Good News, Bad News
The Justice Department has finally gotten around to indicting U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, and we can find out what he did.
WASHINGTON (CNN) — Nearly two years after federal agents reported finding $90,000 in a freezer in his Washington home, U.S. Rep. William Jefferson has been charged with a global campaign to solicit bribes, obstruct justice and engage in racketeering, Justice Department officials said Monday.
The veteran Louisiana Democrat faces 16 criminal counts, said Alice Fisher, assistant U.S. attorney general in the criminal division.
“This case is about greed, power and arrogance,” said Joe Persichini, director of the FBI’s Washington field office, which led the investigation.
In addition to the racketeering and solicitation charges, Jefferson has been charged with money laundering, wire fraud, conspiracy and violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
The bad news is that Alice Fisher, who heads the DOJ Criminal Division has never prosecuted a traffic ticket, and this the first case tried under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Jefferson is a Louisiana politician, a group that make eels seem gritty by comparison. If it’s possible to slip away from a charge of corruption, a Louisiana pol will find it.
I hope this is enough for Speaker Pelosi to cut him loose and take him off the Homeland Security¹ Small Business committee.
1. Update: Mea culpa, I should have verified my memory. He was being considered for Homeland Security, but was finally put on the Small Business committee.
2. Update: He didn’t wait to be told: Jefferson steps down from House committee.
11 comments
And Faux News can’t tell the difference between Reps. Jefferson and Conyers.
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/014462.php
Finding 90,000 in the freezer is just circumstantial evidence, at least he froze his own assets . . . (groan)
Jill, when haven’t they been a joke.
Mitch, every politician needs a little cold cash for “walking around” money. He had an election coming up, and you need to pay those “volunteers” in cash.
“I hope this is enough for Speaker Pelosi to cut him loose and take him off the Homeland Security committee.” – Bryan
I don’t believe he’s on the Homeland Security committee. I think an attempt was made to place him there, but he is not on the current list on the official web site.
“Dollar Bill Jefferson” enjoys a presumption of innocence… and you’ll forgive me if I break out laughing at the appearance of “Dollar Bill Jefferson” and “innocence” in the same sentence. I’d really hate to see an incompetent prosecutor screw up what looks like it should be a fairly easy job.
Any recent word on questions of evidence-gathering methods? will that be his defense?
I just checked, Steve, and you’re right. He was being considered for a slot on Homeland Security, but was actually given a slot on the Small Business committee.
I would assume the defense is going to attack the credibility of the two main witnesses, former associates of Jefferson. That’s the procedure in Louisiana, but I doubt it will fly in a Virginia courtroom. We both know that politics in Louisiana is “different”.
Different, Bryan? Well, yes. I don’t believe they’ve written an opera about any Texas or Florida governors yet, have they?
They have certainly had some characters over there, publishing wouldn’t be the same without them.
As for Texas and Florida, I think it’s a lack of contratenors that makes it unlikely. You really need a contratenor to have a realistic evangelical preacher.
Oh, we have countertenors in plenty here. I used to do wedding jobs with one of the best; the typical expression on the face of the father of the bride when he first heard the countertenor was worth the price of admission. But yes, that voice would be splendid for a hellfire-and-damnation preacher.
(For the uninitiated: countertenor = male alto. Natural baritones or [more rarely] tenors, still able to sing as such when they wish, countertenors train themselves to sing in their “false” voice, which yields approximately the range of a female alto, but with a completely different tone color. Contrary to uninformed popular myth, a countertenor is not a castrato… it’s a technique, not a physiological change. The more traditional British choirs use boy sopranos and male altos to this day.)
countertenor = castrato not-o. got it. thanks for the info.
I had the distinct pleasure of hearing a very good countertenor this past Saturday afternoon at the Musee Cluny. They have a musical ensemble in residence that specializes in medieval music (the formal name of the museum is the National Museum of the Middle Ages, so it’s appropriate) and they give weekly concerts. Last week’s was a selection, on period-style instruments no less, of 14th-century ballata and other precursors to the madrigal style. And the room they were performing in was originally part of a 4th-century Roman bath house, subsequently remodeled and renovated as the Paris residence of the abbots of Cluny, and now part of the museum. Fabulous!
Sure, Michael, rub it in.
Gregorian Chant, the Orthodox liturgy, and such are the things I use to deal with “leveling out”, part of anger management. I think the forms have a more direct line to the human mind, than the more complex forms of the Baroque and forward.