CEF - IRS Complaint

EXHIBIT O

February 4, 2001 Sunday, CHICAGOLAND FINAL EDITION

SECTION: Metro Chicago; Pg. 1; ZONE: C

LENGTH: 988 words

HEADLINE: RICH PAL COMES THROUGH FOR JACKSON

BYLINE: By Monica Davey and Ray Gibson, Tribune Staff Writers.

BODY:

When an employee who had a child with Rev. Jesse Jackson left the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition for Los Angeles, a consulting job awaited her at an investment company owned by Ron W. Burkle, a friend of Jackson's.

When she was looking for a loan for a new house there, Burkle suggested she call Kaufman and Broad Mortgage Co.--he sits on the board of directors of the parent company. Then, Burkle says, he or one of his assistants called the mortgage company to tell them she would be calling.

Following the January disclosure that Jackson had fathered a child, his critics raised questions about how financial arrangements were made for her. It turns out that Burkle had a hand in some of those arrangements.

"When she came out here, we tried to open up two or three doors for her," Burkle said, but added that he would have made the same call to the mortgage company "for anyone" and doubts his call was what secured Karin Stanford a $291,950 loan. "I don't think it would help--it's just trying to match her up."

What's certain is this: When Jackson found himself in trouble, he could turn to Burkle.

What started several years ago as an acquaintance between Jackson and Burkle--a potential supporter of Jackson's Wall Street Project--has evolved into a tight, personal friendship that includes phone calls between the pair at least once a week, if not several a day.

A 48-year-old billionaire grocery store magnate from Los Angeles, Burkle also is a friend to former President Bill Clinton and a major financial donor to the Democratic Party. In 1998, Burkle and Jackson were invited to accompany Clinton
on a 12-day trip to Africa. In 1999, Burkle co-hosted a party at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in honor of Rainbow/PUSH award winners and Jackson's 58th birthday.

"We're friends," Burkle said in a phone interview. "I'm a friend of his family."

Burkle first met Jackson about 10 years ago at a function--Burkle no longer remembers the details. A few years later, a mutual friend got the two together in Burkle's office.

The son of a grocery store manager from California, Burkle had amassed a fortune investing in supermarkets. Just since 1999, Burkle has supported Clinton, other political candidates and the Democratic Party with more than $300,000, records show.

Burkle said Jackson's goals--to encourage more investment in supermarkets and other businesses in urban and minority areas--matched his own, and Burkle quickly agreed to assist Jackson with such efforts, including the Wall Street
Project, a program to help African-Americans in business. "We do a lot of work in that area," Burkle said. "I'm a huge supporter of that work. ... We helped him every year with different things."

As Jackson and Burkle grew closer, Jackson also introduced him to some of Jackson's sons, Burkle said. Jackson "said that he had never really planned for his family, his future, his family." Burkle had conversations about business with some of Jackson's sons and has developed friendships with them, too, Burkle said.

Burkle said he isn't sure when he first heard of Stanford, the former director of Rainbow/PUSH Coalition's Washington office. Jackson has acknowledged he fathered Stanford's child. Stanford, a former professor who authored a book
about Jackson, gave birth to their daughter in May 1999. Her full-time, $120,000-a-year employment at Rainbow/PUSH ended in October of that year, said John Scanlon, Jackson's New York publicist.

In the months since, Stanford received $36,181 from Jackson's tax-exempt Citizenship Education Fund for consulting work and for her move to Los Angeles.

"She did continue to do this consulting work for Rainbow/PUSH," Scanlon said. "She wanted to be in Los Angeles to be near family because she had a child, but it was critical that her work continue."

In Los Angeles, at Jackson's suggestion, she was hired as a consultant for Burkle's company, Yucaipa Companies, according to Ari Swiller, a spokesman for Yucaipa.

"I don't remember exactly how it came to be," Burkle said of the job arrangement. "I can't remember if it was something where someone came up, and said I'd love you to support us on this--or what. We had done a lot of work with Rainbow/PUSH, and this was something where they suggested a change. I don't remember exactly what was said."

"He wasn't asking us to do him a favor," Burkle said of Jackson, adding, "In retrospect, it may have been helpful."

Burkle said he was unaware of Jackson's romantic relationship with Stanford at the point at which Burkle hired her as a consultant. "I was told she's moving to California. I think they said she was getting married, and would we help with the work," Burkle said.

Burkle said he has been satisfied with her work, which consists of "all kinds of research projects." Swiller offered more specifics: "She looks at ways in which corporations, investment companies, can help bring investment to the inner city market."

He would not say how much he pays Stanford, except to say: "Karin can afford the mortgage she has."

Stanford also receives $3,000 per month in child support from Jackson, a Jackson spokesman has said.

Asked about the mortgage, Burkle acknowledged that he suggested Stanford seek a loan from Kaufman and Broad Mortgage Co., where he sits on the board of the parent company. In December 1999, Kaufman and Broad lent her $291,950 to buy a $365,000 house on Los Angeles' Don Miguel Drive, records show.

Burkle said his decision to recommend Kaufman and Broad--and to alert the company that Stanford would be coming--did not assure her a loan. "I doubt that," he said, adding, "I'd say that for anyone."

He said his recommendation was similar to suggesting a school or a dentist to any other newcomer to his company.

Eventually, Burkle said, he learned of Jackson's relationship with Stanford, and later he learned of their child. "We probably found out about this in degrees," he said.

GRAPHIC: PHOTOPHOTO: Former President Bill Clinton visits with billionaire Ron Burkle when Clinton was in Los Angeles for a fundraiser in 1997. Los Angeles Times photo.

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