OCE Referral Regarding Rep. Jackson (PDF 5.4MB)
On August 6, 2009, the Office of Congressional Ethics transmitted a referral to the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct of the United States House of Representatives regarding Representative Jesse Jackson, Jr.
Nature of Review
Transcripts of recordings of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich contain statements that an "emissary" from Representative Jackson had offered to raise money for Blagojevich and provide "money up-front," if Blagojevich nominted Representative Jackson to the Illinois Senate seat vacated by President Obama. If this "emissary" acted either at the directio of Representative Jackson or with his knowledge or acquiescence, Representative Jackson may have violated federal law and House rules.
In the course of conducting this review, the OCE learned that staff resources of the Representative's Washington, DC and Chicago, Illinois, offices were used to mount a "public campaign" to secure the Representative's appointment to the U.S. Senate. In doing so, Representative Jackson may have violated federal law and House Rules concerning the proper use of the Member's Representational Allowance.
OCE Recommendation
The Board of the Office of Congressional Ethics recommended that the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct further review the above allegations.
Committee Conclusion
On December 2, 2011, the Committee on Ethics (previously the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct) released a statement indicating that it had accepted the OCE recommendation to further review the allegations. The Committee published the OCE report and findings and announced the allegations would be further reviewed pursuant to the Committee Rule 18(a).
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