Congressman Jackson's
mysterious mortgage
Undisclosed benefactor holds note
on Jesse Jr.'s $540,000-plus home

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Posted: March 14, 2002
1:00 a.m. Eastern


By Paul Sperry
© 2002 WorldNetDaily.com


WASHINGTON -- A mystery benefactor helped Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. finance his Dupont Circle "mansion" here for an undisclosed sum not reported on the Chicago Democrat's financial disclosure forms, according to an explosive new book, "Shakedown: Exposing the real Jesse Jackson."

Under House ethics rules, members do not have to report the purchase price or value of their primary residence. They also can withhold the amount of the mortgage on that property.

However, they must report any gifts valued at more than $260.

It wouldn't be the first time Jackson has failed to disclose reportable financial information.

As WorldNetDaily first reported March 27, 2001, Jackson has had to file several amendments to his financial disclosure reports since joining Congress in 1996.

Among other things, he failed to disclose rental property and other real estate assets, as well as positions held in family businesses and foundations.

His last amendment was filed the day after WorldNetDaily revealed that he had neglected to disclose his seat on the board of his father's lucrative booking agency, Jacqueline Inc.

In October 1998, Jackson and his wife, Sandra, bought a "nine-bedroom mansion at 2034 O St., NW, in Washington," according to "Shakedown" author Kenneth R. Timmerman, an investigative reporter and WorldNetDaily contributor. The value of the property at the time was assessed for tax purposes at $540,000.

"It helped, of course, that someone else picked up the mortgage," Timmerman said.

Citing Washington, D.C., land records, Timmerman says a Sybille Saurbrun took out a mortgage on their behalf with the First Union National Bank in Washington "for an undisclosed sum."

Jackson declined to discuss the arrangement with Timmerman. His spokesman, Frank Watkins, a one-time spokesman for Jesse Jackson Sr., did not return WorldNetDaily's phone calls.

The apparent sweetheart mortgage deal resembles one enjoyed by his father.

Thanks to a secret land trust that doesn't name the title or mortgage holder, Jackson Sr. was able to buy a 15-room Tudor home in Chicago in 1970 for $49,500, Timmerman says. "Trust 24210" picked up a $37,000 mortgage on the property with a Chicago bank whose vice president became a founding board member of Jackson's Operation PUSH. The house is now worth far in excess of its $246,000 tax-assessed value, Timmerman says.

At 37, the younger Jackson has done remarkably well for himself.

Besides the Dupont Circle home, he owns a large 80-year-old refurbished brick two-story on Lake Michigan in Chicago and an efficiency condo in Washington that he rents to a relative. In February 2001, he sold an adjoining two-bedroom condo at 240 M Street, SW, Unit E-414, Watkins told WorldNetDaily in a previous interview, for a sum he'll have to report on his next financial disclosure.

The combined value of his three remaining properties was assessed for tax purposes at more than $700,000. Curiously, Timmerman notes, the Chicago property was assessed at just $34,000, even though Jackson had paid $200,000 for it in 1994.

Watkins says Jackson in 1998 sold between $200,000 and $700,000 in mutual-fund assets mainly to retire a 30-year mortgage on the Chicago home.

In 1997, Jackson held at least $335,000 and perhaps as much as $1.1 million in stocks, bonds and cash, according to estimates Jackson provided in his disclosure reports.

Jackson somehow amassed the small fortune while spending nearly half his adult life in college and all of three years working in the private sector for his father's non-profit National Rainbow Coalition on a $35,000-a-year salary.

Jackson's investment portfolio was fat before he took office and started making six figures. He owned 10 mutual funds, one worth as much as $100,000. Not bad for a 30-year-old.

His wife hasn't brought much to the table in recent years working in various modest-paying Clinton administration jobs.

Yet the couple appear to be big spenders, driving expensive BMW coupes and sedans. Between them, they own five BMWs costing a total of $300,000, Timmerman notes in his book.

da apple don't fall too far from da tree