This doesn’t start out as Illinois-related, but we’ll get there in a moment…
Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-La.), the target of a 14-month public corruption probe, 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…
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.
The 83-page affidavit, used to raid Jefferson’s Capitol Hill office on Saturday night, 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.
Jefferson was indicted this week on racketeering and bribery charges and the Washington Post’s had this quote from our very own Congresman Danny Davis this morning…
Through it all, much of the Congressional Black Caucus has stood by Jefferson and against the Democratic leadership. And yesterday, Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-Ill.), a veteran caucus member, said it would be “as supportive of our colleague as possible, in terms of saying a person in America is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty.”
The hugely trafficked Daily Kos blog, which is about as Democratic as one can get, has long been pushing for Jefferson’s ouster, and today Kos himself had this to say about Davis’ remarks…
Yes, in a court of law, there is a presumption of innocence. In Congress, our elected officials must be held to a higher standard. If Jefferson is acquitted of those charges, he can always run again and take back this seat. It’s clear his constituents have no problem voting for him even after finding out about his $90,000-stuffed freezer.
Kos does post this caveat from the above article…
Senior leadership aides cautioned that a quick resignation under pressure could set a dangerous precedent, suggesting that a politicized Justice Department could target troublesome lawmakers with specious indictments.
But then he mostly dismisses it…
(I)n this case, this wouldn’t be a “quick resignation” — this issue has festered for over a year — and the 16-count indictment is as solid a case as can ever be made for public corruption.
I’m curious what you think of Congressman Davis’ reaction. Should congressmen stick up for their fellows even when they’re busted with ninety large in the Frigidaire?
By the way, I’ve called Congressmen Rush and Jackson to see if they agree with Davis. I’ll let you know what they say if and or when they call back.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Congressman Jackson, who last year supported Nancy Pelosi’s bid to oust Jefferson from the Ways & Means Committee, just called. Here’s what he had to say…
“[There is a] presumption of innocence, and Rep. Jefferson is entitled to that presumption. That notwithstanding, these charges and allegations are serious and if proven have very real consequences for Mr. Jefferson and his life. Members of Congress and public officials should [hold] themselves to the highest possible ethical standard and that standard I believe is the ‘appearance of impropriety.’ The evidence that has been detailed in the indictment by the Justice Dept. suggests that the line for appearance [in this case] crossed that chasm a long time ago.”
[Should he resign?] “That’s a matter for Congressman Jefferson to decide. The question is, with these enormous charges confronting him how effective can he be as a member of Congress? The people of New Orleans who have been ravaged by Hurricane Katrina and at this hour are dispersed across many states in the union need a full-time representative who is not preoccupied with personal matters.”
[On the impact on Democrats and the institution of Congress] …”This is an embarrassment to the institution of Congress and the 434 other members of Congress who are trying to earn and maintain the trust of the American people. A bad apple can spoil the whole bunch.”
- Ron Burgundy - Tuesday, Jun 5, 07 @ 12:30 pm:
I’m sure Danny Davis and William Jefferson have had long talks in the capitol comparing which state is more corrupt. It’s probably worth bragging rights to say you’re more corrupt. Anyway, Jefferson is toast and I think Davis will be too. What has he done during his time in Congress?
- Six Degrees of Separation - Tuesday, Jun 5, 07 @ 12:45 pm:
To answer Ron’s question, one of Davis’ accomplishments has been to keep getting re-elected easily. Unless he is removed from office, a la Mel Reynolds, I don’t see that he is “toast”. And the voters in his district probably shrug their shoulders collectively at his support, such as it is, for Rep. Jefferson.
- Jerry - Tuesday, Jun 5, 07 @ 12:46 pm:
Danny needs to get a clue. Backing this sleeze doesn’t help anybody but “Dollar Bill.”
- North of I-80 - Tuesday, Jun 5, 07 @ 12:49 pm:
The Appearance of Impropriety is a big red flag for cops, judges, lawmakers and other high-profile public servants. An immediate review of the case should be a minimum and if they [Dems/Black Caucus] think that the feds will not publicly humiliate them all with Jefferson audio/videos of Culture of Corruption, then stand behind him.
