Staff Not In On VP Decision, Jackson Says

The Rev. Jesse Jackson on Friday disputed a published report quoting unidentified campaign aides as saying he has decided not to accept the Democratic nomination for vice president if it is offered to him.

A day earlier, Jackson announced that he had decided whether he would accept the nomination, but said he preferred to keep it private.

At a news conference here, he denied that he had disclosed the decision to his campaign staff. Jackson said of the unnamed aides quoted in the Boston Globe report: “Whoever was talking was not authorized, but also not dealing in truth.”

“You will know very clearly my position at the appropriate time,” he said.

Upon Jackson’s arrival here Thursday night, he met privately with Gov. Rafael Hernandez Colon at the 440-year-old executive mansion in San Juan.

At the end of the session, the two announced an agreement under which Jackson will have the support of six of Puerto Rico’s 56 delegates to the Democratic National Convention. On Friday, Hernandez said that two additional delegates might be added to Jackson’s total. Since it poses no real threat to Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis’ nomination, the deal was largely symbolic and Hernandez said it was made “in the interest of party unity.”