[StBernard] Democrats vote to strip Jefferson of panel seat

[Westley Annis]

Democrats vote to strip Jefferson of panel seat 
Vote comes despite claims of mistreatment from black caucus 
The Associated Press


Updated: 8:26 p.m. CT June 15, 2006
WASHINGTON - House Democrats, determined to make an election-year point
about ethics, voted to strip Rep. William Jefferson of his committee
assignment Thursday night while a federal bribery investigation runs its
course. 

Members of the rank and file approved the move after Jefferson refused for
weeks to step aside on his own, and despite claims by some members of the
Congressional Black Caucus that he was being treated unfairly. 

Officials said the vote was 99-58. The action must be ratified by the full
House, and Jefferson left open the possibility that he might at long last
relent and surrender the seat on his own. "I don't want to speculate," he
said. 

The session marked the culmination of a drive by the Democratic leader, Rep.
Nancy Pelosi of California, to take action against the embattled Louisiana
lawmaker, who maintains his innocence and has not been indicted. 

"This is not about a court of law. This is about a higher ethical standard,
and you know when it isn't being met," she told reporters several hours
before the meeting. 

Jefferson is black, and Pelosi, brushing aside criticism from members of the
black caucus, told reporters she had been "more than fair." 

The FBI says Jefferson stashed $90,000 in bribe money in his freezer. Two
men have pleaded guilty in the probe. 

Pelosi asked Jefferson last month to give up his seat on the powerful House
Ways and Means Committee voluntarily, pending completion of the
investigation. When he refused, she resolved to force him off, saying that
Democrats would set the bar as high as possible for conduct by a lawmaker.

Concerns from black caucus
Most Democrats support Pelosi's action, including some in the 42-member
Congressional Black Caucus, and there was little doubt about the vote. Even
so, the black caucus issued a statement last week invoking the
Constitution's guarantee of "the presumption of innocence" and opposed the
effort to force him off the committee. 

Some black Democrats went further, warning that the party risked alienating
loyal voters if it required Jefferson to surrender his committee seat until
his legal situation is clarified. 

Pelosi granted several interviews last week to reporters from black
newspapers and radio stations in an attempt to rebut her critics. 

Asked about Jefferson at her news conference, she said: "He is being
afforded his due process, more than his due process, and my caucus knows
that. We have a higher ethical standard. This is not a court of law." 

She said she had been "more than fair" in terms of opposing an FBI raid on
his congressional office, supporting his court brief to get his records back
and giving him time. 

"This would have been done in an instant if I were not trying to be more
than fair with him," she said. 

The two men who have been found guilty are a former aide to the congressman
and the head of a telecommunications company. 

Others implicated, sentenced
Brett Pfeffer, a former Jefferson aide, was sentenced to eight years in
prison last month for conspiring to commit bribery and aiding and abetting
the bribery of a public official. 

Vernon Jackson, 53, chief executive of iGate Inc., a Louisville, Ky.-based
telecommunications company, pleaded guilty May 3 to paying more than
$400,000 in bribes to Jefferson. 

Additionally, the FBI claims that it videotaped the Louisiana Democrat last
summer taking $100,000 in bribe money and that agents later found $90,000 of
the funds stashed in a freezer in his home. 

FBI agents carried out a weekend search of Jefferson's congressional office
in May, triggering criticism from congressional leaders who claimed agents
had encroached on Congress' constitutional powers. 

President Bush intervened and ordered the seized material turned over to a
Justice Department official not involved in the investigation. He ordered
the material withheld for 45 days to allow time for discussion of ground
rules for such searches. 

C 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
URL: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/13348896/


----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----

C 2006 MSNBC.com