Jesse Jackson Jr. Putting House Up For Sale

Is he quitting Congress?

Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. has put his District of Columbia home up for sale, stirring new questions about his future in Congress amid his treatment for bipolar disorder. 

The Illinois Democrat left Capitol Hill very quietly in mid-June, revealing only two months later that he was in treatment at the Mayo Clinic for bipolar II disorder, a brain disease characterized by severe swings between mania and depression.

His office had initially said he'd taken leave for "exhaustion," and news of the much more serious diagnosis spurred questions about whether the nine-term Democrat would stick around to see a 10th.

Of course, if we had an honest Department of Justice, Jesse Jackson Jr. would be in public housing by now. 

Blagojevich, who won two terms as Illinois governor, was convicted last June of a wide range of corruption charges, including trying to sell the Senate seat.

Jackson has acknowledged he was "Senate Candidate A" in the Blagojevich criminal complaint, one of several candidates whom authorities say the former governor considered for the seat.

The congressman's chief of staff, Rick Bryant, said the office had no comment on the announcement.Jackson's attorney, Reid Weingarten, did not immediately return a call seeking comment. Kim Nerheim, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in Chicago, declined to comment on whether the Justice Department has closed its probe of Jackson.

The committee statement said the extension "does not itself indicate that any violation has occurred, or reflect any judgment on behalf of the committee."

The statement said the committee would announce its course of action by Dec. 2.

According to the criminal complaint, Jackson's supporters were willing to raise $1.5 million for Blagojevich if he picked the congressman.