Jesse Jackson's son quits

Jesse Jackson Jr has resigned from the US House of Representatives.

The Speaker’s office confirmed today that it had received a letter of resignation from Mr Jackson, son of activist and former presidential candidate Jesse Jackson.

Mr Jackson, 47, was easily re-elected to a ninth term earlier this month despite not appearing in public since quietly taking medical leave in June for treatment of bipolar disorder.

The House Ethics Committee has been looking into whether Mr Jackson was involved in discussions about raising money for imprisoned ex-governor Rod Blagojevich’s campaign in exchange for an appointment to President Barack Obama’s vacated Senate seat.

There also have been reports of a federal investigation into possible misuse of campaign money.