Marathon Pundit: Jesse Jackson Jr's wife has her own scandal

The Jesse Jackson Junior scandal has split into two investigations, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting. One of Junior, the other of his wife and former Chicago City Council.

Sandi Jackson’s 7th Ward committee, called SWIPO – Seventh Ward Independent Political Operation — shows a pattern of errors, including omitting disclosure of transfers from her husband’s congressional campaign fund, failure to disclose the purpose of credit card payments and claiming negative balances at the beginning and end of a reporting period.

On Nov. 27, days after her husband’s resignation, Sandi Jackson filed a correction for the final quarter of 2010. The corrected document submitted after her husband’s resignation showed an additional $20,000 in expenditures for that period and revealed $8,200 in transfers out of her husband’s congressional account.

The Illinois State Board of Elections sent the ward committee a letter on Nov. 5, 2012 noting it had been “notified of a possible discrepancy in committee reporting. According to Federal Election Commission disclosures, Jesse Jackson Jr. for Congress reported making a number of expenditures to the 7th Ward … it appears many of these expenditures were not disclosed.”

The State Board of Elections also sent a letter dated Dec. 14, which asked: “The report begins and ends with a negative balance. Could you please clarify this?” That letter was sent the same day the Sun-Times published a story that highlighted that issue as well as a series of amendments made to the fund in the weeks after her husband’s resignation from Congress.