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Jefferson case could change bribery lawsCongress moves to redefine 'official acts' Wednesday, November 14, 2007 By Bill Walsh WASHINGTON -- Bribery has been around as long as politics, but recent provocative legal challenges have prompted Congress to look at rewriting the laws to spell out more clearly what it means to be on the take. Bipartisan legislation moving in the Senate would substantially lengthen the list of forbidden favors that could expose a member of Congress to charges of bribery. The move comes as Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, battles federal charges with a defense that his actions on behalf...

Jefferson tries to get case thrown outBy: John Bresnahan Nov 12, 2007 07:35 PM EST Jefferson has been indicted on a litany of federal charges, including bribery. Photo: AP Who says lawyers aren’t creative? Attorneys for indicted Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) are citing new Senate legislation designed to make it easier to prosecute corrupt pols as a reason to throw out parts of the bribery and corruption case against the lawmaker. Jefferson has been indicted on a litany of federal charges, including bribery, in the U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va. His trial is set to start in mid-January, but...

Jefferson aides testify on contactsDiscussion off limits, defense tells judge Saturday, October 20, 2007 By Bruce Alpert WASHINGTON -- Rep. William Jefferson's former chief of staff told a Virginia grand jury that the New Orleans Democrat personally knew 30 leaders in African nations because of his work passing an Africa trade bill in 1997. Transcripts of some of the grand jury testimony by current and former Jefferson staffers, as well as a secretly taped conversation with another former aide for the congressman, are contained in back-and-forth legal filings by Jefferson's defense team and federal prosecutors in the Justice Department's case...

Debt dogs JeffersonFundraising flow reduced to a drip Wednesday, October 17, 2007 By Bill Walsh WASHINGTON -- In addition to a federal indictment hanging over his head, Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, continues to carry a heavy campaign debt, records show. Through Sept. 30, Jefferson's campaign had $260,452 in credit card debt, bank loans and personal loans the congressman made last year to underwrite his re-election victory. Even before his June indictment on 16 counts of bribery-related charges stemming from business ventures in West Africa, Jefferson was having difficulty raising money. It has only gotten harder. Campaign finance reports for...

Defense: Jefferson should be charged with influence peddling, not bribery06:15 PM CDT on Friday, October 12, 2007 Matthew Barrakat / Associated Press ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- A Louisiana congressman caught on tape accepting a $100,000 cash payment should not have been charged with bribery because the alleged conduct was more akin to influence peddling than actual bribery, defense lawyers argued Friday. Congressman William Jefferson At a pretrial hearing in U.S. District Court, lawyers for Rep. William J. Jefferson, D-La., made no admission that Jefferson engaged in any kind of improper conduct. But defense lawyer Amy Jackson argued that even if the...

Hold it: How long can a man wait?Bathroom break is part of Jefferson case Wednesday, October 10, 2007 By Bruce Alpert WASHINGTON -- In a case already fraught with precedent-setting legal questions, attorneys for Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, are seeking perhaps another first in judicial opinions. Is it reasonable, the lawyers ask a federal judge, to believe that a 58-year-old man could wait more than two hours after awakening in the morning before taking a bathroom break? The issue is raised in motions intended to cast doubt on the Justice Department's contention that FBI agents did not restrict Jefferson's...

Firm tangled in Jefferson case received $450,000By Kevin Bogardus and Susan Crabtree October 04, 2007 A company whose executives have been named by federal prosecutors as co-conspirators in the indictment of Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) was awarded a $450,000 grant from a government agency that the congressman allegedly influenced, according to public records. Federal prosecutors have named top executives of the Louisiana-based company, TDC Overseas Limited, as conspirators in the lawmaker’s alleged bribery scheme involving business projects in Nigeria. The Department of Justice (DoJ) indicted Jefferson on 16 counts of bribery and corruption in early June. He pleaded not guilty,...

Jefferson's staff heads for the exits Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, who went through a major staff turnover for the start of the 110th congressional session, is going through another staff upheaval. In the past couple of weeks, Jefferson lost his chief of staff, Eugene Green and press secretary Remi Braden-Cooper. A legislative assistant, Jack Swetland, has announced he's leaving soon. Calls to Jefferson's office seeking a comment were not returned. Jefferson was indicted June 4 by a Virginia grand jury on 16 charges including bribery, racketeering and violation of the foreign corruption practices act. A trial is now scheduled...

