If I Hear 'Culture Of Corruption' Out Of One More Democrat ...
... I'm going to scream. This story is ripping through the blogosphere with an intensity that makes me think someone's about to get burned, literally. John at PowerLine, Glenn Reynolds, and Captain Ed are leading the way on this. And it seems to us, based on this story, that before the Democrats throw that charge out again, they'd better look in a mirror.
A congressman under investigation for bribery was caught on videotape accepting $100,000 in $100 bills from an FBI informant whose conversations with the lawmaker also were recorded, according to a court document released Sunday. Agents later found the cash hidden in his freezer.
At one audiotaped meeting, Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., chuckles about writing in code to keep secret what the government contends was his corrupt role in getting his children a cut of a communications company's deal for work in Africa.
As Jefferson and the informant passed notes about what percentage the lawmaker's family might receive, the congressman "began laughing and said, 'All these damn notes we're writing to each other as if we're talking, as if the FBI is watching,'" according to the affidavit. ...
As for the $100,000, the government says Jefferson got the money in a leather briefcase last July 30 at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Arlington. The plan was for the lawmaker to use the cash to bribe a high-ranking Nigerian official — the name is blacked out in the court document — to ensure the success of a business deal in that country, the affidavit said.
All but $10,000 was recovered on Aug. 3 when the FBI searched Jefferson's home in Washington. The money was stuffed in his freezer, wrapped in $10,000 packs and concealed in food containers and aluminum foil.
And Captain Ed remembers the story that gave Rep. Jefferson his notoriety:
Sept. 13, 2005 — Amid the chaos and confusion that engulfed New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina struck, a congressman used National Guard troops to check on his property and rescue his personal belongings — even while New Orleans residents were trying to get rescued from rooftops, ABC News has learned.
On Sept. 2 — five days after Katrina hit the Gulf Coast — Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., who represents New Orleans and is a senior member of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, was allowed through the military blockades set up around the city to reach the Superdome, where thousands of evacuees had been taken. ...
The water reached to the third step of Jefferson's house, a military source familiar with the incident told ABC News, and the vehicle pulled up onto Jefferson's front lawn so he wouldn't have to walk in the water. Jefferson went into the house alone, the source says, while the soldiers waited on the porch for about an hour.
Finally, according to the source, Jefferson emerged with a laptop computer, three suitcases, and a box about the size of a small refrigerator, which the enlisted men loaded up into the truck.
And we would like to add this article where Nancy Pelosi has called for an ethics investigation of Rep. Jefferson:
Democratic Rep. William Jefferson should be investigated by the House ethics committee, Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said following the second guilty plea from a federal probe of alleged bribery involving the Louisiana congressman.
Pelosi, D-Calif., said at a news conference that she had not spoken directly to Jefferson about the investigation. “But he knows what is going on, and the ethics committee should investigate what is going on.”
Now, she tries to spin it (naturally) but even she acknowledges that there's something hinky with Jefferson. So here are some questions that have to be asked:
During the Katrina relief, what did he take from his home?
Who gave him the authority to divert the efforts of the National Guard?
Does he still have what he took from his home, or did he destroy it?
Was it essential to federal investigators?
Jefferson's got some serious problems. And he had better have some serious answers. Further, the government had better be serious about prosecuting him if it is shown that he did accept bribes, destroyed evidence, and obstructed justice. When someone breaks the law, there should be an apt punishment. It seems that he did, seeing as how he's on tape doing it. So if Rep. Jefferson has anything to say, now would be a great time to say it. And if the ethics committee does intervene, Rep. Jefferson should be made to resign his seat in the House.
Publius II
... I'm going to scream. This story is ripping through the blogosphere with an intensity that makes me think someone's about to get burned, literally. John at PowerLine, Glenn Reynolds, and Captain Ed are leading the way on this. And it seems to us, based on this story, that before the Democrats throw that charge out again, they'd better look in a mirror.
A congressman under investigation for bribery was caught on videotape accepting $100,000 in $100 bills from an FBI informant whose conversations with the lawmaker also were recorded, according to a court document released Sunday. Agents later found the cash hidden in his freezer.
At one audiotaped meeting, Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., chuckles about writing in code to keep secret what the government contends was his corrupt role in getting his children a cut of a communications company's deal for work in Africa.
As Jefferson and the informant passed notes about what percentage the lawmaker's family might receive, the congressman "began laughing and said, 'All these damn notes we're writing to each other as if we're talking, as if the FBI is watching,'" according to the affidavit. ...
As for the $100,000, the government says Jefferson got the money in a leather briefcase last July 30 at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Arlington. The plan was for the lawmaker to use the cash to bribe a high-ranking Nigerian official — the name is blacked out in the court document — to ensure the success of a business deal in that country, the affidavit said.
All but $10,000 was recovered on Aug. 3 when the FBI searched Jefferson's home in Washington. The money was stuffed in his freezer, wrapped in $10,000 packs and concealed in food containers and aluminum foil.
And Captain Ed remembers the story that gave Rep. Jefferson his notoriety:
Sept. 13, 2005 — Amid the chaos and confusion that engulfed New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina struck, a congressman used National Guard troops to check on his property and rescue his personal belongings — even while New Orleans residents were trying to get rescued from rooftops, ABC News has learned.
On Sept. 2 — five days after Katrina hit the Gulf Coast — Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., who represents New Orleans and is a senior member of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, was allowed through the military blockades set up around the city to reach the Superdome, where thousands of evacuees had been taken. ...
The water reached to the third step of Jefferson's house, a military source familiar with the incident told ABC News, and the vehicle pulled up onto Jefferson's front lawn so he wouldn't have to walk in the water. Jefferson went into the house alone, the source says, while the soldiers waited on the porch for about an hour.
Finally, according to the source, Jefferson emerged with a laptop computer, three suitcases, and a box about the size of a small refrigerator, which the enlisted men loaded up into the truck.
And we would like to add this article where Nancy Pelosi has called for an ethics investigation of Rep. Jefferson:
Democratic Rep. William Jefferson should be investigated by the House ethics committee, Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said following the second guilty plea from a federal probe of alleged bribery involving the Louisiana congressman.
Pelosi, D-Calif., said at a news conference that she had not spoken directly to Jefferson about the investigation. “But he knows what is going on, and the ethics committee should investigate what is going on.”
Now, she tries to spin it (naturally) but even she acknowledges that there's something hinky with Jefferson. So here are some questions that have to be asked:
During the Katrina relief, what did he take from his home?
Who gave him the authority to divert the efforts of the National Guard?
Does he still have what he took from his home, or did he destroy it?
Was it essential to federal investigators?
Jefferson's got some serious problems. And he had better have some serious answers. Further, the government had better be serious about prosecuting him if it is shown that he did accept bribes, destroyed evidence, and obstructed justice. When someone breaks the law, there should be an apt punishment. It seems that he did, seeing as how he's on tape doing it. So if Rep. Jefferson has anything to say, now would be a great time to say it. And if the ethics committee does intervene, Rep. Jefferson should be made to resign his seat in the House.
Publius II
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 8:29 PM
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