Source: Ill. Gov Nixed Job for Jackson Jr.'s Wife

The person did not know whether Jackson's wife, Sandi, who has since been elected to the Chicago City Council, had asked for the state lottery job. At the time, Blagojevich was the first incoming Democratic governor after years of Republican rule and had scores of state jobs to fill.

Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., D-Ill., leaves the podium following his remarks at a news conference on...

Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., D-Ill., leaves the podium following his remarks at a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008. Jackson, a 7-term House member and son of a famous civil rights leader, said he is not a target of the federal investigation that led to this week's arrest of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, that he eagerly and openly sought the Senate appointment, but was not involved "whatsoever in any wrongdoing."(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

(AP)

"The governor had kind of penciled Sandi in as lottery director and then asked for contributions from the congressman," the person said.

Sandi Jackson did not immediately return a call to her office seeking comment.

In April, the Chicago Tribune reported that an examination of campaign donations to Blagojevich showed that three in four donors who gave exactly $25,000 received administration favors such as state board appointments or contracts.

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It's also the same amount of money that figured prominently in the testimony of a government witness in the political corruption trial this summer of political fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko.

Ali Ata, the former executive director of the Illinois Finance Authority, testified that Blagojevich spoke encouragingly about getting him a job in his administration after he personally brought him a $25,000 campaign contribution.

Rezko, who raised more than $1 million for Blagojevich's campaign fund, was convicted of shaking down companies seeking state business for campaign contributions.

The person familiar with Jackson's discussions also said Tuesday that Jackson has spoken with federal investigators about a 2006 meeting with Rezko at which the two discussed a proposed airport in Peotone, long considered a possible location for a third Chicago-area airport.

The person said Rezko told Jackson, a longtime proponent of the airport, that Blagojevich wanted to control the airport's board, but Jackson balked.

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