Posted on 05/25/2006 4:11:21 PM PDT by Libloather
Jefferson's Curse
The Nation
Thu May 25, 11:58 AM ET
AP - Mon May 15, 5:25 PM ET U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, speaks to the media at a news conference in New Orleans on Monday May 15, 2006. Congressman Jefferson declared his innocence in light of a federal bribery probe. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
The Nation -- As John wrote a few days back, William Jefferson was one of the worst Democrats in the House even before he started hiding bribes in the freezer. Now he's a drag on his party and a disgrace to his district--which happens to represent much of storm-ravaged New Orleans.
Yesterday, Nancy Pelosi rightly asked Jefferson to resign from his seat on the powerful tax-writing Ways and Means Committee. Jefferson refused, writing: "I will not give up a committee assignment that is so vital to New Orleans at this crucial time for any uncertain political strategy."
What an absurd defense. If Jefferson cared about adequately representing the residents of New Orleans, he wouldn't have taken bribes to enrich himself and crooked politicians in Nigeria. As the government's case against him intensifies, how can he possibly represent his constituents effectively? Isn't helping to rebuild New Orleans enough of a full time job?
As John Maginnis, editor of the Louisiana Political Fax Weekly, told the Washington Post: "It's not a very good reflection on the state to have your congressman accused of taking bribes at the same time Louisianans are trying to get money out of the federal government."
Now, more than ever, New Orleans deserves better.
Then when the tank got stuck in the muck, they had to rescue his sorry a$$ out by helicopter.
I wonder if anyone died because rescue efforts were being wasted on this moron?
Why would there be a tank in the city? I heard it was a TRUCK.
You're probably right. One of those deuce and a half's.
I hear the tire tracks are still there. Maybe some Big Media hack can actually do some investigative reporting and take a snap-shot of Billy Jeff's pad...
From the Maha -
So I want to go back, folks, because people have forgotten where this William Jefferson stuff started, and my source? (laughing) ABC News, Jake Tapper! This is September 13th of 2005. I've been scratching the surface of this all week in discussing the trials and tribulations of Congressman William Jefferson. Let's listen to this. September 13th, 2005, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina:
"Amid the chaos and confusion that engulfed New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina struck, a congressman used National Guard troops to check on his property and rescue his personal belongings -- even while New Orleans residents were trying to get rescued from rooftops, ABC News has learned. On Sept. 2 -- five days after Katrina hit the Gulf Coast -- Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., who represents New Orleans and is a senior member of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, was allowed through the military blockades set up around the city to reach the Superdome, where thousands of evacuees had been taken.
"Military sources tells ABC News that Jefferson, an eight-term Democratic congressman, asked the National Guard that night to take him on a tour of the flooded portions of his congressional district. A five-ton military truck and a half dozen military police were dispatched. Lt. Col. Pete Schneider of the Louisiana National Guard tells ABC News that during the tour, Jefferson asked that the truck take him to his home on Marengo Street, in the affluent uptown neighborhood in his congressional district. According to Schneider, this was not part of Jefferson's initial request. Jefferson defended the expedition, saying he set out to see how residents were coping at the Superdome and in his neighborhood. He also insisted that he did not ask the National Guard to transport him.
"'I did not seek the use of military assets to help me get around my city,' Jefferson told ABC News. 'There was shooting going on. There was sniping going on. They thought I should be escorted by some military guards, both to the convention center, the Superdome and uptown.' The water reached to the third step of Jefferson's house, a military source familiar with the incident told ABC News, and the vehicle pulled up onto Jefferson's front lawn so he wouldn't have to walk in the water. Jefferson went into the house alone, the source says, while the soldiers waited on the porch for about an hour.
"Finally, according to the source, Jefferson emerged with a laptop computer, three suitcases, and a box about the size of a small refrigerator, which the enlisted men loaded up into the truck. 'I don't think there is any explanation for an elected official using resources for their own personal use, when those resources should be doing search and rescue, or they should be helping with law enforcement in the city,' said Jerry Hauer, a homeland security expert and ABC News consultant. Jefferson said the trip was entirely appropriate. It took only a few minutes to retrieve his belongings, he said, and the truck stayed at his house for an hour in part to assist neighbors.
"'This wasn't about me going to my house. It was about me going to my district,' he said." Well, the Louisiana National Guard then chimed in, said, "the truck became stuck as it waited for Jefferson to retrieve his belongings. Two weeks later, the vehicle's tire tracks were still visible on [Jefferson's] lawn. The soldiers signaled to helicopters in the air for aid. Military sources say a Coast Guard helicopter pilot saw the signal and flew to Jefferson's home. The chopper was already carrying four rescued New Orleans residents at the time. A rescue diver descended from the helicopter, but the congressman decided against going up in the helicopter, sources say.
"The pilot sent the diver down again, but Jefferson again declined to go up the helicopter. After spending approximately 45 minutes with Jefferson, the helicopter went on to rescue three additional New Orleans residents before it ran low on fuel and was forced to end its mission. 'Forty-five minutes can be an eternity to somebody that is drowning, to somebody that is sitting in a roof, and it needs to be used its primary purpose during an emergency,' said Hauer. Coast Guard Cmdr. Brendan McPherson told ABC News, 'We did have an aircraft that responded to a signal of distress where the congressman was located. The congressman did decline rescue at the time so the helicopter picked up three other people."
Anyway, what happened is the Guard had to send a second five-ton truck to rescue the first truck and Jefferson and his items because the first truck got stuck in the mud in a lawn outside his fashionable home on Marengo Street in his district. "Jefferson insisted the expedition did not distract from rescue efforts." Now what all this leads to is that this box, the size of a small refrigerator? It has now been speculated by investigative sources that Jefferson was retrieving the cash that constituted the bribe that he had been paid and so forth. He needed to get in there and get it out. I bring all this history back because, you see what's happened to this story. Nobody in the House of Representatives except Nancy Pelosi -- and she's even tiptoeing around it -- appears to be in the slightest way outraged over what a member of Congress has done.
Jeffy was investigating potential racism in the FBI. Everybody knows that.
Retrieve "personal effects," my Aunt Tilly. Probably had cash and evidence hidden all over the house, under the floorboards, in ceilng tiles, under the patio, in the heating system ducts. Betcha he disabled his hard drive with all the evidence between him and the Nigerian guy.
Actually it was a freezer!
Yeah with $90,000 in cold cash inside!
LOLOLOL
Can't you just feel the "tolerance and compassion?"
Does anybody think that he only took ONE bribe?
It's dripping - almost as much as his defrosting illegal stash - eh?
This idiot had THREE military vehicles tied up, during what's been reported as AMERICA'S WORST DISASTER, in order to cover up his crime. (May the RATS hold on tight to this loser - the longer, the better...)
Never heard of Adam Clayton Powell, I guess.
I bet he has been cooperating with an International law enforcement agency which is hot on the trail of the perpetrators of the Nigerian Scam. The man deserves a medal for his unselfish support of International law enforcement.
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