From the What Was the Hold Up Department?: ABC News: Louisiana Rep. Jefferson Indicted in Bribery Probe.
Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., was indicted Monday on federal charges of racketeering, soliciting bribes and money-laundering in a long-running bribery investigation into business deals he tried to broker in Africa.
. . .
Almost two years ago, in August 2005, investigators raided Jefferson’s home in Louisiana and found $90,000 in cash stuffed into a box in his freezer. . . . Court records indicate that Jefferson was videotape taking a $100,000 cash bribe from an FBI informant. Most of that money later turned up in a freezer in Jefferson’s home.
House Democrats stripped Jefferson of his Ways & Means committee membership last year. If he’s on any other committees, he needs to be bounced.
Could be because Al Gonzales authorized an unprecedented executive branch raid/search of a congressional office in yet another sign of sheer incompetence. Not that it appears Jefferson himself is in any way defensible at this point but neither Republicans or Democrats on the Hill were pleased with the search…and the distraction caused by the search controversy probably helped Jefferson slip past voters again this past fall.
Sorry, the “could be” was directed to “What Was the Holdup?”
You sure were trying to create enough wiggle room to do just that.
The search issue was a smokescreen to hide the doings of the “Most Ethical Congress in History”, which lasted 151 days until it’s first member was indicted (which doesn’t include “Abscam Jack” Murtha or impeached Federal judge Alcee Hastings, both in leadership positions.
Nice to see that it isn’t just Indy that elects disgracefully incompetent Congressional representatives.
I’m not trying to create “wiggle room” for anybody Scribe. The point is, the AG is the nation’s top prosecutor. The prosecutor’s job is not simply to “get the bad guys” but to make sure all laws are complied with in getting the bad guys, so you don’t later get your evidence suppressed in court and/or your case dismissed. (See Doug’s most recent post about Gitmo detainees.) Gonzales was incompetent in authorizing the search the way he did, in turn jeapordizing the case against Jefferson.
Well that was actually broken up before this 151st day. Given that both Republicans Renzi and Doolittle had to step down from committee assignments when their family businesses were raided tied to federal investigations. And theres the issues of Jerry Lewis as well.
Unfortunately this Congress still has the stench of the former majority lingering in the halls. It may take some time to flush.
I think trying to keep score by party dilutes any efforts made to clean up our government.
Ethical government needs to be encouraged as both a national value (in terms of the electorate’s expectations and their votes) and an institutional value (in terms of the branches of government and the office holders themselves).
That said, the majority party in Congress has a special responsibility in the legislative branch, because of their control of the rule-making and enforcement mechanisms.
Similarly, the President’s party has a special responsibility in the executive branch.
Neither party seems to be fulfilling those responsibilities as we might wish.
Both parties need to do much more in terms of letting politics end when criminal behavior begins, and in resisting the temptation to abuse their powers for political ends.
Sadly, I don’t know what color the sky is in the world where this will actually happen, as opposed to the world we live in…
I will favor both parties and politicians that support such ideas, though – it’s what I can do.