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Jefferson 'perplexed' by aide's guilty plea; says he did no wrong By: CHEVEL JOHNSON - Associated Press Last modified Friday, January 13, 2006 10:32 PM PST Louisiana Congressman, William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, left, and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, appear before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Housing and Community Development meeting in New Orleans Friday afternoon Jan. 13, 2006. The subcommittee came to New Orleans to discussing the housing problems caused by Hurricane Katrina. (AP Photo/Bill Haber) NEW ORLEANS -- Two days after his former aide's guilty plea implicated him in a bribery case, Rep. William Jefferson said Friday he...

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (Reuters) - Louisiana Democratic Rep. William Jefferson (news, bio, voting record) sought a cut of a Nigerian telecommunications venture in return for his help setting it up, a former aide said on Wednesday as he pleaded guilty to bribery charges. In return for lobbying Nigerian officials and arranging a loan through the U.S. Import-Export Bank, Jefferson demanded an ownership stake in a venture by two U.S. companies to provide high-speed Internet and cable television to Nigeria, former aide Brett Pfeffer said. "The congressman told me he would require 5 to 7 percent of ownership of the company," Pfeffer...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - A former aide to Rep. William Jefferson (news, bio, voting record), D-La., pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges he helped the congressman solicit bribes to arrange two telecommunications deals. A spokeswoman for Jefferson declined to comment. Brett Pfeffer, 37, pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting bribery of a public official and conspiracy. He could get 20 years in prison when sentenced March 31. Specifically, Pfeffer said in federal court that a congressman demanded bribes in exchange for his assistance in brokering two African telecom deals. Court documents did not identify the congressman by name, referring to him only...

DETROIT (AP) - A former aide to U.S. Rep. John Conyers has been arrested in Africa after skipping his sentencing on a federal fraud conviction, federal authorities said. DeWayne Boyd, 49, formerly of Detroit, was arrested Friday in Accra, Ghana, said Daniel D. Roberts, special agent in charge of the FBI's Detroit Field Office. Boyd is a former aide to Willie Brown when he was the speaker of the California Assembly. Boyd was arrested on a warrant for failing to appear at the April sentencing hearing on convictions of mail fraud, making false declarations under oath, making false statements to...

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's top education advisor said the administration is prepared to consider raising taxes as part of a long-term solution to the problems plaguing California schools. The statement by California Education Secretary Alan Bersin came in a Dec. 1 speech to the California School Boards Assn. It was posted on the group's website Friday. His comments mark the first time any top administration official has acknowledged that new taxes could be needed to restore the quality of state services. "No one can look at the history of California education over the last generation and not notice we...

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's effort to reposition his administration after his special election defeat — culminating with this week's appointment of a Democratic activist as his chief of staff — has disheartened some prominent California Republicans and reinvigorated talk of finding a conservative primary challenger next year. "I'm getting more e-mails off of this than I do for Viagra," said Mike Spence, president of the California Republican Assembly, a grass-roots group, referring to Schwarzenegger's appointment of Susan Kennedy. "Since the special election, where we were very loyal, all we've heard about was a $50-billion bond and looking at clemency...

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) - A congressional panel on Thursday voted overwhelmingly to submit former presidential aide Jose Dirceu to impeachment proceedings over his alleged involvement in a corruption scandal. The Ethics Committee action means an impeachment vote will be held in the lower house of Congress next month, when Dirceu could be expelled for "lack of decorum" and barred from holding public office for eight years. Dirceu resigned his chief of staff post in President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's Cabinet in June amid charges he orchestrated illegal campaign funding and a scheme to bribe legislators for their support in...

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - A state contractor and a top aide to imprisoned former Gov. John G. Rowland each pleaded guilty to two felonies Tuesday, ending a public corruption case that led to the one-time political star's downfall. Contractor William Tomasso and Peter Ellef, who was Rowland's co-chief of staff, pleaded guilty under a plea deal to conspiracy to commit tax fraud and bribery. Prosecutors said the men ran a criminal enterprise out of the governor's office, with Ellef steering multimillion dollar contracts to Tomasso in exchange for gold, cash, travel and gifts. Each faces a maximum of 10 years...

CHICAGO - The onetime top aide to ex-Gov. George Ryan testified Monday that a lobbyist helped computer companies land millions of dollars in state contracts while raising political funds for Ryan. The lobbyist, Larry Warner, was careful to keep his name off campaign finance reports, Scott Fawell said in his second day on the witness stand at Ryan's racketeering trial. Ryan, 71, and Warner, 67, are charged in the 22-count indictment with racketeering conspiracy, mail fraud and other offenses. Both men say that nothing they did was illegal. Fawell said Warner raised $100,000 at a dinner for Ryan while helping...

SAN JOSE, Calif. - A city councilwoman's chief of staff has surrendered to authorities after police issued a warrant for her arrest for the disappearance of a briefcase at City Hall. Christine Silva Burnett, 54, turned herself in to San Jose police on Friday. Prosecutors charged her with a misdemeanor, misappropriation of found property. The case stems from an incident Sept. 19 when a community activist visited a floor in the City Hall where council members and staffers have offices. The activist said his black briefcase containing a wallet and personal digital assistant was stolen. Burnett worked for Councilwoman Nora...

