Jefferson Update
Democratic Representative William Jefferson remains defiant in the face of Nancy Pelosi’s demands that he step aside from his spot on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee.
“In the interest of upholding the high ethical standard of the House Democratic Caucus, I am writing to request your immediate resignation from the Ways and Means Committee,” wrote House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi in the one-sentence correspondence.
The Louisiana Democrat was defiant. “With respect, I decline to do so,” he wrote back to Pelosi. “I will not give up a committee assignment that is so vital to New Orleans at this crucial time for any uncertain, long-term political strategy.”
It isn’t a matter of whether Jefferson is going to jail or not. With the stockpile of evidence that the FBI has amassed, it’s simply a matter of determining for how long he’s going away. Faced with similar conditions, California Representative Randy ‘Duke’ Cunningham resigned his seat and pled guilty. He’s now in prison. Jefferson isn’t taking the dignified way out. Instead, he’s remaining defiant even though he knows he’s guilty. He knows that the only way he won’t go to prison is if he plays the jury nullification and/or race cards. Even then, his chances are closer to none than slim.
Jefferson, meanwhile, on Wednesday filed a motion asking U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan to order the FBI to return all of the documents taken from his office during the 15-hour search. Hogan was the judge who last Thursday issued the warrant authorizing the search. The congressman also asked that FBI and Justice Department attorneys be prohibited from reviewing the documents and that they be locked up until the judge acts on the motion. Jefferson’s motion said the search violated “speech and debate” protections in the Constitution to insure the independence of lawmakers.
Fat chance, Mr. Jefferson. This embarassing episode isn’t really about the separation of powers; it’s about the House not liking the thought that criminal investigations supercedes separation of powers issues.
Presidential administrations and the Congress have routinely subpoenaed information from each other, and often they have refuse to cede the materials sought.
This is the first time the branch seeking the information dispatched its law enforcement arm to wrest information from the office of a sitting congressman who is the target of a probe.
This tells me that Mr. Jefferson will lose this appeal. It also tells me that he’s going to prison.
Technorati Tags: William Jefferson, Nancy Pelosi, Corruption
Cross-post at LetFreedomRingBlog
May 24th, 2006 at 12:52 pm
[...] Cross-posted at California Conservative Categories: The Constitution, House of Representatives, Pelosi, Corruption | [...]
May 24th, 2006 at 1:03 pm
Bipartisan Furor Over FBI Raid
Republican House Speaker Dennis Hastert demanded the return of documents seized by the FBI in a raid
May 24th, 2006 at 1:36 pm
There is at least one thing that you conservatives and us liberals agree upon, William Jefferson (D-LA) is a greedy little crook (allegedly) and the country will be much better off when he is serving in a federal pen and not on the House Ways and Means Committee.
May 24th, 2006 at 4:21 pm
Well Hastert challenges the FBI over the Jefferson search and then the tables turn. Now he is under investigation by the FBI.
May 24th, 2006 at 6:03 pm
There is no doubt, Jefferson is going to prison. Everyone (with one exception) wishes that Jefferson would, in the face of these allegations, resign and allow this issue to resolve itself in the courts.
However, your selective memory and admiration for the manner in which Duke Cunningham handled his misdeeds is not very well placed.
It wasn’t like he was accused on Tuesday, resigned on Wednesday and went to jail on Thursday, as you seem to be saying. Duke sold his wildly over-priced house to defense contractor Mitchell Wade in November of 2003. That, and other misdeeds, were revealed in June of 2005, and it took Cunningham until November of 2005 to admit his guilt. So following the Cunningham standard, Jefferson should have at least 6 months to admit his guilt. At least, that is, if he wants to be held in CalCon’s high admiration.
Of course, it is entertaining that the blogsphere is up-in-arms over this issue, while the media has been playing it rather cool; and the Speaker of the House has been complaining to the President over the seperation of powers issue. I never thought I’d see the day that the RepubliCons would come to the defense of a Democrat. There are two possible explanations: 1) since corruption is part of the Washington DC culture, the RepuliCon leadership just thought is was another one of the gang in trouble; or 2) there really is something to this seperation of powers issue.
Amazing how the RepubliCon leadership of the House is upset over their privacy being invaded, but couldn’t care less about the invasion of privacy of every US citizen by the NSA, but I digress.
Of course, selective memory is not limited to just this issue:
Well, Kennedy didn’t go around on the radio saying things like “There’s nothing good about drug use. We know it… Drug use, some might say, is destroying this country. And we have laws against selling drugs, pushing drugs, using drugs, importing drugs, and the laws are good… Because we know what happens to people in societies and neighborhoods which become consumed by them. And so if people are violating the law by doing drugs, they ought to be accused and they ought to be convicted and they ought to be sent up.” (Rush Limbuagh’s show, Oct. 5, 1995)
So, I guess Rush should be outraged at the liberal, activist-judge who sentenced him to mere probation! But again, I digress.
Nevertheless, the comparison between Kennedy and Limbaugh is fallacious at best.
As for the comparison between Delay and Jefferson, well, its hard to see. Jefferson is accused of taking bribes — cold hard cash — while Delay’s indictment on conspiracy, money laundering, et. al., and House ethics violations, is in a class by itself.
I guess somebody needs to remind the RepubliCons that two wrongs don’t make a right.
May 24th, 2006 at 9:42 pm
There’s no doubt that there are politicians of every stripe who violate the public trust, what troubles me is the inordinate amount of attention given here to the downfall of a member of the Democrats, who has rightly been asked to resign before more forceful measures are taken, and the scant (dare I say non-existent?) attention given to the numerous failures of members of the Republican parties. I always felt that, in such cases, it is more prudent to make sure your own closet is clean before you start crowing about how dirty someone else’s is.
May 25th, 2006 at 8:36 am
My dear old drunk Hungarian uncle used to say, “If you wallow with the hogs, you’ll smell like the hogs.”
Washington is a sty of hogs. Why is anyone surprised Jefferson, Delay, Hastart or anyone else smells like the hogs?
What I have a hard time seeing is why any self-respecting human who is morally upstanding and honest would want to go wallow with the hogs? It seems like every bill even introduced is a scam of one sort or another.
Wonder if we’ll ever get back to honest governance?
May 25th, 2006 at 9:06 am
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