Washington Post

Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-La.), whose Capitol Hill office was raided by the FBI Saturday night as part of a 14-month public corruption probe, said today has no plans to resign and intends to seek reelection in November.

“I plan to go to the floor tonight to vote,” Jefferson said at a late-afternoon news conference. ” . . . I expect to continue to represent the people who sent me here and to try to respond to their needs and their issues. I will continue to do that, so long as they permit me to do to.”

Jefferson was videotaped accepting $100,000 in $100 bills from a Northern Virginia investor who was wearing an FBI wire, according to a search warrant affidavit released yesterday.

A few days later, on Aug. 3, 2005, FBI agents raided Jefferson’s home in Northeast Washington and found $90,000 of the cash in the freezer, in $10,000 increments wrapped in aluminum foil and stuffed inside frozen-food containers, the document said.

I don’t find it to be news that a politician is corrput. It’s certainly news that we caught him since we usually let them do whatever the hell they want. It’s news that’s being underreported though. When DeLay was even suspected of wrongdoing it was a press led witch hunt. Nevermind that is took multiple grad juries to even bring charges and that those are getting thrown out. DeLay’s career is over. He was murdered in the press. This little indiscretion from a Democrat isn’t even headlines. And people want to tell me our media isn’t biased! Homeboy is caught redhanded with 100,000k in his freezer that he took from an FBI informant. Well it was missing 10k so it’s really only 90k. He wrapped it up and hid it inside food containers. He’s been recorded. And yet there are no calls from the press for him to leave his post. The arrogrant prick is even seeking re-election!

Jefferson asserted today he is innocent of any wrongdoing in the “storm” he says he has weathered since last year.

The 83-page affidavit, used to raid Jefferson’s office, portrays him as a money-hungry man who freely solicited hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes, discussed payoffs to African officials, had a history of involvement in numerous bribery schemes and used his family to hide his interest in high-tech business ventures he promoted in Cameroon, Ghana and Nigeria.

At the news conference, Jefferson repeatedly declined to respond to reporters’ questions about the allegations. He said his lawyers had advised him not to discuss the case in any way.

“I will simply say to you there are two sides to every story, and we’ll have a chance when it’s the right forum to express our side of this,” Jefferson said.

Two sides to every story? Really! There are two sides to you taking money from someone the FBI had a wire on? It would seem to me that any other side would necessarily be made up and chock full of fiction. We have the story. We have the evidence out in front of us. How’re you going to spin this one? I am waiting to see that but I have feeling we will not see much for a while.

The affidavit states that in one instance, at an unidentified D.C. restaurant, Jefferson allegedly exchanged cryptic notes with investor Lori Mody and discussed illegal kickbacks for his children in a telecommunications venture in Nigeria in which she had invested.

“All these damn notes we’re writing to each other as if we’re talking as if the FBI is watching,” he told Mody, who was wearing an FBI wire.

Now that’s rich. I cannot imagine he thought he wouldn’t be watched. It’s as if he thought he was above the law…oh wait he did and still does…

About 15 FBI agents, wearing suits, entered Jefferson’s office in the Rayburn House Office Building about 7:15 p.m. Saturday and left about 1 p.m. yesterday. Authorities said it was the first time the FBI had raided a sitting congressman’s office.

Jefferson today called the raid “an outrageous intrusion of the separation of powers between the executive branch and the congressional branch.”

An intrusion of the seperation of powers? You mean that the FBI cannot investigate bribery? What seperation of powers again? So there is a seperation in law enforcement and congress? Hrmmm. I thought that was only true if your last name was Kennedy or Clinton!

There are two more pages to the article. It’s way too ludicrous to keep commenting on and work is at me to get some crap done so it’s back to the grind. Just remember if you are a democrat taking 100k in cash is alright but if you are Republican then possibly misusing campaign funds is reason enough to be crucified.