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Could Jackson Jr. Rejoin Congress?

Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr smokes a cigar while leaving his house on Oct. 15, 2012 in Washington, DC. (Photo by ABACAUSA.COM)

Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr smokes a cigar while leaving his house on Oct. 15, 2012 in Washington, DC. (Photo by ABACAUSA.COM)

Mike Krauser

Reporting Mike Krauser

CHICAGO (CBS) – Jesse Jackson Jr. resigned from Congress on Wednesday, but was just re-elected to a 10th term earlier this month, and had not yet been sworn in for the new term, which raises an interesting question.

WBBM Newsradio’s Mike Krauser reports, according to at least two election law experts, technically speaking, Jackson could still be sworn in with the next Congress in January, since he resigned from his existing term, but had just been re-elected to a new one.

“It is my view that the resignation letter that he sent in is not a resignation from the term to which he’s just been elected,” Chicago election lawyer Richard Means said.

However, Means said he doesn’t see any chance Jackson would reemerge as the newly elected congressman from the 2nd District.

“In the context of all of this, presuming that it’s part of a plea negotiation, I can’t imagine anyone wanting to play games with it,” Means said. “I think that this (resignation) is clearly intended to be the kind of thing that a prosecutor would likely want to see in order to settle a criminal charge against a sitting public official.”

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But, Means noted, in Chicago politics, strange things happen sometimes.

“If somebody is looking for something new, just stick around and watch Chicago politics, and we’ll see some strange things. I’ve been observing them for almost 50 years,” he said.

LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio’s Mike Krauser Reports


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