KANKAKEE, Ill.  – U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. is predicting he’ll be “vindicated” by an ethics investigation into whether he or someone on his behalf offered to raise funds for ex-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich in return for an appointment to President Barack Obama’s vacated Senate seat.

“Let me be clear. I believe in the American system of justice,” Jackson, a Democrat, said Saturday at a Kankakee County NAACP dinner. “The process is continuing, but in the end I believe I will be vindicated.”

The House Ethics Committee announced earlier this month that it would resume a probe that began before Blagojevich’s trial. The panel had agreed to abide by a Justice Department request to take no action in the investigation, which is normal practice when the department is concerned a congressional inquiry interferes with its own investigation.

Jackson, who has not been charged, has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.