Jesse Jackson Jr. calls in sick to congress? and to campaigning for his Illinois house seat ?
US Rep. Jackson requires in-patient treatment
The statement said Jackson, 47, will need
"extended in-patient treatment as well as continuing medical treatment
thereafter."
Messages left Thursday for his wife,
Chicago Alderman Sandi
Jackson, and a brother who is a professor in Chicago, were not
immediately returned. Jackson's father, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, did not immediately have a
comment.
Congressman Jackson, who first won office
in 1995, has been under intense scrutiny in recent years because of his ties to
Blagojevich and an extramarital affair. Both issues have come up on the campaign
trail and with voters.
Earlier this year, Jackson had to campaign
harder than he has in years when he faced a credible primary challenge from
former U.S. Rep. Debbie Halvorson, who made Jackson's ethical troubles a focus
of her campaign.
A pending House Ethics Committee probe is
considering allegations that Jackson was involved in discussions about raising
money for Blagojevich's campaign in exchange for the then-governor appointing
him to President Barack
Obama's vacated U.S. Senate seat.
Jackson also allegedly directed a
fundraiser and longtime friend, Raghuveer Nayak, to buy plane tickets for
a woman described as Jackson's "social acquaintance." Jackson has since called
it a personal matter that he and his wife have dealt with in private.
Nayak was arrested last month and pleaded
not guilty to unrelated fraud charges involving outpatient surgery centers he
owns. At Blagojevich's first corruption trial in 2010, prosecutors said another
Blagojevich fundraiser was ready to testify that Jackson instructed Nayak to
raise money for Blagojevich's campaign to help him secure the Senate seat. The
same witness later testified that he attended a meeting with Jackson and
Nayak.
