* From former US Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.’s 2nd Congressional District campaign page…

Jesse Jackson Jr. represented Illinois’ Second Congressional District for 17 years and served as a Member of the powerful Appropriations Committee. Political and business leaders who drafted him to enter the race know the former congressman would use his considerable knowledge, intellect and experience to help improve quality of life across the District. Jesse Jackson Jr. was considered one of the hardest-working and most effective members of Congress. He never missed a vote and he delivered nearly a billion dollars in federal grants and appropriations to the District.

* The American Prospect’s Emma Janssen took a closer look at his attendance…

But publicly available data shows a completely different picture—Jackson missed 376 votes over the course of his 17 years in Congress, including a whopping 278 in 2012 alone.

When asked about the discrepancy, John Digles, who heads communications for the Jackson campaign, initially seemed confused: “That’s not our understanding at all. I’m a little confused by that.” He later clarified that the vast majority of Jackson’s missed votes happened after he “ran into his health issues” during his last term in Congress. Between 1995 and 2009, Jackson only missed two votes. In the last six months of 2012, he missed 100 percent of votes held.

Also in 2012, Jackson disappeared from the public eye entirely. His office initially declined to share information about where the sitting congressman was; the Mayo Clinic eventually revealed in a statement that Jackson was being treated there for depression and bipolar disorder.

In October 2012, just two months after his hospitalization, news broke that Jackson was under criminal investigation for misuse of campaign funds. He won re-election that November and resigned just weeks later. The next February, he pled guilty to conspiracy to defraud his campaign of $750,000.

* Part of Janssen’s story is about Jackson’s attempt at redemption…

Jackson is framing his entry into the race as an almost spiritual redemption project. “Even when I was exiting prison after I was sentenced, I said I still seek forgiveness, and I still seek the restoration and the resurrection of my life and the life of others, and I’m still right there,” he said on WTTW’s Chicago Tonight: Black Voices in 2024.

But Janssen also points to this self-serving Facebook post by Jackson…

So check this out, a young freshman congressman can’t afford her apartment until she gets sworn into congress and is on the payroll. This is what happens. Then when you have kids and they need to attend decent schools in DC and you want to have a life while serving, guess what? You start calling everything you do a campaign expense.

This is what happened to me. Yes there were excesses but working between your district and Washington DC will definitely put you in the poor house and legal jeopardy. Unless you come to Congress a millionaire or a billionaire, it is easy to call and justify everything you do “a campaign expense.” She needs to be real careful. Especially now that she is on the public record as being broke.

Over the course of my 17 years in Congress, the Government looked at a 10 year snap shot of my life, and they said I was padding my life to the tune of 75,000 dollars a year. And it was true. Two kids showed up, their education, and some of my lifestyle choices all showed up at the same time. I was elected in 1995, my first child came in 2000, and my next child was born in 2003. I was 31 when I started the job, and a life long vow of poverty, I did not take for me or my family. when you truly represent people you have a lot of personal standards that you have to maintain and they are expensive. […]

I would buy my kids what they wanted for Christmas, and I said to myself, “self, they deserve it, my supporters won’t mind, because I’m working hard as hell.”

Right. Sure.

* From the US Attorney’s office in 2013…

Former Congressman Jesse L. Jackson, Jr., 47, pled guilty today to conspiring to defraud his re-election campaigns of about $750,000 in funds that were used to pay for a range of personal items and expenses, including jewelry, fur capes and parkas, high-end electronics, celebrity memorabilia, furniture, kitchen appliances, and a home renovation project.

Jackson, who has residences in Chicago and Washington, D.C., also admitted taking steps to conceal seven years of illegal activities, including the filing of false and misleading reports with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and the U.S. House of Representatives.

Jackson’s wife, Sandra Stevens Jackson, 49, a former Chicago alderman, pled guilty in a separate proceeding to filing false tax returns for her role in the scheme. […]

DIRECT EXPENDITURES: Jackson made $57,792 in direct expenditures from the Campaign’s bank account from January 2006 through July 2011. In July 2007, for example, he withdrew $43,350 in Campaign funds to purchase an official check made payable to a jeweler for a men’s gold-plated Rolex watch. In addition, he used $14,442 in Campaign funds to pay down balances on person credit cards maintained by the Jacksons.

CREDIT CARD EXPENDITURES: The Campaign maintained a credit card account, “Jackson for Congress,” from at least August 2005 through August 2012. Individual credit card members on this account included Jackson and his wife. During this period, the Jacksons used the credit cards to purchase merchandise and services that were personal in nature, including high-end electronic items; a washer, a dryer, a range and refrigerator; collector’s items; clothing, food and supplies; movie tickets; health club dues; personal travel, including a holistic retreat, and personal dining expenses.

All told, Campaign funds were used to pay $582,773 of these purchases. During the conspiracy, the Jacksons made approximately 3,100 purchases that were personal in nature. A large number of these personal expenditures fit into these categories:

• Restaurants, nightclubs, and lounges, approximately $60,857.
• Airfare, approximately $31,700.
• Sports clubs and lounges, including gym membership, approximately $31,700.
• Tobacco shops, approximately $17,163.
• Alcohol, approximately $5,814.
• Dry cleaning, approximately $14,513.
• Grocery stores, approximately $8,046.
• Drug stores, approximately $6,095.

[…] GIFTS AND LOANS: At Jackson’s direction, two companies made payments on the balance of a personal credit card of Jackson and his wife. The owner of an Illinois consulting firm issued a check in 2009 for $3,500 from a business account to pay down the balance of a personal credit card. The owner of an Alabama-based family issued a check for $25,000 from a corporate account in 2011, also to pay down a personal credit card balance. […]

For example, in May 2008, “Person A” reported that the Campaign spent $1,553 in January 2008 at a Chicago museum for a fundraiser. In fact, Jackson spent these funds to purchase porcelain collector’s items. In July 2008, “Person A” reported that the Campaign spent $387 for equipment for office repairs. Jackson actually used this money to purchase grass seed and fertilizer for the lawn at his Chicago home.

* Last word to Sen. Robert Peters, who is also running for the open seat created by US Rep. Robin Kelly’s US Senate bid…

“He’s a name. He’s someone who literally spent a bunch of money to live a lavish lifestyle while people are just trying to be able to go to the doctor,” Peters said. “What we’ve seen in the last year or so is a lot of people who’ve tried to make a political comeback off of their name and fail. This election cannot be about your name. It’s about what you’re going to deliver for the working people of the Second Congressional District.”

Except, that name is still golden in the Chicago area. So, we’ll see.