Dollar Bill's Other Schemes
Jazz Shaw at Middle Earth Journal noticed a story buried at the Washington Post regarding the biggest embarrassment in the House of Representatives, William "Dollar Bill" Jefferson. The man who commandeered a National Guard detachment to act as his personal moving company during Hurricane Katrina and who kept $90,000 in bribe money in his freezer had new allegations of corruption filed in federal court on Friday. These won't result in new criminal charges, but they do show how Dollar Bill liked to redistribute wealth from the rich to the Jeffersons:
Federal prosecutors on Friday accused Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-La.) of soliciting bribes in two alleged schemes that had not been previously disclosed.The allegations, detailed in a seven-page document filed in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, will not result in new charges, prosecutors said, but they plan to present them during Jefferson's federal bribery trial as evidence of a pattern of intentional wrongdoing.
In 2002, the government alleges, Jefferson asked a lobbyist of a U.S. oil service company for $10,000 a month for a family member in exchange for Jefferson's assisting the company in promoting business in Africa. The lobbyist turned down Jefferson's request, the document said.
Three years later, according to the filing, Jefferson allegedly agreed to urge NASA in a letter to consider doing business with a U.S. rocket technology and rocket launch services company. In exchange, the company allegedly agreed to pay Jefferson's family business and a relative.
This demonstrates the old-school corruption that Jefferson represents. He twists arms to get cash for himself and sinecures for his family members, and in exchange, he directs taxpayer money to those who provide for the personal comfort of himself and his family. His salary as a Congressman and his status as a representative of 600,000 people in his community doesn't satisfy Jefferson; he treats his responsibilities and his constituents with contempt while he stuffs cash into the pockets of himself and the other Jeffersons.
Nancy Pelosi does not have her hands tied in this case. The House has the ability to expel members who act unethically, even absent a criminal conviction. It rarely happens; the only two in the last 150 years to be expelled were James Traficant in 2002 and Michael Myers in 1980, and both had to get convicted of bribery first to get the boot from their colleagues. The House (and Senate) have the power to act independently, though, in order to protect the integrity of Congress. They can hold hearings and investigations, and reach their own conclusions as to the detrimental effect of Dollar Bill remaining in office.
Neither party has proven very courageous in protecting Congress and the People from the corrupt. Denny Hastert even filed a lawsuit to keep the FBI from using material seized in Jefferson's Capitol Hill offices while Republicans held the gavel. It seems that House leadership in both parties don't mind working their way towards single-digit approval ratings, as long as they don't have to take the responsibility for keeping their House in order.
Posted by Ed Morrissey on November 18, 2007 9:31 AM | Comments () | TrackBacks (1)
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