- fedup dem - Tuesday, Jun 5, 07 @ 12:58 pm:
This doesn’t surprise me much, given the fact that I can recall Cong. Davis fawning over Rev. Moon a number of years ago!
- Papa Legba - Tuesday, Jun 5, 07 @ 1:07 pm:
Just another brilliant comment and stance from another elected official from Illinois.
Boy, we sure can elect a bunch of hard-headed morons.
- Cal Skinner - Tuesday, Jun 5, 07 @ 1:09 pm:
And, Davis will get his pension once he gets out of jail, just like the Chicago ones did.
- demgrrl - Tuesday, Jun 5, 07 @ 1:27 pm:
This is where the gop beats the dems every time — when gop members of congress get caught with their hand in the cookie jar (whether it’s proven or not) they usually fade away for the good of the party and get taken care of when they go back to the private sector. With the exception perhaps of tom delay, the gop have been good at quickly nixing their problems before they get worse. The dems seem to hold on to their problem-makers for dear life.
- Just Saying - Tuesday, Jun 5, 07 @ 1:30 pm:
Cute headline, but Dollar Bill ain’t a con yet. I think that’s Davis’ point.
- Viator - Tuesday, Jun 5, 07 @ 1:39 pm:
Real show of backbone there, Mr. Jackson. It’s up to Jefferson to resign but he’s an embarrassment.
- Team Sleep - Tuesday, Jun 5, 07 @ 2:04 pm:
Holy cow, I actually agree with demgrrl. Jefferson is as much of a problem as DeLay and Foley combined. Bribery is serious and he’s been under investigation by the FBI. Please remember that Foley was never sued or charged with any crime, and I don’t DeLay was either. And JJJ is right: a corrupt and hurting area like New Orleans doesn’t need a Congressman who will soon be in federal court.
- anon - Tuesday, Jun 5, 07 @ 2:22 pm:
I’ve never been a fan of Jesse Jr. but I think his comment was right on the money. Congress should be held to a higher standard. Danny Davis should have kept his mouth shut, don’t play the race card Danny. Let’s hope Nancy Pelosi puts the pressure Jefferson to resign sending the message that this will not be tolerated.
- A Citizen - Tuesday, Jun 5, 07 @ 2:56 pm:
Perhaps what we really need to do is lower the standards. That would allow me to recover from scandal overload. I’m getting just dizzy trying to keep them all straight and by lowering the standards we all could rebuild our strength to deal with them. We could give it a ninety day trial.
- VanillaMan - Tuesday, Jun 5, 07 @ 3:08 pm:
Believe it or not, voters don’t need Congressmen, Congressmen need voters. Sickening isn’t it when they try to pass themselves off as some kind of indisposable resource?
Honestly, common sense says there is a difference between Jefferson’s indictment and Delay’s last year. You’d have to be a partisan quack to claim that they are similar.
Obviously we cannot expect Congress to be self-cleaning, or that the crooks we find sitting there honest enough to do the right thing, so we need to demand a change where indicted Congressmen are forced out and then decide what kind of indictments could be defined as such.
As to the comments about a politicized Justice Department - oh shut up! Since when has there been any difference between either party? Whether it is Reno or Gonzales, politics reigns supreme in the Justice Department. For over 200 years this has been the case.
Any Congressman unwilling to denouce Mr. Jefferson should be suspect of having any ability to make intelligent decisions.
Enough of this nonsense!
- Way Northsider - Tuesday, Jun 5, 07 @ 4:40 pm:
I don’t think Davis should be supporting Jefferson. Enough is known about this to know that these are substantive charges. I think Jackson is hitting the right tone.
- So Outta Here - Tuesday, Jun 5, 07 @ 4:55 pm:
This from a man (Congressman Davis) that placed a crown on Rev. Sun Young Moon’s head and sat there while Rev. Moon proclaimed himself the messiah and invoked the names of Hitler and Stalin. And we are surprized why????
- winco - Tuesday, Jun 5, 07 @ 7:56 pm:
“This is an embarrassment to the institution of Congress and the 434 other members of Congress who are trying to earn and maintain the trust of the American people.”
I assume he must be including the Senate and the House in that number, because there is no way there are 434 U.S. Representatives trying to earn the trust of the American people. Even including the Senate, I am not sure that it is more than 300-400.