Rep. William J. Jefferson Indicted on Corruption Charges
The Washington Post reports:
Federal authorities accused Rep. William J. Jefferson yesterday of using his congressional office and staff to enrich himself and his family, charging the Louisiana Democrat with offering and accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to support business ventures in the United States and several West African nations.
The 16-count indictment also accused Jefferson, a former co-chairman of congressional caucuses on Nigeria and African trade, of racketeering, money laundering and obstruction of justice. The indictment was handed up by a federal grand jury and capped a long and tumultuous FBI investigation.
The grand jury said Jefferson, 60, had solicited a bribe for himself and family members in a congressional dining room, falsely reported trips to Africa as official business, sought to corrupt a senior Nigerian politician and promoted U.S. financing for a sugar factory in Nigeria whose owner paid fees to a Jefferson family company in his home state.
Nice.
The Politico adds that “House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) moved quickly to force the expulsion of Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) from Congress following his indictment Monday on federal corruption charges.”
If the Democrats want to prove that they want to fight corruption, they’d better do everything in their power to distance themselves from Jefferson. Do not defend him in any way, shape or form.
Well, Pelosi moved last year to strip him of the appropriations seat, and now he sits on Small Business, which is not a very powerful committee. Boehner didn’t waste a second, did he, lol?? He must have been frothing at the bit, so happy to be able to try to expel a Democrat for a change.
But, that doesn’t take away from the embarrassing Mr. Jefferson. The key will be if Pelosi can get past the Black Caucus, who usually support their members no matter what.
I agree the Black Caucus is usually very uncooperative but this is so cut and dried. There is no possiblility that he is not guilty as hell! I think they will want this one out of the news as quickly as possible.