Thursday, November 13, 2008

Cold Cash Jefferson loses appeal



Washington Post:

A unanimous appeals court panel yesterday rejected a bid by Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-La.) to dismiss his indictment on bribery and conspiracy charges, batting away arguments that prosecutors flouted the special protection he enjoys as a member of Congress.

Jefferson argued that the grand jury improperly heard evidence about his work from three staff aides. He asked a lower-court judge to order a special review of the material that prosecutors amassed against him; after his request was denied, he appealed.

Three judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit yesterday disagreed with Jefferson's interpretation, saying the staff members only glancingly touched on legislative business and instead focused their testimony on the lawmaker's connections to Africa and the favors he allegedly provided to companies seeking business there.

...

The uncertainty means that Jefferson's December trial date almost certainly will move into 2009, almost four years after the FBI raided his office in the Rayburn House Office Building and in a separate search uncovered $90,000 in cash in his home freezer.

In the race for his House seat, delayed by Hurricane Gustav, Jefferson won the Democratic primary this month and is leading in polls for the general election in early December.

Jefferson continues the Louisiana tradition of backing corrupt Democrat incumbents who are not caught in bed with a live boy or a dead woman. I wonder if he is planning on spending the freezer money to pay his lawyers.

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