Will Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) finally be indicted today for being a sleazy and corrupt politician?
According to the Washington Post and CBS News, it looks that way:
Federal prosecutors are seeking an indictment today against Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-La.) in a longstanding FBI corruption probe centering on allegations that he took bribes to promote high-tech business ventures in Africa, sources familiar with the investigation said.
If filed, the indictment would cap a long and tumultuous investigation that was stalled for months because of a legal battle over the constitutionality of an FBI raid on Jefferson’s office last May. The raid came after the FBI found $90,000 in the freezer of his Capitol Hill home.
A political and legal maelstrom followed the raid, prompting President Bush to intervene and seal the seized documents for 45 days. In July, U.S. District Judge Thomas F. Hogan, who had signed the search warrant, ruled that the raid was constitutional. The U.S. Court of Appeals has yet to rule on the matter.
Jefferson, 60, is a potential political embarrassment for Democrats, just months after they took over control of Congress. Democrats had campaigned last year on the theme that Republicans had created a culture of corruption. In July, the House officially expelled Jefferson from the prestigious Ways and Means Committee.
Potential embarrassment? The guy was found with $90K in bribe money in his freezer at home. I’d say Democrats should have been embarrassed a long time ago.
And even more so, the fine people of Louisiana who keep voting crook, after crook, after crook into office should be even more ashamed and embarrassed.
How will Speaker Pelosi handle this latest bit of corruption in her Cleanest Congress Evah!â„¢? Captain Ed doesn’t have high hopes:
Now that the indictments will be filed, it will be interesting to see how the Democrats, and especially the CBC, will react. Will they attempt to distance themselves from Jefferson? Will they force him to step down from his committee assignments? My guess is — no.
Jefferson shouldn’t even have to be asked to resign. He should just do it. But he won’t. Nor will he even be pressured to do so by his colleagues. What a sad, sad indictment on our political “leaders”.
Is there seriously anybody out there defending this crook? Or anybody who seriously believes he should be in office after he is indicted?
Rep. Mark Foley was forced out of office for having sent improper (but not illegal) dirty messages to a 17-year old male page. What Jefferson has done is every bit as ethically dirty as what Foley did was morally wrong.
Neither man is fit to represent us. Republicans knew this. And that’s why Foley is gone.
Maybe the Dems will give Jefferson a harshly worded rebuke, and ask him to try to hide his money more cleverly in the future.
h/t Memeorandum
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PREVIOUSLY:
Let’s see if this makes the front page of the Washington Post and New York Times day after day as they are fond of doing to the Republicans.
Left by dianne on June 4th, 2007 at 3:27 pm