The post-election surprises just keep coming. CBS 2 news in Chicago has confirmed that U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. has reached a plea agreement with federal prosecutors that includes his agreement to plead guilty to misusing campaign funds for personal use, resigning his seat in Congress, serving a minimum sentence in prison and repaying the funds he misspent. According to the report, Winston & Strawn's Dan Webb, a former U.S. Attorney, has represented Jackson in the plea discussions. Despite the fact that he has not worked a day since last June, did not campaign for re-election and voters in his district knew that he was under federal investigation, he won re-election in last Tuesday's election by a landslide over his Republican opponent because Chicago voters are too stupid to vote for anyone other than a Democrat regardless of how corrupt or inept they are.
Illinois Pay To Play blog, which has done an excellent job chronicling all of the recent corruption in Chicago, including illegal actions by President Obama, speculates that Sam Adams, Jr., the criminal defense attorney who defended former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich in his public corruption trial, may be in line to claim Jackson's seat when he steps down. The blog has wondered why Blagojevich's attorneys, including Adams, have remained silent after two Chicago Tribune reporters detailed in their book the unprecedented access former U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald gave them to wiretapped telephone conversations of the former governor that his office has blocked from public access and how his office tipped off the two reporters that it was recording his conversations, who in turn asked Blagojevich if he was aware his calls were being recorded. Blagojevich and his attorneys always insisted that if the federal prosecutors had permitted the public to listen to all of the tapes, they would show that he was innocent of at least some of the charges federal prosecutors brought against him. Jurors in the case were only permitted to hear selected portions of the recordings. “I’ve said this from day one, having listened to them – not just talking, having listened to them – I honestly believe in my gut, there is no doubt that this trial would have been different," Adams told reporters in December, 2011. "I honestly believe there is no doubt that this case would have been different, and if I’m wrong, why can’t we hear them now?” While the tapes are not being released, nothing prevents Blagojevich or his attorneys from discussing their content.
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