Jesse Jackson Jr. named in Blagojevich probe

U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. is “Senate Candidate 5,” whom Gov. Blagojevich was considering appointing as Barack Obama’s replacement in the U.S. Senate under the belief the governor would get at least $1 million in campaign contributions, sources tell the Chicago Sun-Times.
»
Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., addresses the Democratic National Convention in Denver Aug. 25, 2008. (AP)
RELATED STORIESPDF: Read the Blagojevich complaint
The alleged deal was caught on a wiretap secretly planted by the feds.
“In a recorded conversation on October 31, 2008, Rod Blagojevich described an earlier approach by an associate of Senate Candidate Five as follows: ‘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 5) a senator,” the affidavit accompanying Blagojevich's criminal complaint states.
Speculation has circulated that Jackson is Senate Candidate 5 since the complaint was released Tuesday. Jackson, who has aggressively campaigned for the Senate seat, told ABC news that he has not “been informed” by federal prosecutors that he is Senate Candidate 5.
Jackson said he is “not a target” of any probe, but the U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago has sought to interview him.
“I would like to do that as quickly as possible,” Jackson said.
In a statement last night, Jackson said, “I reject and denounce pay-to-play politics and have no involvement whatsoever in any wrongdoing.”