Cold Cash Congressman Says He Has 'Never Taken a Bribe' in New Campaign Ad (William Jefferson D-LA)

ABC News ^ | December 1, 2006 | Brian Ross

[Stoat]

Cold Cash Congressman Says He Has 'Never Taken a Bribe' in New Campaign Ad

December 01, 2006 11:50 AM

Avni Patel Reports:

Louisiana Congressman William Jefferson (D-La.) has taken to the airwaves to unequivocally deny the allegations that have plagued him for months. "I have never taken a bribe from anyone,"  he asserts in a new campaign ad.

Jefferson is running for re-election despite being at the center of a federal bribery investigation. He faces a run-off against fellow Democrat State Rep. Karen Carter on Dec. 9.

Carter has seized on the probe in her campaign against Jefferson, and recently ran an ad quoting a Washington Post article that said the FBI had caught Jefferson accepting a bribe on videotape. In this latest ad, Jefferson responds by saying that Carter's "newspaper source got the facts wrong."

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A search warrant issued in May alleged that Jefferson had accepted $100,000 in cash from an FBI informant on behalf of a high-ranking foreign government official in exchange for help with securing a telecommunications contract in Africa. The affidavit states that Jefferson's handling of the briefcase containing the cash was "videotaped by the FBI from several vantage points." Most of the cash was later found in a freezer in Jefferson's house.

Jefferson has not yet been charged with a crime. Two of his associates pled guilty to bribery-related charges earlier in the year.

[Stoat]

Giving credit where it's due....I found this article because it is linked at Orbusmax

Orbusmax ™ Northwest News - 'Around The World In 80K'

[4yearlurker]

He has never taken a bribe that he is aware of....or.he doesn't recall....or...not to my knowledge.

[AnAmericanMother]

Oh, yeah, I never TOOK a bribe . . . it just magically appeared in my freezer . . .

[Stoat]

He has never taken a bribe that he is aware of....or.he doesn't recall....or...not to my knowledge.

And he doesn't regard any 'found monies' as a bribe anyway....it's merely a gesture of appreciation from constituents.

[Clifford The Big Red Dog]

And if you believe him, I have a nice bridge for sale...

[MplsSteve]

The hell you do!

I bought the deed for the Brooklyn Bridge two months ago.

I can prove it too. Your deed must be fake!

[dfwgator]

Dennis Hastert believes him.

[Clifford The Big Red Dog]

Comparing Jefferson to Ol' William Marcy is an insult to Boss Tweed.....

[AnAmericanMother]

Well, you're right, of course, the Boss was much more inventive and more successful for a much longer time . . .

. . . of course, they're both Democrats, so I figured birds of a feather . . .

[Rockitz]

It was a consulting fee....ya that's the ticket!

[blitzgig]

I'll bet that Tweed would have liked to use a guy like Jefferson in Tammany Hall. Then again, Jefferson was stupid enough to get caught, so maybe Tweed wouldn't have any use for him after all.

[ASOC]

Where is the MEGAHurl tag?

But then, no politician ever suffered by underestimating the stupidity of the average (D) voter.....

[RichInOC]

Louisiana Congressman William Jefferson (D-La.) has taken to the airwaves to unequivocally deny the allegations that have plagued him for months. "I have never taken a bribe from anyone," he asserts in a new campaign ad.

[Michael Richards' new favorite word], please.

[Stoat]

Where is the MEGAHurl tag?

The FR system didn't allow me enough space to include it in the title   :-(   I added it as a keyword instead   :-)

But then, no politician ever suffered by underestimating the stupidity of the average (D) voter.....

And the crime levels of 'blue states' are living proof of this

[ken5050]

In Law Enforcement parlance, this is referred to as the "SODDI" defense....Some Other Dude Did It...

With Rep. Jefferson, he's never taken a bribe from anyone. However, it may turn out that "somebody" did indeed bribe him. However, as everyone knows, "somebody" ain't "anyone"

[hosepipe]

Jefferson is a chimp change piker compared to Pelosi and Harry Reid..

[SCHROLL]

William "I didn't take a bribe, I only stole the Money" Jefferson

[NormsRevenge]

"I have never taken been convicted of taking a bribe from anyone," ..

There. Truth in Advertising should apply to politics.

[taxesareforever]

Cold Cash Congressman Says He Has 'Never Taken a Bribe'

Must define "bribe" from the Bill Clinton book of "Terms that have been Misidentified".

[chilepepper]

it wasn't a bribe... he worked hard to earn that money!