Democratic House Member Indicted On 16 Counts

Will the Democrats’ actions on ethics violations match their rhetoric?Democratic House Member Indicted On 16 CountsBy Cliff Montgomery – June 7th, 2007A federal grand jury handed down an indictment on Monday which accused Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) of taking bribes in exchange for legislative aid to a telecommunications firm  working in Africa.The Alexandria, VA, grand jury found grounds to try the Democratic legislator on 16 charges, which include bribery solicitation, money laundering, obstruction of justice, wire fraud, racketeering, conspiracy and violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.This ruling is not surprising to those who follow Congress. For years Jefferson has been under investigation for shady dealings; but this knowledge didn’t keep the good people of Louisiana from re-electing Jefferson in 2006.Perhaps the Louisiana area has simply developed an understandably deaf ear when the current federal government declares anything. But it clearly ignored reports that FBI agents had discovered $90,000 of marked bills in the freezer of Jefferson’s home during a 2005 raid.In September 2006, former iGate head Vernon Jackson was sentenced to 87 months in prison for attempting to bribe Jefferson with more than $400,000. Jackson was hoping to land deals with both the U.S. Army and a few African nations.As part of the investigation, agents state that on July 30, 2005, they videotaped Jefferson accepting a briefcase which contained $100,000 from an FBI informant. The FBI then obtained and executed search warrants in early August to examine Jefferson’s homes and vehicle. Among other apparent evidence, agents seized $90,000 in marked bills from a freezer in the representative’s D.C. home.But this was not the end for Rep. Jefferson, who maintained his innocence before Louisiana’s already suspicious 2nd District–a heavily Democratic and primarily black area based in New Orleans which homes a constituency devastated by Hurricane Katrina and a wildly incompetent, uncaring federal government two summers ago. The November re-election of Jefferson was perhaps an emotional rejection of that government above all else.On Tuesday, Jefferson agreed to temporarily surrender his sole remaining committee seat on the Small Business Committee as the pending bribery case works through the courts.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), is quickly working to get the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct–the House ethics committee–to start a formal investigation into Jefferson.”If these charges are proven true, they constitute an egregious and unacceptable abuse of public trust and power,” Pelosi told the Associated Press.Indeed, Pelosi currently is planning the appointment of 10 Democrats to a bipartisan reserve pool of House members who aid in ethics investigations; Congressional Quarterly magazine believes this to be a “further indication that a Jefferson probe is about to commence.”House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) announced 10 GOP ethics reservists to the pool on May 1st. As the indictments hit the news, Boehner brought up a privileged resolution on Tuesday flatly demanding that the House ethics committee consider the possible expulsion of Rep. Jefferson from the House by July 11th.Yes, Boehner’s resolution called for a suspension of current rules, as it directs “the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct to respond to the indictment of, or the filing of charges of criminal conduct in a court of the United States…against, any Member of the House of Representatives by empaneling an investigative subcommittee to review the allegations not later than 30 days after the date the Member is indicted or the charges are filed,” according to a House Floor speech by Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD).The resolution was overwhelmingly passed with 387 yeas, “two-thirds [of those votes] being in the affirmative.”Some news outlets–even a number of the very best ones, like Congressional Quarterly–have adopted language that makes it seem as if Republicans are simply playing politics here:”Boehner on Tuesday was trying to seize the upper hand on the ethics front…”, etc.But while Republicans like Boehner are especially eager to investigate the other side of the aisle for apparent ethics violations–as were Democrats in the lead-up to their successful November 2006 election–it’s wrong to accuse Republicans of playing politics here.Simply put, truth by definition cannot be “mere politics”–denying truth is playing politics. It was the Republicans who were playing politics in the lead-up to the November 2006 elections, as it was revealed that they often were not punishing their own for clear ethic violations; and now that a Democrat has apparently been caught performing the same kinds of swindles, it’s time for the Dems to show they’re not going to make the same mistakes.As Jefferson’s indictment was handed down, Pelosi claimed to Associated Press that “Democrats are committed to upholding a high ethical standard and eliminating corruption and unethical behavior from the Congress.”Rep. Pelosi and the current Democratic leadership has shown they can talk the talk on ethics. Now it’s time for them to prove their high claims, and take the lead in investigating the apparent wrongdoer–precisely because he’s one of their own.Like what you’re reading so far? Then why not order a full year (52 issues) of thee-newsletter for only $15? 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