Australians reject role for Prince William By Nick Squires in Sydney Last Updated: 1:27am BST 30/06/2007 Australia yesterday rejected a suggestion that Prince William could become governor-general. The nation reacted indignantly to claims in a new biography of Diana, Princess of Wales that the prince would love the ceremonial position. Even the prime minister John Howard, a monarchist, said that only an Australian could fulfil the role. "We have embraced the idea that the person who occupies that post should be an Australian citizen," he said. Kevin Rudd, the leader of the opposition Labor Party, said: "There is a great...

Mose Jefferson, former school board members testify before grand jury06:09 PM CDT on Wednesday, June 27, 2007 WWLTV.com The older brother of indicted Congressman William Jefferson went before a grand jury Wednesday, just one week after a former Orleans Parish school board member allegedly implicated him in a bribery incident. Last week Ellenese Brooks-Simms, the former Orleans Parish school board president, pled guilty to accepting $140,000 in bribes to push for and approve an educational software program. The name of the person who paid the bribe wasn’t listed in a news release issued by the U.S. Attorney’s office, but reports...

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<p>Morning Edition, May 16, 2007 · It was a year ago this week that the FBI, for the first time in U.S. history, raided the office of a member of Congress. Agents carted off documents and computer hard drives belonging to Rep. William Jefferson, a Democrat from Louisiana.</p>

Jury questioning Jefferson associateHer firm helped pay for trip to Africa Tuesday, May 08, 2007 By Bruce Alpert WASHINGTON -- The president of a company that helped pay for U.S. Rep. William Jefferson's trip to Western Africa in 2004 has signed a "testimonial agreement" with federal prosecutors and appeared before the grand jury on at least five days in the ongoing corruption investigation of the New Orleans Democrat. Disclosure of the grand jury appearance by Noreen Wilson, president of Global Environmental Energy, was made in billing documents filed by an attorney for the company in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New...

Poor Kate Middleton, dumped by the second in line to the British throne then displayed humiliatingly to the world as Prince William's "practice chick", the mere recipient of some of his wild oats. But judging by the astonishing Pommy snobbery unleashed in the week since the break-up of her almost five-year relationship, Middleton, 25, is well off out of it. British newspapers are full of quotes from the supposed upper classes about how Kate was too "common" to marry William, 24. Her mother, Carole Middleton, was "pushy, rather twee and incredibly middle-class", according to a royal source quoted by the...

In an exclusive interview, he talks about commanding the Iraq war effort Petraeus: Well, again, military folks just have a mission and it's a fairly consuming mission. We're actually not sitting watching the TV all day long or anything like that. We do certainly try and get the news clips that are pulled out. We're focused on the mission and again, doing everything that we can to try and bring success and the accomplishments of that mission. And that's what America wants it's military to do, I think. I know, that's our job and that's what we have to do...

Pelosi Delays Decision on JeffersonBy Susan Ferrechio Published: March 1, 2007 House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has postponed until at least next week action on a resolution that would place embattled Rep. William J. Jefferson on the Homeland Security Committee after Republicans said they would demand a roll call vote that could be potentially embarrassing for some Democrats. Leadership aides confirmed Thursday that the vote has been tentatively scheduled for sometime next week. Democrats acknowledged that their move to give the seat to the Louisiana Democrat, who is under federal investigation for bribery, would not happen via the simple and fast...

Politics reigns at D.C. Mardi GrasBy Bruce Alpert and Bill Walsh Sunday, February 11, 2007 A sizable segment of the Louisiana political establishment is at the Washington Hilton this weekend for the Mystick Krewe of Louisianians' annual Mardi Gras celebration. **SNIP** Silence on Katrina still drawing notice At the House Democratic retreat on Feb. 4, President Bush was asked by Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., why he didn't mention Hurricane Katrina in his State of the Union speech. Bush replied, according to Thompson's Chief of Staff Lanier Avant, that he didn't say anything about the national parks either, even though he...

New ethics rules vex Capitol HillMonday, January 29, 2007 By Brody Mullins, The Wall Street Journal WASHINGTON -- Every year, lobbyists for the seafood industry serve up choice Gulf of Mexico seafood at a reception for members of Congress. At next month's event, called "Let the World Be Your Oyster," legislators were supposed to feast on raw oysters from Acme Oyster House and oyster pasta from Drago's, a famed New Orleans restaurant. **SNIP** To cut down on wining and dining by lobbyists, the House and Senate have drafted new rules that bar lawmakers and congressional aides from accepting almost any...

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Dr. G. J. Hodge cheers at a victory party for Congressman William Jefferson D-New Orleans in New Orleans Saturday, Dec. 9, 2006. Jefferson defeated democratic State Representative Karen Carter for re-election .(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)