest of the media--Chicago outlets excluded.

Largely overlooked--again outside of Chicago--is that the Jackson family has quietly built a mini-political machine on the city's south side.

Related posts:

Jesse Jr's big Blago problem

Run Jesse Jr. run! Jackson hit by ethics probe

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