[Author’s Note: The following was published at 3:30 pm yesterday as an update to my original article, on this unfolding scandal, which was published earlier at 5:28 am.]
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It seems my worst fears about Jesse Jr are being realized. Because his lawyer has just confirmed that Blagojevich was, in fact, referring to Jesse Jr when he was caught on wiretaps saying the following:
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 No. 5, namely, Jesse Jr] a senator.
Of course the lawyer insisted that Jesse Jr did not authorize anyone to approach the Governor on his behalf and had no knowledge about anyone doing so under any circumstances.
For his own part, Jesse Jr issued the following denial:
It is impossible for someone on my behalf to have a conversation that would suggest any type of quid pro quo or any payments or offers… [It’s] an impossibility to an absolute certainty. (Jesse Jr to ABC News)
Despite his emphatic denial, however, I’m afraid Jesse Jr has become too ensnared and tainted by this unfolding political and criminal scandal to keep any hope alive of being either appointed or elected to replace Obama in the U.S. Senate. And that’s a damn shame !
Frankly, I suspect Jesse Jr retained this lawyer not to help him with political damage control as much as to insulate him from any criminal exposure he might suffer as a result of his behind-the-scenes efforts to get this Senate seat.
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