Dec 12, 2008 4:56 pm US/Central
Jackson Jr. Defends Businessman In Trib Report
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
There were new reports Friday that businessmen were trying to raise millions for Gov. Rod Blagojevich as payment for him to name Congressman Jesse Jackson to the Obama Senate seat.
CBS 2's Derrick Blakley has the story and Jackson's reaction.
Jackson flatly said he knows nothing about any such scheme, but he does know the man named by the Chicago Tribune as the key figure behind it -- and, in fact, knows him well.
Jackson Jr. describes wealthy Indian businessman Raguhveer Nayak as a "family friend, certainly a supporter, someone who has been actively involved in Illinois politics."
Nayak owns a series of medical facilities, including a Rogers Park surgical center and has contributed thousands to both Jackson and Rod Blagojevich.
According to the Tribune, on Saturday, Nayak and other Indian businessmen held a Blagojevich fund-raiser in Elmhurst and openly talked about raising a million dollars for the governor, in an effort to get him to appoint Jackson as senator.
"I know Ragu Nayak," Jackson said. "I know him as a man of character. I've known him as a great friend. (He has a) wonderful personality, wonderful smile. I can't imagine him doing anything illegal. He's very affluent. He doesn't need to do anything illegal."
Also attending the Saturday fund-raiser was Jackson's brother, Jonathan.
"Jonathan was not there on my behalf," the congressman said. "He did not serve as an emissary."
But the Blagojevich wiretaps indicate someone did serve as an emissary for Jackson with the governor. The emissary purportedly would help raise up to $1.5 million in return for a Jackson appointment to the Senate.
"What I can say with unqualified assurance is that I have authorized no one to speak to the governor on my behalf," Jackson said.
Jackson was originally slated to speak with federal prosecutors and the FBI Friday or Monday. Now, he says he's been told there's a long traffic jam of people waiting to come in.
Jackson says his interview has been pushed back, until the Justice Department calls him, and he doesn't know exactly when that will be.
Throughout his career, Jackson has portrayed himself as a political reformer. But one-time campaign associate Frank Coconate paints a starkly different view of Jackson and his motivations.
Coconate, a former city worker, was Jackson's Northwest Side point man when Jackson flirted with the idea of running against Mayor Richard M. Daley.
Now, Coconate says, he's not shocked by federal wiretaps in which Blagojevich discusses selling Barack Obama's Senate seat to someone described as a Jackson emissary.
"He was always looking to deal," Coconate said. "If he couldn't get it outright, he'd buy it."
In a 2005 meeting with a longtime Jackson aide, Coconate says, he was told Jackson only endorsed candidates who sent money Jackson's way.
On Wednesday, Jackson denied any wrongdoing, and his attorney, James Montgomery, said someone may have been posing as Jackson's aide.
CBS 2 tried to contact the Jackson aide but was unable to reach him Thursday. The station is not using the aide's name.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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