Jesse Jackson Junior, son of one of the
country's top civil rights leader, on Wednesday resigned from his
seat in the US House of Representatives, citing health problems.
Jackson, 47, also acknowledged in his letter to House Speaker John
Boehner the probe into his alleged misuse of campaign dollars,
according to The Chicago Tribune newspaper.
It was his first acknowledgement of the probe, which had been
widely reported, The Tribune noted.
Jackson has suffered bipolar depression, for which he has been
under treatment and on leave from Congress since June. Despite his
absence, he was re-elected to Congress earlier this month.
Jackson is being investigated by the House ethics committee for
his alleged attempt to bribe his way to the US Senate seat that was
vacated by US President Barack Obama after his election to the
presidency in 2008. Obama had two more years in his term.
A representative of Jackson is alleged to have offered to raise
millions of dollars in campaign funds for the since-disgraced
Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich in exchange for Jackson's being
named to the Senate. The ex-governor, whose job included filling
congressional vacancies until the next elections, is serving at lest
12 years in federal prison for crimes of influence peddling,
including his attempt to sell the US Senate seat.
In his resignation letter, Jackson wrote: "I am doing my best to
address the situation responsibly, cooperate with the investigators,
and accept responsibility for my mistakes, for they are my mistakes
and mine alone."
