U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.’s office said Monday that he has been on medical leave for two weeks and is being treated for exhaustion.
The Chicago Tribune reports that the veteran Democratic congressman's office decline to say where he was being treated or when he would return. He has missed about 30 votes in the House during the past week.
The admission from his staff in a statement is the first time the public was told that Jackson has not been at his post in two weeks, since June 10. His staff said it was a "family request" not to disclose the congressman's absence.
The Tribune reports that during that time his office issued "at least 10 news releases, including a statement two days after he took medical leave in which he was quoted commending officials in south suburban Crete for withdrawing support for an immigration detention center."
A week ago, a longtime friend of Jackson’s, Raghuveer Nayak, was arrested on federal fraud charges stemming from Nayak's surgical centers. Nayak was at the center of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's scandal to broker President Obama's former Senate seat.
Jackson, 47, is still under a House Ethics Committee investigation into claims Nayak offered Blagojevich up to $6 million in campaign cash to appoint Jackson Obama's successor in the Senate. Jackson has denied any knowledge of the exchange.
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