Jesse Jackson Jr. Ensnared in Political, Personal Scandals

Sept. 22, 2010 — -- Not long after his election to Congress in 1995, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. of Illinois was mentioned as having presidential potential. In the fall of 2008, the Democrat was on the media radar as a possible inheritor of Barack Obama's U.S. Senate seat. And he has long been viewed as a possible Chicago mayoral candidate.

All of that has now changed.

New reports have surfaced that the congressman was involved directly in efforts to trade millions of dollars in campaign funds for the vacated Obama Senate seat. The allegations also include damaging implications of an affair with a blond Washington, D.C. restaurant hostess.

According to the Chicago Sun Times, Chicago businessman and fundraiser Raghuveer Nayak told authorities that Jackson directed him to offer then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich $6 million if he would appoint Jackson to the seat. Allegedly, the plan was for Chicago's Indian community to raise $1 million for Blagojevich in return for the job and then Jackson would raise $5 million more for the governor once he was in the Senate.

Nayak also allegedly told authorities that at Jackson's request, he paid for plane tickets for a "social acquaintance" of the congressman to visit Jackson in Chicago. Her name is Giovana Huidobro, a hostess at Ozio, a Washington D.C. club.

Jackson has not been charged with a crime and has continually denied any involvement in efforts to purchase the Obama Senate seat. He did so again in a statement released Tuesday.

But in his denial Jackson also included a reference to what Jackson called, "a personal matter."

"The reference to a social acquaintance is a private and personal matter between me and my wife that was handled some time ago." Jackson said. "I ask that you respect our privacy."

Jackson went on to apologize for having "disappointed some supporters."

Jackson's re-election just over a month from now has been widely viewed as a lock and his name has frequently surfaced in connection with the brewing mayoral race after Richard Daley announced he would not seek another term. These new reports may change his political future.