Rep. William Jefferson Pleads Not Guilty

Louisiana Democrat, Indicted On 16 Counts In Bribery Case, Faces Investigation In Congress

(CBS/AP)  Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., pleaded not guilty Friday to charges of racketeering, money-laundering and soliciting more than $500,000 in bribes in connection with years of trying to broker business deals in Africa.

Jefferson said little during the hearing in federal court in Alexandria, but acknowledged that he understood the charges and waived his right to a speedy trial. He was released on $100,000 bond, and a trial date was set for January 16.

A 94-page indictment, handed up Monday, details 11 separate bribery schemes and 16 criminal counts, including racketeering, soliciting bribes, wire fraud, money laundering and obstruction of justice. Jefferson faces a possible maximum sentence of 235 years.

The charges came almost two years after investigators raided Jefferson's home in Washington and found $90,000 in cash stuffed in a box in his freezer.

During Friday's hearing, prosecutor Mark Lytle said the government had eight file cabinets of evidence in the case and extensive tape recordings. He said the government could spend up to a month presenting its case.

U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III has prohibited Jefferson's access to guns kept in his Louisiana home. He has also frozen his bank accounts and other assets.

"I am innocent of these charges and I plan to clear my name," Jefferson said following the hearing.

Standing next to his wife, Andrea, Jefferson spoke of his wife and five daughters, claiming "They are not who the government describes them to be ... bribers, racketeers and conspirators."

"This is not who we are. This is not who I am. This is not what I have done. I am innocent of all the charges and allegations that have been leveled against me. And I and my family with our friends and allies pledge to fight to clear our name and see justice done," he said.

Jefferson said he and his family are at a disadvantage against the Justice Department, which he characterized as not only possessing of unlimited resources but also able to "engineer circumstances, leak information, and even violate the constitution in pursuit of its goals."

He also suggested that the $90,000 cash which was found in the freezer of his Louisiana home belonged to the FBI, as part of their plan to bribe the president of Nigeria.

Earlier this week, the House ordered a quick internal investigation that could oust Jefferson from Congress before his bribery trial.

Jefferson resigned his seat on the Small Business Committee. Democrats already had moved to take that seat from him.

Jefferson admitted no wrongdoing.

Jefferson, who has been under investigation for more than two years, was re-elected last year despite the looming investigation, But the nine-term congressman had few allies among leaders of his own party.

The charges against Jefferson, "if proven true, should lead to the expulsion of the member in question," said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who earlier ousted Jefferson from the Ways and Means Committee, issued a similar statement Monday.

That wasn't enough for Republicans, still smarting from losing control of Congress in the November elections partly over ethics breaches of their own members.

Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio offered a resolution directing the Ethics Committee to report on whether the charges in the indictment merit Jefferson's expulsion. The House passed it, 373-26. Thirteen members voted present.

Expelling a House member before a conviction would be unprecedented, according to the Congressional Research Service. But it was not clear that would happen in Jefferson's case, because the Ethics Committee could refuse to rule on whether the nine-term congressman should be thrown out of the House, according to a Democratic leadership aide.

[rushlimpdrug]

think the worst thing to ever happen to this country was the affair between Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinski. . . .
Thank God the brave Republicans had the courage to bring every little detail to light.
Posted by sparks224

Yeah, guess Republicans can be sooo proud of that wonderful President (STAND UP)
NIXON . . . hope there's another NIXON in our future with an Agnew to stand beside him.
*** Nixon/*** Cheney any more ***** in the Republican party? ? If so whip'em out ! ! !

[sparks224]

I think the worst thing to ever happen to this country was the affair between Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinski.

It was even worse than the affair between Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings.

Thank God the brave Republicans had the courage to bring every little detail to light.

[jedi08]

Godseyesore

Why is it just republican Lies? Didn't your girl Billary Clinton vote to go to war. She saw the same intell the President did and made the same call. Its really easy to play Monday morning quarterback with the issue.

Bottom line is Iraq is better off without Saddam, he was ignoring NATO and needed to be removed, which was done quickly. If we would of just left millions would of been slaughtered.

Yes lots of innocent lives have been lost but most of that is due to the Terrorist coming to IRAQ to ingage our troups their and the Iraq Civilians have been caught in the middle. That still doesn't change the fact that if we were to leave, Terror and Iran would take control of the region and it would be a slaughter. Just like Saddam slaughtered the Kurds

[godseyesore-2009]

jedi08....listen dude.
I'm all for Dem's but this is a bad actor that should be scoured from their plate. Too bad Rep's don't act likewise and get rid of their own garbage, instead of clinging to them like dingling berries.
What does it say about you that Clinton's under the desk affair(s) is more important to you than the deaths caused by 'Repugnican' lies?

[jedi08]

Lets look at the facts in this case. He is a Liberal. He's African American. He therefore must be innocent. Republicans get 30 months for BS charges, while Dems get blow jobs.

The drive by media couldn't hide this story forever, Hopefully he will get life and they Bush will pardon Libby and put Al Sharpton in his place.