Nagin tired of traveling to BR for N.O. briefingsNew Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin is tired of traveling to Baton Rouge to talk to his constituents. Nagin ended his latest weekly briefing on the status of his city Wednesday by saying he no longer wants to meet at the State Capitol. "If we're going to talk about New Orleans, let's do it in New Orleans," he said. State Sen. Ed Murray, D-New Orleans, who has been arranging the meetings, said he picked Baton Rouge because so many evacuees from New Orleans are staying here. Murray said he doesn't plan to move...

CHICAGO - The political strategist who helped engineer former Gov. George Ryan's rise to power took the witness stand Thursday and in testimony laced with wisecracks began telling a jury how Ryan doled out state contracts, leases and favors to the well-connected. Scott Fawell waved to spectators and grinned broadly as he took his seat. He nodded to Ryan, saluted a newspaper reporter and made no effort to disguise his disdain for the prosecutors who put him in federal prison for graft. Asked by prosecutor Patrick M. Collins why he agreed to testify against his former boss, the 48-year-old Fawell...

SAN DIEGO (AP) - Arnold Schwarzenegger will run for re-election next year, a top aide said Friday, an early announcement the governor hopes will jolt his sagging political momentum with the vitality that swept him into office two years ago. Schwarzenegger "felt it was very important to let the people of California know this governor plans to be around for the long haul," campaign spokesman Todd Harris said. "It's not a 24-month job, it's a five-year job and he intends to see it through to the end." Schwarzenegger has hinted as much for weeks, saying as recently as Wednesday that...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's chief spokesman on Wednesday said he unintentionally mischaracterized a payment an insurance company made to one of the governor's companies in 2004. Communications Director Rob Stutzman had said the payment from Zurich American to Schwarzenegger's Oak Productions represented a settlement of a dispute with electronics retailer Best Buy involving the unauthorized use of Schwarzenegger's image. But Stutzman on Wednesday said the payment - characterized on the governor's disclosure forms only as more than $10,000 - did not involve Best Buy. And he said a nondisclosure clause in the settlement prevents him from revealing the identity of the...

Baghdad, 8 July (AKI) - An aide of the Shiite spiritual leader in Iraq, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, was killed on Thursday night in Baghdad. Religious leader Hashim Attiya al-Fadili was attacked as he travelled along a road in the capital, and another person with him was injured in the ambush. Al-Fadili is the latest in a series of al-Sistani's aides to be killed. In the most recent attack, prominent Shiite cleric Kamal Ezz al-Deen al-Ghuraifi was killed by gunmen earlier this month. Another two aides were murdered in the run-up to the Iraqi elections on January 30 - one along...

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) - The coordinator for Ralph Nader's 2004 presidential campaign in Virginia pleaded guilty Tuesday to election fraud. James P. Polk, 47, will serve 30 days of home detention and was fined $2,500. Polk was accused of illegally certifying petitions to get Nader, an independent candidate, on the ballot. He was indicted on 10 counts of election fraud in October, but prosecutors withdrew nine of those counts. Nader's name was not placed on the ballot in Virginia. His campaign needed to collect 10,000 signatures of registered voters, but fell well short.

A U.S. commitment to providing $674 million for famine relief in Africa may take some bite out of the Left's constant attacks on the Bush Administration. It is always a cry of what have you done for the poor in the world (although they don't count the poor that have been liberated). Now this massive out pouring of famine relief will answer their cries. President Bush joins Britain's Tony Blair, chairman of the G8, in this commitment. The joint initiative for famine relief comes in response to a Blair proposal for doubling aid to Africa. The amount of Britain's contribution...

Hillary Clinton's ex-aide no criminal, attorney says By Laura Wides, Associated Press The former national finance director for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton may have made a mistake underreporting hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenses for a Hollywood fundraiser, but he committed no crime, his attorneys told jurors in closing remarks Wednesday. But prosecutors said David Rosen "was no babe in the woods" and willfully deflated the cost of the fundraiser for Clinton's 2000 New York Senate campaign to skirt federal election laws so the campaign would have more money to spend. Prosecutors have said Clinton was unaware of any...

Ex-Clinton aide's fate in jury's hands Rosen denies wrongdoing in reporting cost of gala to FEC Wednesday, May 25, 2005 Posted: 11:53 PM EDT (0353 GMT) LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Jurors in the federal trial of David Rosen, former finance director of Hillary Clinton's U.S. Senate campaign, will begin deliberating his fate Thursday. **SNIP** Defense and prosecuting attorneys finished their closing arguments Wednesday. The jury was to convene Thursday at 8:30 a.m. (11:30 a.m. ET). Rosen's attorney, Paul Sandler, described his client as "courageous and truthful," adding that Rosen "has suffered for years with this sword of Damocles over...

Planner says ex-Hillary Clinton aide hid costs of fundraiser LOS ANGELES The trial of Hillary Clinton's former national finance director continued today in Los Angeles with an event planner testifying she was ordered by David Rosen to obtain a fake invoice connected to a Hollywood fundraising gala. Bretta Nock told jurors that Rosen told her to get a 200-thousand dollar invoice for the concert portion of the celebrity bash, when the actual costs were much higher. Rosen has pleaded not guilty to three charges of filing false financial statements connected with Clinton's 2000 Senate run. He's accused of under-reporting donations...