[lars008-2009]

HEY PELOOSI!!! WHY IS THIS GUY STILL IN OFFICE???

hahahahahahahahaha rightttttttttttttttt

Democrats will not disappoint

We pledge to make this the most honest, ethical, and open Congress in history. By Nancy Pelosi
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1114/p09s01-coop.html

[bigdadpatrio]

WELL SAID mommajomma!

[likeitis5050]

Politicians!!! Six of one and half dozen of another...they all have the same agenda...get all you can for YOURSELF while you can. They are all in bed together having a good smoke after s...crew...ing all the voters. Lump them into parties if it makes you feel better but at the end of the day your party will do the same to you and spin it in the opposite direction hoping the majority of their voters buy it. What they are really good at is dividing people to keep them thinking they are right and the other side is wrong. Fools. And the majority fall for it. Keeping tallies of which party has the most strikes...they all have nothing but their own interests on the table. It's a game to them and goal is to keep voters electing them until they can no longer have to worry about issues like healthcare, retirement, immigration...nothing will impact them if they can just keep the voters believing they are working for them until they decide to quit. They all need to be voted out. They all need to be limited to one term...president included.

[mommajomma-2009]

this guy better get up every morning and thank God he's not a republican. If so, he would have already been lynched. CBS and the gang could only silence this story for so long.

[rushlimpdrug]

Jefferson and "Scotter" - great cellmates
"Jefferson go get me a key lime pie"
"What chu talkin' bout Scota'!"

[lars008-2009]

hahahahahahahahaha rightttttttttttttttt

Democrats will not disappoint

We pledge to make this the most honest, ethical, and open Congress in history. By Nancy Pelosi
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1114/p09s01-coop.html

[xzavierbrown]

put him right next to libby's cell

[bluestardad]

JEFFERSON IS P I S S E D CAUSE THE FEDS TOOK HIS FROZEN CATFISH FROM HIS FREEZER!

I WOULD BE TOO!

WHERE IS THE NATIONWIDE OUT CRY TO RETURN THE FROZEN FISH DINNERS?

[brianbwb-2009]

Back to the subject at hand,

Jefferson's conduct is standard for all government officials. I bet if we dig deep enough (CBS, ya' hear me?), the exact same charges could (and should) be laid on all members of all three branches of government.

[fizzal-2009]

anyone who came too the United States and recieved citizenship should be arrested for not paying tax,s on what they recieved when the federal gov,t sent money too their country. isn,t that the same thing this man is accused of? recieving money from another country.

[rushlimpdrug]

Nothing good comes out of lowsyana. Katrina did them a favor just ask the bush family.
Guy doesn't even know where to stash his cash.
He looks like all the rest of the crooked politicians.
Perhaps he can become a radio talk show host.
He's already bald and stupid looking.
All he needs now is to lose weight, take viagra,
and chase chicks on the internet

[adian1-2009]

As part of the proceedings against this crook, a judge issued and order yesterday to freeze Jefferson's assets. Isn't it funny? When the FBI excecuted a search warrant in Jefferson's home, they found that he had $90,000 in cash precisely in his freezer! So, why an order to freeze his assets? He had been freezing his assets without any court order!!!

[notblue]

Libby never "outed" Plame, no one was ever prosecuted or convicted for outing Plame. What will come to the surface regarding Wilson and Plame was they had a political agenda to discredit the president. Also, those two have become very rich thanks to the liberal mainstream media via book deals interviews etc. etc.. SO who are the true winners? Plame, Wilson, and the leftwing media. Who are the losers? The American people for not getting to the truth on either side and having to pay millions in tax dollars for what amounts to a waste of time.

[nolalou]

mudrose,

I don't know how we got on the Scooter Libby issue in this thread, but here you go again, repeating the BS that "Valerie Plame's covertness was never fully established". The CIA said she was covert, isn't that enough for you F-ing jerk-offs! Her 'outting' was a CRIME!


This quote is from news reports at the time of the trial:
"In new court filings, special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald has finally resolved one of the most disputed issues at the core of the long-running CIA leak controversy: Valerie Plame Wilson, he asserts, was a %u201Ccovert%u201D CIA officer who repeatedly traveled overseas using a %u201Ccover identity%u201D in order to disguise her relationship with the agency."

I won't be surprised however, if Libby is pardoned eventualy, mabye right before Bush leaves office.

[pakaal]

"Valerie Plame's covertness was never fully established"
Posted by mudrose at 04:39 PM : Jun 08, 2007

Mudrose, are you lying intentionally, or just crazy?

Both Tenet (the former CIA head) AND Hayden (the current CIA head) testified to Congress that she was covert. Not to mention that an unclassified CIA review of her work history released May 29 of this year confirms - yet again - that she was covert.

The only thing that has never been "fully established" is how people can be so woefully ignorant (or intentionally misleading) that they still say Plame wasn't covert, when the facts prove conclusively otherwise.